LG Outs Its Next Phablet, The Slender LG Stylus 2

There’s less than a week to go until LG’s pre-MWC press conference, where the company is expected to lift the veil on a new flagship smartphone, the LG G5. But the South Korean mobile maker has another handset to show off in Barcelona — which it’s just announced today.

The 5.7 inch LG Stylus 2 is the follow on phablet to the G4 Stylus, which launched in May last year. The screen size of the sequel is the same but LG has shaved a few millimeters off the thickness, with the Stylus 2 measuring just 7.4mm vs 9.4mm for last year’s model.

It’s also a few grams lighter, weighing in at 145g vs 163g for the G4 Stylus. Despite being so slender the phablet does include an SD card for user expandable memory. It also packs a 3,000mAh removable battery.

Another changed is a tweak to the bundled stylus, which LG is now calling a “pen”. It says the new stylus has a “nano-coated tip” — for, it claims, enhanced accuracy vs the rubber-tipped stylus of 2015’s phablet. It’s also touting a new Calligraphy Pen font which is says will let people write with the stylus as if it were a fountain pen.

Another new feature aims to avoid phone and stylus being separated, so the phone will pop up a warning message when the handset is detected to be in motion yet the stylus bay is empty. So no more stylus separation anxiety.

Under the hood of the Android 6.0 device there’s a 1.2GHz Quad-Core chip, 1.5GB RAM and 16GB of internal storage (user expandable as noted above), so in classic phablet style it’s not going to be treading on the toes of the top of the range smartphone flagships.

Round the back, there’s a 13MP camera situated near LG’s now trademark rear power key placement (love it or hate it). And the handset will come in a choice of three colors: white, brown and “titan” (aka a charcoal/metallic shade).

There’s no specific confirmation of pricing yet but LG says the price-tag will be “of a mid-tier phone” — adding that it’s aiming the handset firmly at the “mass-tier segment” (aka where there’s still some growth to be found in smartphones).

The company will be showing the Stylus 2 at MWC next week. TC will be on the ground in Barcelona to get hands on so stay tuned.

Comments

eGym raises $45M Series C for cloud-connected gym equipment and fitness software

eGym , the Munich-based startup that offers cloud-connected gym equipment and supporting cloud software and app for the fitness training floor, has closed $45 million in Series C funding. The round was led by new investor HPE Growth Capital, while existing investors, including Highland Europe, also participated. The problem that eGym is looking to solve is that, whilst gyms have moved from a bodybuilder market to a mass market in the last 20 years, the technology in gyms lags behind. That’s despite the fact that better use of technology can help to reduce customer churn, the biggest pain-point of both gym operator and gym users. Comprising of an app for both gym user and trainer, combined with the company’s connected strength machines, the eGym Cloud makes it possible for gym members to receive better fitness instruction and an evolving and personalised fitness plan based on data collected as they workout. And by providing a better workout feedback loop, gym goers can get an i...

Careless USB removal causes multiple deaths

EIGHTEEN workers have died after a USB stick was removed from a computer without adequate precautions. The offices of Hereford-based Envision Photography were completely destroyed in the ensuing blast. Survivor Norman Steele said: “My colleague Helen had put some files on the stick to work on at home, and she yanked it out of the computer before anyone could scream ‘no’. “I kicked her aside as a jet of white-hot flame belched out of the USB port and set fire to the desk opposite. “Grabbing her, I dived through the window just before all the PCs in the network exploded with purple electricity that fried everyone in the building. “I sprinted to my car, knowing that the printers were already becoming merciless hunter-killer drones, shouting for Helen to follow. “But when I looked round I saw her frozen, something glowing in her hand, the awareness dawning of her fate. She was still holding the USB. “She detonated in a flash of ultraviolet light that turned eve...

What will a driverless future actually look like?

There is a growing consensus that autonomous vehicles (AVs) will soon be a reality. The debate today centers not on whether, but how soon, AVs will be commonplace on our roads. But for all the buzz surrounding AVs, many details about what a driverless future will look like remain unclear. Which business models will work best for the commercialization of AVs? Which AV usage models will be most appealing for consumers? Which companies are best positioned to win in this new market? These are big questions, and no certain answers can be given at this stage. Nonetheless, it is valuable to reflect, in a concrete way, on how this transformative technology might develop. This article will present some conjectures. The end of private car ownership? At a high level, two possible paradigms seem most likely for how society will use AVs. The first is private AV ownership. Under this model, individuals or families would continue to own their own vehicles and use them to get a...

Oculus’ New $99 Samsung Gear VR Makes Serious Virtual Reality Affordable

At half the price of its last mobile VR headset, the new $99 Oculus-made Samsung Gear VR is cheap enough to unlock virtual reality for the mainstream. Revealed today at the Oculus Connect conference, it works with the whole 2015 line of Samsung Smartphones including the Note 5, S6, S6 Edge, and S6 Edge+. It will ship in November in time for Black Friday. Compared to the $199 previous Gear VRs that only worked with fewer phones, this headset will be a lot more accessible. The new Gear VR is 22% lighter, making it more comfortable to wear. The trackpad on the temple of the headset also now has a tactile directional pad on it so your finger will know where it’s touching. The previous Gear VRs had a smooth trackpad and sometimes it was to tough to know if you were touching it or just the unsensitive shell of the headset when you couldn’t see for yourself. There’s also a new Gear VR Gamepad which all the Oculus Connect conference attendees will get for free. It features an...

85 legitimate iPhone apps that were infected with malware in the big App Store hack

Apple fans have been criticizing Android for years, fighting back against “walled garden” claims by suggesting that Android's open nature makes it far more susceptible to hacks and malware. This is indeed often the case, but if you think Apple's closed iOS app ecosystem isn't also vulnerable to attacks, think again. Millions upon millions of iPhone and iPad users were affected by a major App Store hack that was just uncovered, and now we have a list of some of the apps that have reportedly been infected with malware. Here's the bad news: There are some very popular apps on this list, and the odds are pretty good that one or more of them are on your phone right now. DON'T MISS: 10 things iOS 9 can do that you can't do in iOS 8 As was reported early Monday morning, Apple has confirmed that the App Store suffered its first ever large-scale attack. Apple confirmed the hack after multiple security firms reported finding malware called “Xcod...

Exciting Technology

Search This Blog