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LG G5 Unveiled: 5.3" QHD Display, Snapdragon 820, Modular Magic Slot Expansion (hothardware.com)
MojoKid writes: Rather than just bring another smartphone update with the typical yearly iterative tweaks, the folks at LG have really done something transformative with their next generation G5 flagship smartphone. The aluminum unibody construction of the G5 brings with it a 5.3-inch QHD display, powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor that is paired with 4GB of RAM. 32GB of internal storage is standard but there is a microSD card slot to allow for up to 2TB of expanded storage. On the rear, you'll find a fingerprint scanner and two cameras, a standard 16MP sensor and a 135-degree wide angle 8MP sensor. In addition, LG has included a USB-C port and removable 2800mAh battery. That's all rather routine stuff; what's truly innovative about the G5 is its Magic Slot, which brings a new modular twist to the Android platform. Pressing a key on the side of the G5 will eject its bottom section, which will also allow you to remove the battery. Then you can proceed to attach new modules, like the LG Cam Plus. The LG Cam Plus adds a camera grip to your G5 along with a dedicated camera button and a jog wheel for zooming. The module also boosts the battery capacity from 2800mAh to 4000mAh. The second module is the LG Hi-Plus, which brings with it an external 32-bit DAC and amplifier. This particular module was developed in conjunction with Bang and Olufsen and comes with a pair of H3 headphones that support native (Direct Stream Digital) DSD playback.
This is far from routine and deserves special mention.
'Magic Slot' in translates to the English phase 'proprietary, non interoperable interface'
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There's little question this is a sponsored post.
Captcha: "bastard" -tee-hee
I've got a smartphone...sure, it's great. But I can't honestly say that I feel I've gotten the upfront price plus the monthly fee's worth of utility/entertainment out of it.
What's everyone else's experiences with smartphones?
PS: I don't reply to ACs.
Because I'm really sick and tired of being forced to buy new phones every time I want to switch carriers.
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yet another phone that requires a fucking degree in computer science to be able to make a call on!
</Luddite>
Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
Never say "QHD". Always use the correct term, which is "WQHD".
The reason is because there is another resolution named "qHD" (meaning "quarter high definition") which is only 960x540.
WQHD (or what some people confusingly call "QHD") is 2560x1440.
Unfortunately, the confusion between "QHD" and "qHD" is now so severe that the only rational response now is to stop using the acronym. This is unfortunate, but the fault lies entirely with the marketing people and/or journalists who were just too slow to catch on that they were using the same term for two completely different things, and that it's unrealistic to expect that the uppercase/lowercase "Q/q" distinction could feasibly serve to differentiate them. (I know in theory it could, but this is the real world we're talking about here.) It's time to face facts that the "QHD"/"qHD" acronym is ruined, and to move on.
I mean I could see third party peoples like Beltek making docking stations to attach the phone to TVs, or keyboard+monitor+mouse combo or interfaces to A/V receivers...
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
The phone ecosystem is in dire need of a REAL system bus expansion architecture.
Android especially is based on linux (while iOS is based on MacOSX, which is based partly on BSD), which has baked in support for mixed CPU types, exotic memory technologies, and other goodies. A proper system bus implementation could get all that footwork brought to work for the device in question.
Say for instance, another CPU, or added RAM, a different cellular modem (or satellite modem), an ethernet jack, perhaps even eSATA or a physical serial port.
They could solve the driver/kernel module issue with an MTD squashfs with a digital signature on it, baked into each device. Contains the module source code and config script along with a vetted compiler binary. builds the module, then drops it in the system storage. Complies with GPL completely that way, and the end user doesnt need to see anything other than a "please wait while your device is configured." splash from android. (this mechanism is a security hole big enough to drive a bus through. Needs secure digital signature enforcement on the partition inside the device, read only partition in the device, and other such restrictions to avoid giving a mechanism to attackers with local access. This isnt necessarily a bad thing either. It means that a root user enabling card with dummy hardware could be put in the slot to give end users root access to their device. (contains dummy compile script, and copies SU, Busybox, and pals to the device) Sadly, it could be used by law enforcement for the same purposes. Using encrypting filesystems becomes important.)
Existing drivers can be leveraged if the slot resembles an express card slot at the software level.
If I were designing a slot architecture for android, this is the direction I would take anyway. (Just remember that a slot that can do anything truly useful (like add a GPU, add RAM, etc), needs access to the front side bus, which basically makes it a naked debug port through which law enforcement can insert their deeply coveted "magic keys". They can have their own little system on chip attached that shares the bus with the host cpu, and can do anything the host cpu does, for better or for worse. I dont consider that a good thing, but I dont see a solution, other than to just not have the port at all.)
