Verizon launches LG’s first U.S.-bound Android phone
May 12, 2010 — by Eric Brown — from the LinuxDevices Archive — 13 viewsVerizon Wireless and LG Electronics MobileComm U.S.A. have launched the first U.S.-destined Android smartphone from LG, previously promoted with the movie “Iron Man 2.” The mid-range LG Ally offers a 3.2-inch touchscreen, slider QWERTY keyboard, 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1, S-GPS, and a 3.2-megapixel camera, says Verizon.
Earlier this month, the LG Ally was briefly previewed in a marketing campaign with Marvel Studios for its movie "Iron Man 2," although the carrier was not identified at that time. The marketing campaign promoted the fact that Ally users can download an exclusive Android 2.1 augmented reality app featured in the film. (See link at end of the story for the promo and interactive Flash application.)
Today, Verizon Wireless announced that the Ally is available for pre-order tomorrow, and will ship starting May 20. For now, LG and Verizon have left major holes in their published feature list, although several mobile phone sites, including PhoneArena have already posted much more complete "leaked" specs.
Starting with the officially listed specs, the LG Ally is equipped with a 3.2-inch tempered-glass touchscreen, and offers a QWERTY keyboard that slides out from the phone's silver-and-black outer case. The Ally provides a microSD slot that can hold cards with up to 16GB of memory, and offers 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1, and GPS, plus brightness and proximity sensors, say the partners.
The LG Ally's official portrait
(Click to enlarge)
According to LG and Verizon, the Android software offers five customizable home screens with shortcuts to text messages, email, apps, social networking sites, and widgets, as well as access to Android Market. Other touted apps include Google Maps with turn-by-turn directions, and access to updates on Twitter, Myspace, and Facebook.
To get further details, one must turn to the alleged leaked specs — and with a bit of skepticism considering that the PhoneArena spec list published today shows, for example, the phone to be a five-megapixel model instead of 3.2 megapixels.
The Ally is based on a Qualcomm MSM7627 clocked at 600MHz, with 256MB RAM 512MB ROM, and 102MB of internal flash, PhoneArena claims. The CDMA dual-band (1900/800MHz) EV-DO rev. A phone is said to measure 4.56 x 2.22 x 0.62 inches (116 x 56 x 16mm), and weigh 5.57 oz (158 g). The Ally's 3.2-inch capacitive display offers 800 x 480 resolution, adds the site.
The Ally also offers a microUSB port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a 1500mAh Li-Ion battery with 7.5 hours of talk time and 500 hours of standby, says PhoneArena. Running Android 2.1, the phone provides predictive text input, says the site.
LG Android phones, past and future
LG Electronics announced its first Android phone, the Europe-targeted, keyboard-enabled LG-GW620 last September. The Snapdragon-based slider phone was then introduced into the Canadian market on Rogers Wireless in November as the LG Eve GW620. LG more recently demonstrated a more modest GT540 Android handset.
LG Eclipse LU2300
(Source: AndroidandMe)
The Aloha C710 appeared to be headed for Europe, while the LG Eclipse LU2300 was said to be Korea-bound (see image above). Both phones were said to run Android 2.1 on a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon, and offer 802.11n WiFi, as well as 3.5-inch, 800 × 480 touchscreens.
Availability
The LG Ally can be pre-ordered on Verizon Wireless on May 13, and will be available starting May 20 for $100 after a $100 rebate and a two year-contract, says the wireless provider. More information should soon be found at Verizon Wireless, here.
The PhoneArena story on the LG Ally may be found here.
The interactive Flash promo for the "IronMan 2" augmented reality app on the LG Ally may be found here.
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