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LG previews line of iPad/iPhone rivals Korean consumer electronics giant promises ten Optimus-branded devices to debut in 2010
Kicking off the new Optimus brand will be LG's Android Tablet PC, along with its intended iPhone killers, the Optimus-One and -Chic models. Later this year rival Korean consumer electronics maker, Samsung, is rumored to also begin delivering its intended iPad killer, code named the "Galaxy Tablet." By year's end, iPad work-a-likes will debut from every major consumer electronics maker, each sporting the touchscreen user interface running variants of mobile LInux. LG gave only a few scant details about its Optimus series, except to say that a range of 10 models--from budget to premium--would debut this year. Each will include various combination of features not offered by Apple's iPad and iPhone, and will run different operating systems (OSs), including variations of mobile Linux, such as Android, as well as either Windows new Phone 7 OS or its older Windows Mobile 6 OS. Other manufacturers predicted similar grow paths for 2010 at the recent Computex show, held earlier this month in Taipei, Taiwan where almost two dozen iPad-like touchscreen tablet prototypes were displayed. LG, however, claims that its touchscreen tablet will surpass these competitors with superior performance as well as a thinner and lighter form factors (the latter of which critics have complained about with regard to Apple's iPad). LG, like the rest of the consumer electronics industry, is following the model taken by competitors when the iPhone was announced by Apple--namely, to immediately clone the Apple device (this time the iPad), then follow with a variety of models at different price points, and with different feature sets, aimed at luring consumers away from Apple's one-size-fits-all approach. That strategy worked against the iPhone, since Android-based smartphones are now reported to be out-selling the Apple original, some of which are virtually identical in appearance to the iPhone. LG claims to have done extensive market research to identify the capabilities that consumers desire in a smart mobile device, claiming that "ease of finding information is the top motivator," along with fast response and user friendliness. LG'S new Optimus line of smart consumer devices will also include new smartphones, the first of which is its "Optimus One with Google" for technophiles and the Optimus Chic for technophobes--both of which will debut soon using the latest Android 2.2 (Froyo) OS. The Optimus smartphones have been integrated with Google's Android Market which mimics the highly successful Apple App Store but for smartphones running the Android open-source OS. The Optimus One will also include the iPod-like multimedia capabilities for playing music and viewing mobile video. The Optimus Chic features sleek design lines that LG hopes will lure techno-phobes into joining the mobile Internet craze. Related links and articles:
Panel: Smart consumer devices market to explode How to make next-gen media tablet an iPad killer Computex peers into the future of the touchscreen tablet
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