LGE Releases First-Ever Phone with Google Android Mobile OS

It’s not the smallest or the sleekest phone – but it sure packs a lot of punch, thanks to the infusion of Google’s Android (News - Alert) mobile operating system.

 

LG Electronics gave a bit of competition to Motorola (News - Alert) with the release of its new LG-GW620, the South Korean mobile phone manufacturer’s first handset to incorporate Google’s Android OS. The platform will give users push-button access to e-mail, Facebook (News - Alert) and other social-networking Web sites, as well as Google services.

 

The device will reportedly be released in Europe in the fourth quarter. The announcement of LG’s first Android-powered smartphone comes only a week after the company announced that it would be introducing three new Windows Mobile smartphones in the next few weeks.

Just last week, Motorola announced “Cliq,” its first Android-laced smartphone, which follows on the heels of Android-equipped cell phones from T-Mobile (the “G1”), Samsung (the “17500), HTC and Vodafone (News - Alert).

 

The new LG-GW620 features a 3-inch full touchscreen and slide-out QWERTY keypad to meet the growing needs of consumers who rely on their mobile phones for more than just making calls, LG said in a press release. The company said the Android operating system was created from the ground up to take advantage of the many mobile applications and services developed by search engine Google.

 

Experts say the popularity of the new Android-equipped gadgets like LG’s and Motorola’s latest shows there’s a shift away from the sexy, slim form factor among consumers.

 

“When the Motorola Razor came out, people were looking to stand out by form factor,” Chris Schreiner, senior analyst for Strategy Analytic’s user-experience practice, told TMCnet. “Now people are looking to stand out by the apps on their phone.”

 

For carriers, the advantage is the amount of customization that’s possible. For example, Motorola’s Cliq is very social-networking oriented, with a front page that fuses all the user’s social networking feeds into one touchable icon.

 

With iPhones and Android phones alike, users get customize their phones with applications. Thus Android’s open source platform will present a formidable challenge to the iPhone (News - Alert), especially because Google is such a strong online presence.

 

“What consumers like, first, is the Google brand,” Schreiner told TMCnet. “They really like to have Google-branded services such as G-mail and search on their devices. These are integrated very well into Android, which is a big positive for users.”