Price Range: $590.67 to $742.00

The Complete Camera Phone

Following the huge success of the LG Mobile Black Label Series Chocolate and Shine, LG has progressed into the high-technology camera phone category with LG Viewty. 5 Megapixel Camera, 3 Inch Touch Sensitive Screen, High Speed Video Recording (120 FPS), Auto and Manual Focus, ISO 800 and SmartLight

The LG KU990 Viewty is a true powerhouse packing a mass of high-tech goodies under its hood: the impressive 3″ touchscreen display with 240 x 400 pixels resolution, the HSDPA 3.6 Mbps capability, the stereo Bluetooth and the highly intriguing 5 megapixel camera with autofocus, which is also capable of capturing video at 120 fps. Feature-packed and exquisite, the LG KU990 looks set on the fast track to success and we were more than happy to get our hands on it.

The Viewty is an imaging focused 3G phone comes with a 5.1 megapixel digital camera feature. The user will be amazed at the imaging qualities as the camera comes with a Schneider kreuznach lens, auto focus, image stabiliser & a xenon flash. The LG KU990 Viewty comes with dedicated camera buttons which are situated on the side of the handset which also allows the user to select the camera or video settings. The phone comes with video capabilities which allow the user to record video at 120 frames per second, edit video & playback video footage. The Viewty has a voice recorder which allows the user to record voice clips which can be added to multimedia messages. The phone has a built in music player which allows the user to enjoy music playback on their phone whenever they feel the need for sound.

Battery life is good - an average user could easily make the battery last well over two days but if you tend to take lots of photos and surf the web a lot, then a daily charge is probably recommended.

Key Features:

5 Megapixel camera certified by Schneider-Kreuznach
Enjoy various focusing techniques
Capturing the best moments even in low light
Taking steady pictures with Image Stabiliser & Direct Key
Catch every detail with high-speed recording (120 FPS)
Discover true viewing pleasure with 3 inch full touch screen
Freedom of expression with Handwriting Recognition & Editing
Mobile technology making full Internet

Specifications:

Network 3G
Form Factor Camera phone
Message SMS/MMS/VideoMMS/Email
5 MP
FM Radio Yes
MP3 Player Yes
Bluetooth Yes
Vibration Alert Yes
Internal Memory 90Mb
Memory Slot Micro SD 2Gb
Talk Time (min) GSM: 355, 3G: 233, VT: 138
Java 2.0
Digital Zoom 16 times
GPRS 12
EDGE 12
3G Yes
Built-in Game Yes
USB/PC Sync Yes
Speaker Phone Yes
Colour Black
Touch Screen Yes
WAP 2.0
Internet Google Package
DivX Video Player Yes
Video Camera Yes
High Speed Vide.. Yes - 120 FPS

Price Range:

NEW Multimedia Phone

This high capable handset comes with built in 3G HSDPA technology which allows the user to enjoy high speed Internet connectivity & multitasking skills on their 3G phone. This high speed built in technology allows the user to take part in a two way 3G video call with other compatible 3G video calling contacts. There is a small camera situated above the phones large touch screen which will record the user’s expressions & surrounding which can be viewed by the other contact on their 3G phones screen.

The user of the LG KF700 can view their contacts expressions on the 3 Inch touch screen which is a fun way to communicate with others & enjoy a face to face call experience. The built in Bluetooth® technology & USB port provides the user with easy to use connectivity options which allow the user to connect their LG KF700 to other compatible devices either using a wireless Bluetooth® connection or a cabled connection using a USB cable between two compatible devices.

LG showcased a number of mobile phones in Mobile World Congress this year including the LG-KF600, LG Viewty, LG-KF510, and the LG-KS20; all of which we’ve already featured before. One we haven’t yet, however, is the LG KF700 slider cell phone. The LG KF700 is a multi-media phone; the first in the world to have three different input methods. These are the 3″ touch screen, shortcut dial, and alphanumeric keypad.These three input methods could work together to make the easiest intuitive phone available.