I like the idea of a standards based expansion port for cellphones that lets you add beefier hardware later. But to do that right, and keep it user friendly, you either need to distribute kernel modules over the store with crypto, or do what I proposed above, and have a naked access port to the system bus. (with all the danger that enables.)
From a security standpoint, sandboxing/segregating the memory range associated with the slot and some other tricks might improve matters, by preventing DMA reads from devices sitting in that range from seeing main system memory, and requring active participation from the host cpu for data moves in and out, thus crippling "magic key" use, but it would also make it much harder to put certain kinds of hardware on the port.
Kind of a curious thought experiment. How would you guys go about it?
Slashdot better be getting paid for these ads, to make up for people that leave because of them. I have thought about leaving because of all the "Stories" like this.
A metal phone which keeps the removable battery. THAT is a feature I'd like some other phone manufacturers copying.
I don't care much about metal, plastic is fine by me but since all flagships seem to going to metal it's nice that someone still gives you the posibility of changing the battery on your own.
Also the expansion slot is a nice tech.
MicroSD + removable battery + decent screen size and quality + decent camera = this could be sold by Satan himself and I'd still buy it, and this is coming from someone who is still using a mobile that's at least four years old.
I don't care about the gimmicky add ons and such but even so I genuinely think I'll be grabbing one of these.
I'm normally an aggressive tech upgrader but didn't see anything in the G4 worthy of an upgrade and these G5 specs don't excite me either.
We heard a lot of talk about phones that can be built up like LEGOs, and now this phone has one card slot of some kind. Maybe what we need is a standard (that 10% of the phones would adopt) for an expansion slot. The trick would be standard device drivers, as that would mean a major rewrite of Android, and only Google can do that.
Top of the line hardware with bottom of the barrel firmware updates. Im betting you will be lucky to get 1 update for the two years they expect you to own this phone and zero updates after 2 years. Meanwhile your Google nexus phone has monthly updates for a good 4 years.
I typically spend about $125 to get a phone similar to what cost $600 a year prior, and I spend $25/month with Boost mobile.
Right now, I'm in the car, waiting 10 minutes while my wife runs into the store. Normally when I have to wait a few minutes, I spend the time studying on my phone. While I'm driving I listen to lectures I downloaded to my phone. Between listening while driving amd reading or writing while waiting, I get about an hour of school done per day, using time that would otherwise be wasted.
People go for higher and higher specs, and the batteries don't keep up. My phone is a tool, not a fashion accessory. I don't go after flash. Never had a screen protector or case. But I never drop it either. When not being used, it's in my belt case, not gripped in my hand so everyone can see that stupid bite-out-of-an-apple logo ;)
I've had 3 smartphones since 2010. Dell Streak 5, Galaxy Note1, and Huawei Ascend Mate2 that I've had almost 2 years now.
Not the high end spec device, but the screen is clear, it's got NO lag, fast, great camera and a battery that lasts TWO DAYS
with about 20-30% battery left. 4,050mAH battery, THAT was what sold me on this. Faster processors and higher density brighter
screens eat up the batteries. You don't need a super duper processor and a bunch of flash to have a good user experience.
Smartphones are the "toaster oven" now days. Flash is about all they have left to sell. They all look the same and do the same
thing. When the Nexus6 came out, a coworker got one. We put the SAME apps on both devices. Rebooted, and waited 2 minutes
for them to settle down. Ran the same apps on each device at the same time. Wink of an eye difference, but not at DOUBLE the
price. He sent it back and got something else. He said for what I use it for, I'll never use it to the potential, especially not at double
what I paid for the Mate2.
People today want instant gratification. Gotta "have" the newest processor, the newest OS. Then 3-4 months later something new comes
out and they just gotta have the newest again. Hey, as long as the manufacturers can get away with the fact that consumers are economic
idiots, why not.
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This is the main reason why US customers keep paying so much for their contracts and is so difficult to change carriers. The only carrier supporting the European (and actually most worldwide carrier models) is T-mobile. If you live in an area with a decent T-Mobile coverage, I'd suggest people to switch to them and vote with their SIM cards. Maybe other carriers would follow up.
Fnarr Fnarr.
"The aluminum unibody G5 brings with it a 5.3-inch QHD display with an Always One mode"
So I was confused as to what "Always One" was about, but apparently that's just a typo of Always-On. A better description is here, where apparently the display can stay on using 0.8% battery/h due to not being tied to the primary processor.
Sounds neat, although I'd still like to see a phone that tries something like a hybrid e-paper display or something of the like
I dig that LG is using the slot to allow them to create 1 base phone and allow the end user to pick the guts inside of it... but I worry that this will lead us down the road of manufacturers creating expensive sub-par devices, and then forcing us to buy a bunch of "PLUS" or "Premium" expansions bring the phone up to a respectable spec.