LG Arena's multi-touch may clash with Apple
updated 04:05 pm EST, Tue February 10, 2009
LG Arena Multi Touch
LG's KM900 Arena should beat out the Palm Pre to be one of the first non-Apple phones to support multi-touch input, LG Korea's press site shows. The interface, known as S-Class, will let users pinch to zoom in the web browser and while viewing photos. While its main home screen has a conspicuously iPhone-influenced design, the 3D aspect divides the front end into core phone tasks, apps, media playback and a section for widget apps like clocks and calculators.
The page moreover confirms the Arena's high-end status with a 5-megapixel camera, 8GB of internal storage and a microSDHC card slot that supports at least 32GB of headroom. New is word that the phone will have dedicated graphics hardware to accelerate visual effects as well as vibration feedback and Dolby Mobile audio.
Fuller details will appear at LG's presentation during the Mobile World Congress show next week, but the company has already let slip that the Arena will ship to Europe in March. Support for US frequencies hasn't been published.
The inclusion of multi-touch combined with the iPhone-style user interface may put LG at risk of a conflict with Apple, which has warned it would aggressively defend its IP if it feels companies are infringing on its patents for multi-touch interfaces. It's not known how likely a dispute may be; Apple is often credited with having the largest patent portfolio for multi-touch but doesn't necessarily have patents for all possible methods. [via Unwired View]
Multi-touch
02/10, 04:53pm reply
We know Apple can't outright copyright all forms of multi-touch since Microsoft has it's own product out (Microsoft Surface), plut I'm pretty sure there's plenty of prior art out there that prevents such an overreaching patent from being applied in all cases.
But I guess we'll see what happens.
dagamer34
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Apr 2007
wow
02/10, 08:01pm reply
If the build quality of this thing is as good as it looks in the pictures, it will be the first time Apple has had a true competitor (lets face it, all the other efforts so far have been pretty lame despite occasional nice features).
Apple should not underestimate the value of a quality integrated camera (which the iPhone's isn't), dedicated graphics hardware, HD output, and the benefit of a front facing cam.
Everyone else in the world is doing MMS and will be doing video conferencing (even if it's only 3fps), and Apple will be out in the cold looking in the window wondering why the he!! they didn't pull their heads out and do it first.
mytdave
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Aug 2000
LG will suck
02/11, 04:41am reply
Just my opinion: this device won't get any measurable acceptance outside of US market. Somehow US buyers got used to previous high-end LG brick-like handsets, so the design is OK. But software part will suck, as it is usual with LG, multitouch or not. And the first sign of it is a lame rip-off of iPhone's icon grid, just like the one you can find on Chinese counterfeit stuff. If a big name company starts a project that low it means they do not believe in its success themselves.Palm pre will be the true iPhone competitor, though not a direct one (read: not having feature for feature).
ViktorCode
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jan 2006