I have used a number of LG devices – both smartphones and feature phones – in my time. at the moment, we have the LG C660 Optimus Pro here at Mobility Towers. It is a device that we all like here, and I have sang its praise here.

However, for the life of me, I have not been able to get it to connect to a PC.

For one, the LG C660 Optimus Pro is not listed on the support pages.

After running in circles around LG’s support website, I finally found a PC Suite to download (and the labelling was not clear enough to assure me that it would work with the C660). Well, after installation, it has refused to work.

With other LG smartphones that I have used in the past, connecting with PC has been a hit-and-miss affair.

This is 2012. LG needs to work on this.

For now, I cannot check for the availability of any update for the Optimus Pro, because I can’t get it working with my PC. I cannot move files from the device to PC, and vice-versa either.

LG make some of the most affordable android smartphones around here, but this…. this is not very encouraging.

Anyone had better luck than I have?

PS: This review has no pictures yet. We upgraded to WordPress 3.3 last night and have been unable to upload pictures since then. Pictures will be added as soon as we can. Thanks for bearing with us. – Editor.

I said it before and I will again – the LG C660 Optimus Pro is a good-looking budget device. It was the good looks that first got my attention. Okay, well, it really was the QWERTY keypad – and then I noticed how good the phone looked.

But think of it, along with that keypad, this baby offers all the standard features of Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread) with a 2.8-inch capacitive display, and a 800 MHz processor. Sounds promising. And it is.

But for a device that costs around N30,000, there has to be compromises; right? Right.

But I will get to that later.

The Shining Stars

First, those keys do look small, but they work very well. I have large fingers and didn’t have big issues using the keypad. As a matter of fact, within hours, I fell more in love with the Optimus Pro on account of the keypad alone.

The display is responsive (more so than that on its distant cousin, the Galaxy Gio). Sunlight legibility is fairly good. With the brightness set to at least 50%, it is usable outdoors. Its not at the top of the ladder of sunlight legibility, but its quite usable.

I particularly like the LG desktop – with the large AccuWeather widget showing your city, time, date and weather condition. Did I mention that I really like it?

All other Android functionality is standard – and those are well known and they work fine: email, web browsing, music playback synchronisation, wifi, hotspot, etc. Its all there, so being a budget device doesn’t mean that you are denied any of those.

Video playback supports MP4, 3GP, WMV, and surprisingly AVI files.

The Compromises

While there’s a hefty 800 MHz processor running under the hood, the limited RAM of 256 MB means that using the phone with multiple apps running results in some lag, as well as a persistent low memory error when the little guy runs out of RAM.

Yep; persistent. The error pop-up gives you the option to select “Okay” to launch the built-in app manager and choose what apps to close, or to tap “Cancel”, go on with what you are doing and let the OS decide what to kill off.

After checking out the app manager once, I always canceled and just went on with my current task. Many times, when I go back to an app that I had been using, I find that its been shut down. I’m looking at a maximum of three or four running apps here. Anything more and something gets shut down.

Well, what were you expecting from 256 MB RAM on Android? This isn’t Symbian or BlackBerry. Still, its not terrible. It can be lived with. I have so enjoyed the Optimus Pro so much that I haven’t griped about it as much as I thought I would.

Another weak point of this guy is the camera. How do I put this? Let’s just say that this is about the worst 3.2 megapixel camera that I have used. I suspect that the erstwhile holder of that honour, the Huawei U8180, produces slightly better pictures. “suspect” is the operative word. The 3.2 megapixel camera on the Samsung Gio certainly does much better.

Like all other Android devices that I have used, power management is not impressive. While your usage may vary, but i find that charging the phone fully and leaving it idle overnight with Gmail, one company mail, Twitter and Facebook running, by daybreak, the battery is down to about 50%.

that’s idle. No human interaction with the phone. As another Android user said, it seems there’s an angel (maybe a devil too, who knows?) who uses his phone while he sleeps.

Your mileage may vary, but you certainly need to watch your battery and nurse this baby tediously to get through a full work day if you have the services listed above running on it.

Of course, you can always disable as many apps and services – or even everything besides calls and SMS – should you really need to.

