LG to launch LG G4 and a mystery premium phone
Mobile World Congress 2015 has sought us a lot of interesting phones and plans from companies, keeping us tech nerds entertained for the past few days.
After Samsung and HTC unveiled their latest flagship smartphones at MWC, LG has instead announced plans to launch the LG G4 and a new high-end flagship that will “stand above the G series.”
“We are planning to release a product that stands above the G series,” Cho Jun-ho, head of LG’s mobile business said at the Mobile World Congress. “It will be launched during the second half of this year.”
It is being speculated that the new LG series will use more premium materials like metal and glass, along with an additional in-house processor modeled for the handset. The LG G4, which is the successor to the flagship LG G3, is most likely to be announced in April, while the company seeks to regain its position as number three in the smartphone market share.
“We aim to have our smartphone sales grow 20 percent on-year in 2015,” Cho added. “If the popularity of the G2 and the G3 continues through the G4, we expect to grab a meaningful third-place presence.”
Word is also rife that LG is considering to equip the G4 with a fingerprint scanner. As Apple and Samsung have already incorporated features like Payment and biometrics in their devices, LG feels a little left out and has decided to step into testing with biometric verification.
“LG Electronics has recently decided to deploy a fingerprint sensor on its next flagship smartphone and the scanner will be placed at the back of the device,” as the company “has been left behind in the race for fintech (portmanteau of finance and technology) as it has continued to postpone the adoption of fingerprint technology.”
HTC had unveiled its 2015 flagship smartphone, HTC One M9, at the Mobile World Congress 2015 in Barcelona. The smartphone is encased in an aluminum unibody, garnished with pretty awesome specs which are sure to sell like hot cakes once HTC One M9 becomes available at all four major U.S. carriers later this month.
Samsung also debuted its flagship next-generation Galaxy S6 and curved display Galaxy S6 Edge. Samsung has already confirmed U.S. carrier availability for the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, which includes AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and U.S. Cellular, and is expected to open to markets on April 10. Amazon is also considering to sell the Samsung 2015 flagship phones, and has even created a sign up page to provide users with a special code to avail 10% off any accessory for the new devices.