This phone is one of those stylish phones yo just want to pick up and play with. The phone comes with a built in WAP browser like most phones nowadays which is a XHTML Internet browser which gives you the user access the Internet on your 3G phone whenever you needs to access Internet. Other sites can also be viewed on this phone for fun and your personal entertainment. The camera allows you to capture still pictures as well as moving video footage, like many new phones. The 3 Inch colour touch screen works as a really well as a viewfinder when the user is using the 3 megapixel camera feature, where pictures can be edited and they can also be zoomed in on.

Key features:

• Alpha-numeric keypad
• Shortcut dial
• 3 Megapixel camera
• ISO 800

Specifications:

• Network 3G
• Form Facrtor Slider/Full Touch
• FM Radio
• Mp3 Player
• Bluetoot 1.2
• Standby time 280hrs
• Java MIDP 2.1 / Applet MIDlet
• HSPDA
• EDGE
• 3G
• Infrared Port
• USB 2.0
• Touch Screen

Price Range: $389.00 to $439.37

A New Experience in Design and Usability

The main display screen is a colourful TFT screen which is 2 Inches in size & comes with a 240 pixel by 320 pixel screen resolution for a clear viewing experience. The user can view high colour dynamic wallpapers on this large & colourful screen. The phone comes with eight themed displays which include artwork by Keith Haring.

The lower screen which is 1.5 Inch in size & displays up to 262k colours on a highly useable touch screen. The lower screen is an InteractPad™ screen which comes with changeable interfaces to suit the feature being used which allows the user to control their features using the beautifully designed touch screen with InteractPad™ controls. The casing is compact & the handset has a solid feel to it which weighs 107 grams in total. Its overall dimensions are 14.1mm deep by 50.7mm wide by 101.2mm tall which feels good to hold & operate in a single hand.

The phone comes with a selection of messaging services which allows the user to communicate with others without making a call. The user can create, send, receive, forward & delete messaging on their phone. The KF600 Venus supports a mobile email service, multimedia picture messaging & a text message service complete with a predictive text input option. The user will be amazed at the outstanding looks & usability of the stunning LG KF600 Venus which has been designed to be admired & enjoyed.

The music player works very well. Music quality is good and the main speaker is loud! The touchscreen interface really does work well here - you can access all of the music functions without opening the slide. Support for a Bluetooth-enabled stereo headset is included and there’s plenty of memory available for storing music: the microSD card slot can accept cards up to a whopping 8 Gbytes, which is enough for around 2,000 songs. We’re pleased to see the inclusion of an FM radio too.

Key features:

• 2″ 256K-color TFT LCD display of QVGA resolution
• 1.49″ 256K-color TFT 176 x 240 pixel InteractPad
• 3.15 MP camera with autofocus and LED flash
• Tri-band GSM/EDGE support
• Bluetooth and USB v2.0
• Cool additional themes by Keith Haring
• FM radio
• Cool games

Imaging

3 Megapixel Camera
4 x Digital Zoom
Auto Focus
InteractPad™ Camera Controls
Horizontal or Vertical Mode
Flash
Camera Settings
Photo Album
Video Record
Video Player
Video Settings
Dynamic Wallpapers
Theme Displays
Keith Haring Artwork

Messaging

SMS (Text Messaging)
MMS (Multimedia Messaging)
Email
Predictive Text

Sound

Music Player
InteractPad™ Music Controls
Album Art Display
FM Radio
MP3 Ringtones
Polyphonic Ringtones
Voice Recorder

Price Range: $553.62 to $614.90

Enrich Mobile Internet Experience

LG KS20 provides customers with an advanced mobile internet experience with its ’Broadband Mobile Internet’, ’2.8 inch Large Screen’ and ’Intuitive Touch Input,’ and is only 12.8 mm thick. Compatible with highly advanced Broadband Mobile Internet networks, the phone allows users to enjoy the full benefits of 3.6Mbps mobile internet, music downloads, video clips and Windows Live! ™ content, as well as push email.