A Few Other Niggles

I had issues with Glo’s APN settings on the Optimus Pro. The device has GloWAP and GloMMS configured by default. When I create a new APN for GloFlat and select it for use, the phone ignores that and uses GloWAP. I tried again and again, but never found a way around that.

I had no issues with Etisalat or Airtel APNs which I tested, so it looks like a Glo issue.

Conclusions

I like the Optimus Pro. It is a breath of fresh air, especially with its solid feel and good QWERTY keypad in a bar form. Of the several android devices that I have used this year, the Optimus Pro is the one that I developed a fondness this deep for.

I can live with the low RAM, but that poor camera is an issue. For you, things may be different. The power management is a deal breaker for me. I hate having to nurse a phone to get through a day of usage.

However, what is certain is that for its price, the LG Optimus Pro is serious value for money.

New Mobility Nigeria team member, Izi Ehigie, writes about her experiences with the LG GW305. This is her very first article for Mobility Nigeria. – Editor

“I’ll get you a phone”, were the words of my friend. He didn’t have to say “I promise”, but I knew that he meant it and I could hold him to his words. For a while, it didn’t look as if the phone was coming, but I knew it was.

One day, a long while later, my friend asked, ”Do you want a touchscreen phone or one with a QWERTY keypad?” Of course, I wanted one with a hardware QWERTY keypad.

Eventually, on Tuesday 9th of November 2010, I became the proud owner of a phone that I promptly I nicknamed ”GreyBerry.”

I am Izi, and about to give you a personal review of the LG GW305 phone. Roll along with me please.

The LG GW305 is a sleek black phone with a grey-coloured back cover (from where I got the inspiration to name it ”GreyBerry”). It is actually quite lightweight for its size.

Messaging on the LG GW305 is fun with its full QWERTY keypad. the mailbox isn’t quite up there. It seems basic and was unable to retrieve mails from my Yahoo mail account. I don’t know why emoticons were included on this phone when they are not visible in messages received.

One very funny thing about messaging on the GW305 is the delivery report which reads: “Report has been arrived“. Well, I guess that explains why the phone manual has just a few lines of English. Go figure.

Calls on the GW3054 are crisp and clear. There’s a 3.5 mm headset slot, though you cant end a call via the headset. That has to be done on the handset. The phone settings also lets you choose what calls you want to reject.

The large phonebook lets you allocate different funny images to your contacts. These come alive on your homescreen when you choose the Livesquare homescreen option.

Thumbs up for the camera. For a 2.0MP camera, I think it is a good one.

The LG GW305′s games are rather annoying since they are all demos and need to be purchased to enjoy the full packages.

Browsing on my GreyBerry has been the complete package – the good, the bad, and the ugly.

What’s good: That I can just pick up my phone and connect to the net.

What’s bad: A lot of sites do not load on this phone.

What’s ugly: Browsing terminates annoyingly without notice, leaving you with the notice, “Insufficient memory, unable to proceed“.

Well, that’s my brief review of the LG GW305. I do hope that you enjoyed reading my amateur effort.

Microsoft’s new Windowsphone 7 OS got off with a flying start today with the announcement of a deluge of devices, many of which will be in the market in weeks.

HTC
HTC took the spotlight with five (5) devices announced. They include:

1. HTC 7 Surround: 3.8″ display. Features a Dolby Mobile system with SRS WOW HD sound. Exclusive to AT&T in the US
2. HTC 7 Mozart: 3.7″ display. 8 megapixel camera. Built from a single piece of aluminum.
3. HTC 7 Trophy: a 3.8″ display
4. HTC HD7: 4.3″ display. T-Mobile.
5. HTC 7 Pro: slide-out QWERTY keyboard. For Sprint

Samsung
Samsung have two devices in their WP7 lineup:

1. Samsung i8700 Omnia 7 – 4″ Super AMOLED screen
2. Samsung Focus for AT&T – 4″ Super AMOLED screen. Has microSD slot.

LG
LG also has two (2) devices announced:

1. Optimus 7 – 3.8″ display
2. Optimus 7Q – 3.5″ with QWERTY keyboard

Dell
Surprise, surprise! Dell throws in the Dell Venue Pro, a vertical slider with a QWERTY keyboard, 4.1″ AMOLED display with scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass.

