With the GW620, LG couldn't have furnished a more boring Android smartphone.
LG hasn't said much about the phone's specs: There's a 3-inch touch screen, a 5 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi and GPS support. There's no word on storage or what's running under the hood. We know from pictures that the phone has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard.
What's really interesting, however, is how LG comes across as utterly uninterested in the product. The company's press release says the phone gives LG "a broader and more dominant position in this expanding [mobile phone] market," but it says nothing about why the consumer might be compelled to buy this product over, say, the MyTouch 3G or any other smartphone.
Maybe it's because LG still has its heart set on Windows Mobile. Practically in the same breath as its Android announcement, the company also mentioned that it will be introducing three new WinMo phones in the coming weeks. Then, at the end of the press release, LG says it will be announcing "a minimum" of 13 new WinMo phones over the next 16 months. Isn't this supposed to be the grand unveiling of the company's first Android phone? Why are we even talking about Windows Mobile?
I'll admit that I'm a bit conflicted about pre-judging this lackluster phone. As a general rule, I think the software inside a phone is more important than the hardware, so LG needn't introduce anything special, as long as the experience with Google's mobile operating system is flawless.
At the same time, other smartphone manufacturers are getting more creative with Android. HTC's Tattoo puts an emphasis on customization, with a special user interface. Motorola's Cliq focuses on communication, with an interface that puts social networking, text messages and e-mail front-and-center. After those two recent announcements, the GW620 appears to fall flat.
LG says it's all about "greater consumer choice in the expanding smartphone category," but it seems as though the company is putting out a heartless Android phone out of mere obligation.
