LG Shine (GSM Version)

This European version of the LG Shine sliding phone (expected to be launched in the UK in the second quarter of 2007) is cosmetically similar to the Korean version, except this is a GSM handset, not a CDMA one.

At the time of writing, LG haven't confirmed all the specifications of the Shine, but we know definitely that it has a 2.2'' 262,000 colour ''mirror effect'' display (almost definitely 240x320 pixels), the Shine has 70Mb of internal memory (expandable using microSD cards), a 2 megapixel camera with a Schneider Kreuznach lens (they make lenses for Kodak) and flash, Bluetooth and quad-band GSM support.

Size, weight and battery life aren't known, although these are probably similar to the Korean SV420. Cosmetically, the LG Shine is a bit of a cross between an LG Chocolate and Motorola RAZR.

The LG Shine has a web browser, email client and MP3 player which is pretty much what you'd expect these days. Application control is through using a scroll wheel plus two soft keys.

The design is somewhat more practical than the LG Chocolate - the Shine loses the heat sensitive keys, for example - but it's not really a replacement. It might well appeal to those people who want a high fashion slider, but don't really want a Chocolate handset. The scroll wheel: a blast from the past.

LG are proud of the scroll wheel, a feature that we haven't seen in a mobile phone for a while.

However, Nokia tried an almost identical approach back in 1998 with the Nokia 7110 (pictured right). The 7110 featured a very similar scroll wheel with two soft keys, and it was also a sliding phone (although with a mechanism similar to the Nokia 8800, rather than the LG Shine). The 7110 was well liked for being very easy to use (thanks to the scroller).. but on the other hand, the scroller had a tendency to break because it was quite a fiddly moving part.

To us, the scroller is a fairly obvious and easy to use element in a mobile phone. Hopefully, this second generation scroller will overcome the reliability problems of the older ones.. and perhaps we'll see it on more handsets in the future.
2/21/2007 9:06:57 PM
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