Chocoholism

It is said that diamonds are girls’ best friends. But IMHO chocolate works as good as shiny stones when it comes to low-mood moments. Chocolate can really cheer you up. Especially the semi-bitter chocolate, with roasted almonds. Or the new Chocolate mobile phone from LG.

When I’ve seen the pictures of the BL40 for the first time I had mixed feelings about it. In one hand the phone with its shiny blackness and ascetic form looked really nice and was intriguing with it’s longish screen. But in the other hand that large, 4′ screen made me wonder if the thing is ergonomic and comfortable to use. Today, having played with it I must admit that those worries were unnecessary. The thing, despite strange proportions really suits ones hand and You can easily use it’s touch screen with your thumb. The 4″ LCD touch-screen is able to recognize gestures. This works for example when you want to enlarge pictures or if you want to create a “gesture shortcut” to your favorite function or other menu item. Must say that the touchscreen here is quite responsive, which is nice.
Talking about menu and UI, the one used in BL40 is the same UI you will find in the LG Arena phone. It is called the Cubicle and works as it is named. Particular items from menu are placed on the walls of 3D cube that you can rotate with your finger. If you’re not so keen on special UI effects, you can choose to watch menu in more list-like style (you will see the particular walls of the cube instead the whole 3D form).
Of course, Bl40 has all multimedia functions and additions you’d expect to find in a modern phone – camera (5 megapixel resolution; nice thing is a camera mode for taking pictures of text or notes), radio, music and video player, navigation (LG works here with the Navi Expert).
But what makes this phone different is its design – sleek, original yet simple and ascetic. The bad part of the story is the price though – 1999 PLN. For good sweet you must pay, as it seems.

Nearly half less would cost you the smaller bro of BL40 – LG BL20. This phone has a slider form and has no touchscreen, but a touch panel placed below the display and a keyboard hidden underneath.  Beside the different form, inside you’ll find the same things as in BL40.

LG “Chocolate” BL40

IFA – Part 2

IFA 2009

So, as I’ve promised, the second day of the IFA show in Berlin. And TV. LOADS of TV’s. But in the center of attention – as it was during the CES in Las Vegas – were the 3D TV’s. You could find them for example on Sony’s and LG’s stands and people were literally waiting in ques to watch U2 concert in 3D or to play in some racing games on PS3 connected to the 3D screen. On the Panasonic stand again You could see the first ever Plasma TV home theater system. Of course to watch the 3D movie or play a game You need to put on special glasses, looking like regular sunglasses. And I must say that despite this little discomfort the sensation is grand! (of course the best way to watch/listen to U2 is a live concert- thanks Mac ;-).  It is said that 3D HD TV’s are going to hit the market the next year. However now You have really just a few movies/concerts to watch in such form.

Another yet-to-be technology are OLED screen – amazingly flat and energy-saving but amazingly expensive as well. The only commercially available OLED TV comes from Sony and is just 11 (XEL-1 model for ca 2,500 $). Now, on the IFA, LG has presented it’s own AMOLED TV – slim and nice looking  15″  thing, which is just 3,2 mm thick. It will debut in November. Of course companies are racing in making even bigger OLED’s but for know a mass production of let say 40-inch screens is very complicated and impossible to run on commercial, mass basis.

Sharp Aquos LCD LED TV

So, for now it is better to invest in big falt screens with LED backlight. Sharp has brought to Berlin its new Aquos TVs with full LED backlight (LE700E and LE600E), made in the 10th generation technology process. Though those TVs aren’t so flat as the LCD with frame-like, side LED arrangement, their producer claims that only this way You can get better colours and real black on the screen. And as far as my eyes are working correctly, this is true – colours on the new LED TV are perfect. What’s more those TV are highly energy efficient and made without toxic substances such as lead.

Other interesting LED LCD are the LG’s Borderless TVs, where it is really hard to find the border between the frame and the screen. Nice looking thing, really.

IFA 2009

LG 15″ AMOLED TV

Sony 3D HDTV

LG 3D LCD TV

LG 15″ AMOLED TV

LG SL8000 Borderless

Sharp Aquos LCD LED TV

Sharp Aquos LCD LED TV

Smartphones’ Summer

It ocures that June is the Month of Smartphones. First came the long awaited Palm Pre, than IPhone 3GS, followed by some new device with Windows Mobile 6.1 from LG , new E-series and touch-screen phones form Nokia, Polish premiere of HTC Magic and Samsung’s three new phones form Omnia family and launch of Nokia N97 . And now (well, being precise tommorow), HTC will show us another thing running on Windows Mobile 6.5.

HTC Firestorm (unofficially)

It’s called Firestorm and its nicely looking pics have just leaked and appeared on the Sanook page. Here’s the un-official specification of the new phone:

• Phone: GSM850, GSM900, GSM1800, GSM1900, UMTS900, UMTS2100.
• GSM and HSDPA connectivity.
• Windows Mobile 6.5.
• Screen 3.6 inch WVGA touchscreen display transflective TFT, 65,536 colors.
• CPU: speed 600Mhz Qualcomm 8250 processor.
• Memory: 256MB RAM and 512 MB ROM.
• Slot: Micro SD.
• Bluetooth: Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR.
• Wireless LAN: 802.11b, 802.11g.
• AGPS.
• Gyro Sensor.
• Headphones: 3.5mm.
• Main Camera: 8 million pixels

And here’s a small smartphones’ parade:

Samsung Omnia Lite

HTC Firestorm (unofficially)

[Sanook via WMPoweruser via Electronist via Gizmodo]