LG

LG: Nexus 4 supplies beset by 'huge demand'

Struggling to get your hands on the elusive Nexus 4 smartphone? LG says that's because it's so popular, citing "huge demand" when CNET UK asked about the phone's gloomy supply situation.

The LG-built Nexus 4 went on sale in mid-November, but sold out in half an hour. It was briefly back in stock last Tuesday, but by the next morning the 8GB version was already out of stock again. I contacted LG with a few inventory-related questions.

When asked whether LG knows why Google is running out of Nexus 4 stock, Andy Coughlin, the head … Read more

Nexus 4 to be back in stock today in U.K., Germany

Brits and Germans will soon be able to get their hands on an LG Nexus 4 smartphone, with Google releasing more inventory in its Google Play store today.

Users on Reddit posted information and shared images of notices from Google that said they'd be able to order the phone today. And sure enough, Google Play showed the devices were in stock at about 5 p.m. GMT today, or 9 a.m. PT, just as the notice promised.

According to Google's U.K. site, the 8GB version of the phone will ship to buyers in four to five … Read more

LG said to be switching to its own smartphone chip designs

Joining the battle to control as much of the production process as possible, LG has reportedly begun designing its own processors.

The South Korean electronics maker plans to unveil in-house designed mobile processors at the Consumer Electronics Show next month, according to the Korea Times. The company reportedly has more than 900 chip designers working on chips to be used in smartphones and Web-connected televisions.

LG is making the switch as part of Chief Executive Koo Bon-joon's focus on increased "independence and dignity," the newspaper reported. CNET has contacted LG for comment and will update this report … Read more

Smartphones with unusual features (roundup)

These days, almost every smartphone contains the same bag of tricks, with little to differentiate handsets, apart from the hardware and maybe some software extras.

Sure, one might have a better camera, more external or internal storage, and other specs that help us tell one phone from another. But on the whole, you can access e-mail, text messages, and social networks from them all, share photos and videos, surf the Internet, and install any number of apps.

This kind of uniformity is actually good news, since it means that even midrange smartphones can be just as capable as high-end products, even if they have a smaller screen or shorter battery life, for instance. Of course, there are some smartphones that stand out from the crowd for a certain physical or software feature. In no particular order, here's the current crop of unique handsets that have me looking twice.… Read more

Apple, LG head into patent trial with Alcatel-Lucent unit

A California jury must once again decide whether Apple is infringing another company's patents.

Apple, along with fellow defendant LG Electronics, begin a trial today with Multimedia Patent Trust in a San Diego, Calif., court.

Multimedia Patent Trust, a subsidiary of Alcatel-Lucent, sued the two companies in December 2010 for alleged infringement on three of its patents covering video technology.

The lawsuit targets both Apple's portable iOS devices like the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, along with computers such as MacBooks and iMacs -- effectively, anything that includes Apple's QuickTime video technology. For LG, it's nine … Read more

LG Nexus 4 (sort of) has 4G LTE

In the best example of things being taken, then given, only to be then taken away again, it was recently discovered that the massively popular LG Nexus 4 houses an LTE modem that works... sort of.

The revelation began over at iFixit, which posted a teardown of the Nexus 4 last week. Front images of the motherboard showed a Qualcomm WTR1605L Seven-Band 4G LTE chip. That's right, a 4G LTE chip.

When asked about this, LG crushed all fantastical dreams of a firmware-enabled LTE upgrade to the ground and told TechRadar that despite the given chipset, the device isn'… Read more

Prizefight: Samsung Galaxy Note 2 vs. LG Intuition

It's a first-time Prizefight for a whole new evolving category between Samsung's Galaxy Note 2 and LG's Intuition.

These two unique devices bring the world of a smartphone and a tablet into one form factor. Throw in the use of a stylus, and we're talking about two of the most versatile mobile devices on the planet.

The Galaxy Note 2 has learned its lessons and it brings a versatile stylus, albeit with a much steeper learning curve. The LG Intuition stylus interface is straightforward and simple, but there's no place to hold the stylus on … Read more

Samsung sues LG Display over OLED patents

Samsung has filed a lawsuit against LG Display in an effort to convince the court that seven of LG's OLED displays don't hold water.

Filed with an intellectual property tribunal in Korea, the suit is seeking to invalidate LG's patents on the grounds that they "lack innovation," according to the Yonhap News agency.

This is just the latest salvo in the ongoing legal turmoil between the two companies.

In September, LG Display filed suit against Samsung, claiming violation of the seven (organic light-emitting diode) patents in question. The lawsuit alleges that Samsung violated the design of LG's OLED panels, driver circuitry, and device design, … Read more

Who wins the battle for Verizon's top phablet of 2012?

Verizon Wireless customers now have three options should they be in the market for a 5-inch Android experience.

The latest handset to join the phablet family is the HTC Droid DNA, which the carrier announced yesterday. Like the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and LG Intuition it boasts a massive display and a full roster of high-end features.

But as compelling as each smartphone is, only one can come out on top. So let's take a deeper dive to determine which device will be crowned Verizon's king of gargantuan handsets?

LG Intuition A variant of the Optimus Vu, the … Read more