LG exec confirms a tablet by year-end: large phablet, smart watch, and flexible displays coming next year
The mobile communications head at LG Bulgaria, Dimitar Valev, sat down for an interview and gave us a hint at quite a few products coming down the pipeline from the Korean manufacturer.
Overall, the mobile communication's department boss said he's pretty optimistic there is room for growth, especially in the tablet and phablet areas, but also in the lower-end segment. He mentioned that there might be design paradigm changes ahead for mobile devices, namely new buttons and layout swaps, and LG plans to keep at the forefront here as usual. He mentioned the LG Chocolate as the first phone with touch navigational keys, and we'd also add the bold decision to do something about the abomination that is the current typical button layout of a big-screen phone, putting keys on the back of the LG G2, where they are much easier to reach.
First off, an Android tablet is indeed coming by year-end, confirming the rumors so far, and proving that where there's FCC certification, there's fire, as a G Pad just passed through the confines of the Federal Communications Commission.
Another juicy tidbit is that, while talking about the big-screen phones of the company, like the Optimus G Pro and the Vu line, the exec confirmed an even larger phone from LG that will be making a cameo next year, perhaps joining the ranks of the 6" phablets that everyone is releasing these days. With the just-announced Quad HD 5.5-incher LG proves there's plenty of innovation still ahead in the mobile display department, so we can't wait to see what it will place in an eventual giant slab of its own.
Next year is also likely to see a smart wristwatch device of sorts, made by the second-largest Korean phone maker, and Mr Valev wasn't shy to point out that LG came out with a similar product three years ago, which he said was not the right moment for it. Talking of bendy wristwatches he also didn't fail to mention about that LG flexible display rumor that's been around in the last few months, and said there will be devices "in certain markets" with it, though the plans are for introduction next year, not this one as previously thought.
It turns out that the company is seriously looking into going back to Windows Phone as well, and it's in the planning stages of such devices, depending on what Microsoft has managed to do with the next iteration of its mobile operating system. Firefox OS devices weren't ruled out, too, but LG will apparently be taking a wait-and-see approach to gauge how those are faring in the wild, before it jumps the gun.
The interview ends up on a high note, with an expected boom in periphery and hybrid devices, and also with the notion that software is heading into the free or freemium direction, which might put a strain on the Windows franchise.
source: Dnevnik.bg (translated)
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