General Public
The LG KM900 Arena is the first multimedia telephone from this maker which uses the new 3D S-Class interface unveiled in February. A mobile which is well equipped, it is placed in the multimedia mobile phone section of the market, putting to the front its balance between the richness of functions and the ease of use. This is a field well known to LG Electronics, with numerous models having already seen some real success. Between the multi-touch tactile screen and the accelerometer and the S-Class tactile interface and its advanced functions, will the LG KM900 be just as good as previous releases?
LG Electronics is one of the biggest mobile manufacturers, which have now branched out into tactile mobiles. It has to be said that they even unveiled their Prada Phone by LG before the iPhone in 2007, making it a mobile which already had all of the characteristics of current hand sets: a large tactile display covering the whole façade, multimedia functions and a dedicated interface.
Since then, LG Electronics has released ranges of tactile products in all market segments, from the entry level (LG KP500) to smartphones (LG KS20) and passing by multimedia phones (LG Viewty, LG Renoir).
The tactile interface, a strategic goal
While their direct competition is firstly with their compatriot Samsung, leading to announcements of very similar products (at least on paper) between the two groups, LG also knows how to take inspiration for competition products which have already seen success.
Both companies have understood, like the others, that the quality of the user interface is a decisive element in the conception of tactile mobiles. It was at the Mobile World Congress 2009 in Barcelona in February that the new interface for their range of mobiles, baptized 3D S-Class was released, mixing the mobile widgets system, a range of customizations and coloured icons which strangely resemble the interface of the iPhone.
The first phone to be equipped, the LG KM900 Arena is also a new addition in the field of multimedia telephones, with the functions leaving some smartphones envious. The operating system is propriety though and doesn’t allow you to install any third party applications.
It shouldn’t prevent LG though from maintaining their position in a segment which has been greatly hit by the global crisis, by competing with smartphones, as this is more interesting for carriers as it allows them to create additional revenue streams from mobile services.
Keeping simplicity and ease of use in the interface has become a strategic decision in the conception of mobile phones, with each maker offering their own recipes. In the case of LG, colours and plastics are on offer to try and optimize access to the range of functions in this mobile.
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May 22nd, 2013 - 5:10 PM ET
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