The LG KS20 weighs about 92.5 grams and has dimensions of 99.7 x 58 x 12.8 mm. It has a TFT touchscreen and 256 thousand colors. It has 2.8 inches for its display size and has downloadable wallpapers. The ringtone of this unit can be MP3 or polyphonic in format. It also has a composer wherein users can create their own music. It too has a vibrating alert feature. Not only is it thin, the KS20 is also very light. Everyone who handled our review set was amazed at how weightless it seemed. At just 92.5g, this handheld is even lighter than the HTC Touch which tips the scales at 112g.

While most users will be happy with that, some may lament that it feels too much like a toy because of the same reason. While we admit that the chassis is a little plasticky, the fine construction on this LG ensures that it doesn’t come across as cheap. The black and silver glossy finish does invite fingerprint marks easily, so using it with a case is advisable.

Although its front surface is pretty clean with only the call and hang-up keys along with a directional joystick below the display, there are quite a number of shortcut buttons on the right side. One of those is the power button, while the other two activate the browser and camera applications. We would have liked one more button to act as an OK key so minimizing applications can be done much faster. A microSD card slot is also found there which supports cards up to 2GB in capacity.

Key features

• Custom LG implementation of the UI
• 2.8″ 65K color touchscreen TFT display of QVGA resolution
• HSDPA, 3.6 Mbps
• 400 MHz Qualcomm MSM7200 processor
• 128MB RAM and 256MB ROM, microSD expansion slot
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
• Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP
• Surprisingly good 2 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• USB to 3.5mm jack adapter
• Sturdy build, quality casing and compact dimensions

Price Range: $79.99 - $149.95

The gorgeous display measures two inches diagonally (320×240 pixels) and supports 11 lines of text. With support for 262,000 colors, it’s one of the most attractive displays we’ve seen on a cell phone and arguably the best on an LG handset. Graphics and animation were sharp, and colors popped. Our only gripes, and these are small, is that the display has a reflective quality and attracts smudges and fingerprints easily. Also, it’s hard to see in direct light and nearly impossible to see when the backlighting is off. You can change the clock style, the backlighting time, and the font size but no other options are customizable.

The Chocolate’s buttons take some time to get used to. The “send” key is where it usually is, left of the cursor pad, but the “end” key is on the side of the phone. The cursor pad, meanwhile, looks like an iPod-style scroll wheel but isn’t – it’s just a cursor pad. And the cursor pad and soft keys are touch-sensitive, with no tactile feedback. The learning curve is sharpened by the beautiful new Flash-based menu system, which doesn’t look like other Verizon phones. (Fortunately, you can kick the phone back into the familiar Verizon menus.)

With the interface, you are able to theme it to fit your personality and style, something we enjoy doing. By default, the phone uses the “Rock n Roll” theme, which places all your menu items in a circle. It almost seems to invite you to use the touch wheel in a similar fashion to an iPod, but really you just need to click to the right or left to spin the onscreen wheel navigation. Once you make your first choice, the submenu is a simple list layout which you tap up and down on the wheel to navigate through. This is the point where we started to get the hang of this thing. As we said before though, you can change wallpapers and themes to your liking. The phone is Get It Now compatible, so there is how you access additional ringtones, games, and other applications as well.

That said, if you’re looking for a music-phone on Verizon, learning the Chocolate is worth the effort. This is Verizon’s best music-phone by a long shot. It supports stereo Bluetooth, playing music easily through our wireless Plantronics Pulsar 590 headphones. It has a roomy 68 MB of on-board memory, accepts MicroSD memory cards up to 2 GB, and – finally – can play both WMA and MP3 files natively in Verizon’s V CAST Music player. You can put music on the phone by dumping it into a MicroSD card, or syncing it via USB cable with Windows Media Player. Verizon has also gotten rid of the $15/month subscription fee for their V CAST Music service, so if you feel like buying songs over the air for $1.99 each, go for it.

A cool perk is the phone supports Bluetooth for talking and listening. This comes in particularly handy for MP3 and music playback, as you can conserve the phone’s battery life while listening to music via wireless stereo headphones. I used the Motorola HT820 Bluetooth stereo headset, and was very impressed. I could crank the music as loud as I wanted with little or no distortion before the volume became painful. I didn’t notice any pops, clicks or anything indicating the headphones were picking up wireless signals.