LG G2 officially announced

Today LG took the covers off their newest flagship smartphone the LG G2, during a special press conference in New York. The G2 combines cutting-edge hardware and an innovative design with a unique software experience which the company promises to have learnt from 'You' its users.

LG has always been known to be bold with bringing new technologies to the table, and it looks like the G2 will continue that trend. The outcome has been categorized into five areas which LG has focused on with the G2 - Design, Display, Camera, Sound and User Experience.

Design

One of the first things you will notice on the LG G2 is the unique placement of its buttons. Instead of putting them on the side, LG has chosen to place the buttons on the back of the G2. LG reasons that the general smartphone user places their hand at the back of the device making it the most logical location of the buttons. While the main purpose of these buttons is to control the volume, they can also be assigned to various other tasks. For example the volume up key can be used to launch the LG QuickNotes application while the volume down key can be used to quickly launch the camera.

While it doesn't sound practical to place the camera shutter key just below the camera, it seems to work great for (selfies) self portraits. These are the only physical buttons on the device as the G2 uses virtual buttons for its other operations.

LG has also included an IR blaster in the device which can be used as a universal remote for not just your TV, but other compatible appliances throughout their home.

The G2 packs a generous 3000 mAh battery, but manages to do this using lesser room. LG promises that we should be getting a full day of intensive usage on a single charge.

Display

LG has chosen a 5.2 inch display for the G2 which they claim is the maximum size a display can reach to be comfortably held in your hand. The display uses IPS technology and has a 1080 by 1920 pixel resolution. The display panel uses 450 nits of maximum brightness output to counter sunlight legibility and LG has implemented Graphic RAM technology to reduce the panel's energy needs by an amazing 26%.

LG has also implemented a super sensitive display, which allows you to interact with your device even if you have your gloved on. Nokia was the first to use this technology on their Lumia devices and it has quickly caught on among other manufactures.


Camera

The G2 comes with a 13 megapixel camera with optical image stabilization (OIS) which should help reduce motion blur caused by the movement of the user's hands. Since the physical buttons are located just under the camera, LG has made sure the sapphire glass lens has been treated with an anti-fingerprint coating. The G2 features 1080p video capture at 60 frames per second, which should result in amazing videos especially with OIS keeping your frames steady.

Sound

The LG G2 will be the first commercially available handset with support for 24bit, 192kHz audio output. This is great for folks who enjoy high quality audio, but the fact that the G2 is limited to only onboard storage will hinder the opportunity of expansion if you run out of space.

LG has also built in an audio zooming feature on the G2 called Audio Zoom, which is capable of focusing on a specific audio and turn off background noise

User Experience (UX)

The LG G2 comes with the latest version of Android 4.2 Jelly Bean (4.2.2) which has been customized with some useful features and enhancements. Guest mode for example allows two different user profiles to be stored in the device. One of them is set as the administrator and can restrict access to certain apps, which is great if you have kids who want to play games on your phone. You can assign a unique unlock pattern for each user, launching their profile directly from the lock screen.

The Answer Me feature allows you to answer an incoming call by simply picking up your G2 and holding it to your ear. The ring volume will reduce when the device is packed up and the phone will be automatically answered when placed to your ear. No swiping or tapping needed. We hope the device will be smart enough to know when you want to ignore a call.

The screen can be locked on unlocked with a double tap gesture on the display. This will be useful for those who find the placement of the physical keys uncomfortable. Once you are done using the device, a double tap on an empty area of the screen will turn it back off.

The G2 has enhanced multitasking with Slide Aside, which allows you to swipe to the left with three fingers to access up to 3 apps  of their choice. The Capture Plus feature, the user can capture entire web pages or bodies of their emails and then crop the needed area.

Pricing and Availability

The LG G2 will be released in the U.S. soon through all four major carriers and through over 130 carriers around the world. Release dates should vary from carrier to carrier with Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile in the U.S. along with Three in UK have confirmed the upcoming availability of the devices.

The unlocked international version of the LG G2 has been priced at 599 euro for the 16GB model, while the 32GB variant costs 629 euro. While its assumed that the device will cost $599/$629 off contract in the U.S., but the subsidized pricing is still to be revealed by any of the carriers.

The G2 release date will be before the end of August in the United States, but global availability will vary across markets. You can select between the Black or White variants when it lands.