This is quite a show of force for Windowsphone 7 at launch. It is certainly a more spectacular launch compared to Android’s launch with just the T-mobile G1. Can WP7 wip up the frenzy required to push it into contention in the mobile smartphone market?

I am hoping so, if only for the sake of competition.

The LG GW300 is a cute looking QWERTY candybar that runs basically the same software features that the LG KS360 has. The menu is the same, and the specs list just a little different.

The differences are the installed apps (the GW300 has a Facebook app pre-installed) the form factor, and a few minor features.

Anyway, here are a few close-up shots:

GW300 beside the LG GW550 in the background

GW300 on the left; GW550 on the right

GW550 in the background; GW300 in the foreground

Personally, I prefer the GW300′s form factor. For those interested, the GW300 can be purchased from the Mobility Nigeria phone store.

If you haven’t read the first part of my LG GW550 review, now is a good time to.

In this second part, I will be sharing a little bit more about the GW550 and on what foot the device and I got started on.

First, the sales pack had “Windows phone” printed on it boldly in the top right corner. Right under that is “Dual Speaker Smartphone” printed in bold red, so LG appears to be marketing this phone for its stereo sound ability. But I shall come to that later.

In the pack was the phone, 1300mAh battery, audio headset with propietory ports (LG needs to get rid of its proprietory port connections and embrace miniUSB quick), USB data cable – again with a proprietory port, battery charger, and a small manual. The box is quite compact.

The earpieces of the headset are so large that they immediately felt uncomfortable in my ears within 15 seconds of using them. I am not sure what the LG designers were thinking when they came up with those, but they can learn a thing or two from the guys who crafted the Samsung Jet’s earpieces. Those are much smaller and have soft tips that slip right into your ears comfortably.

Samsung Jet's earpieces to the left; LG GW550 earpieces to the right

The GW550′s dual speakers are located at the back astride the camera opening. They look the part – encased in silver. Really classy.

The GW550 is a large device. Its not so large as to make it a brick or uncomfortable to carry, but it is larger than the Samsung B7320 and the Samsung Jet. Remember the large keys on the keyboard that I mentioned in part one? Of course, they had to come from somewhere!

In the above picture, you can see how much bigger the keys on the GW550 are compared to the B7320. Below, we have the Samsung Jet and LG GW550 in a group shot. Notice, of course, that absolutely gorgeous display of the Jet! Aaaaah….

Getting Started: My Phone to the Rescue!
This is the nice part. I switched on the LG GW550 and had it fully booted in some seconds.

Remember Microsoft My Phone? I first used it to sync and backup my contacts, calendar, SMS, pictures, videos et al when I had the Sony Ericsson X1 back in October 2009. I also used it with the Samsung B7320.

Well, its an application that was released with Windows Mobile 6.5, and the LG has it. I launched it, logged in, and in a few minutes had all my files restored to the GW550.

Perhaps you may not understand how sweet this is until you have used it. No connecting to PC to transfer files or sync contacts. Everything OTA in a few minutes, and I was good to go. Microsoft got this one right. It is a stressless way of switching phones.

Note also that if you have multiple Windows phones, you can sync your data across as many devices as you have via My Phone. Neat.

Need I say that the GW550 and I got off to a good start. In the next part, I shall be reviewing how the GW550 handles the core services that I use on any mobile device: mobile data, web browsing, and email. Don’t go away!

The LG GW550 is a QWERTY-enabled candybar smarphone running on Windows Mobile 6.5 standard edition, which means that there’s no touchscreen.

Key Features

* Operating System: Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.5 Standard (non-touchscreen)
* Size and Weight: 116.3 x 61.5 x 12 mm. 122 gm
* Display: 65,000 colours. 320 x 240 pixels, 2.4 inches
* CPU: Qualcomm MSM7225 528MHz processor
* Data: GPRS, EDGE, 3G, HSDPA (3.6 Mbps), HSUPA
* Camera: 3.2 MP, 2048×1536 pixels
* Memory: Over 200mb Internal + microSD slot (no card in retail box)
* Connectivity: USB. Bluetooth 2.0
* Text Input: QWERTY keyboard
* Mesaging: Threaded SMS, MMS, EMail, Instant Messaging
* Web Browser: Internet Explorer Mobile 6
* Large capacity Li-Ion 1300 mAh battery
* Wi-Fi/WLAN
* Video call with secondary VGA videocall camera
* Office documents viewing and editing; PDF viewer
* Built-in modem (internet sharing)
* Image editor
* MyEmail: Gmail, Yahoo, Twitter, Facebook, PhotoSharing et al

Strengths

* Very good battery life
* Very good loudspeakers (Dual speakers/Stereo sound)
* One-handed use and interface
* Highly usable QWERTY keyboard with large keys
* Good display
* Windows Mobile 6.5
* Easy mail and social networking setup with MyEmail application built-in
* A-GPS
* Internet sharing, PAN, Remote access to internet, A2DP via Bluetooth
* Web browser with advanced IE8 features: Flash, AJAX/Javascript, DirectX and ActiveX Control support

Weaknesses

* No flash with the 3.2 mega-pixel camera
* No auto-focus in camera
* No 3.5mm audio jack
* No multiple tabs in Internet Explorer Mobile

The LG GW550 reminds me of the Samsung B7320 (and somewhat of the Nokia E71 and E72).

Brief Comparison with the Samsung B7320
Compared to the B7320, the GW550 has larger buttons on the QWERTY keyboard, making for a more pleasant typing experience, especially if you have large fingers.

The display is the same size and resolution as that of the B7320, making it slightly larger than that of the Nokia E72.

In terms of construction, the GW550 is made of materials (plastic and metal) that ooze class, while the B7320 feels more plasticky. The phone feels quite good in the hands, and build quality is excellent. Side-by-side the B7320, the LG GW550 is better looking and better built. The B7320 is not bad. Its LG cousin is just better.

While the B7320 we reviewed earlier ran Windows Mobile 6.1, the GW550 comes with WM 6.5 running out of the box. Note though that the B7320 is upgradable to v6.5.

Windows Mobile 6.5 Standard Edition
WM6.5 does not bring much changes in terms of visuals, as there is no touchscreen and no need to have the user interface optimised for touch. However, it brings other benefits, including:

• Microsoft My Phone sync and backup built-in
• Windows Mobile MarketPlace built-in
• Pocket Internet Explorer 6

The GW550 leaves one with a very good first impression. But does it deliver on the goods? We will examine that in more details in part two of this review.

Research firms Strategy Analytics and IDC released separate, detailed looks at global mobile phone market share, shipment and growth information covering the third quarter of 2009

According to the reports, market leader Nokia lost a small margin of marketshare (from 38.6% marketshare in Q3 2008 to 37.8% in Q3 2009), while Samsung increased by as much as 4% (from 17.1% in Q3 2008 to 21.0% in Q3 2009). LG also made a strong showing growing its sales from 7.5% in Q3 to 11.0% in Q3 2009.

Motorola and Sony Ericsson are both still on a downward slide, and we are hoping here at MobilityNigeria that 2010 will bring them better fortunes.

In the meantime, as someone has said, the Koreans are coming!

Source

I have spent the last few weeks talking about the Android OS, and how it is the best thing that happened to mobile phones since the iPhone Honestly, while Palm’s Web OS has a lot of eye candy, reviews coming in suggest that it has some catching up to do with Android.

Back to topic, there can be no doubt to my readers that my new-found love is Android, after years with Symbian. Still, Symbian has its strengths, the strongest (though not so significant) being that it is a more mature OS. But that is a story for another day.

So, now that I have chosen the path of Android, is there any reason why I would get a Symbian device now?

Yes; if I needed a top-notch camera on my smartphone, I would get a Symbian device at this point in time. It is not because Symbian is better than Android in imaging capabilities. It is simply because Nokia makes some of the best camera phones out there, and Nokia makes the majority of Symbian devices.

Last week, ‘Dayo and I put the venerable-but-still-very-much-in-the-game Nokia E90 to use for imaging and video, and we were still awed by the quality of shots and clips we got from this device.

By the way, I still hold to my earlier position that the Nokia E90 is arguably still the best all-rounder. That guy rocks! I just wish Nokia would revamp that user interface.

Nokia has several other Symbian devices with amazing imaging capabilities. Until other manufacturers like Samsung and LG (both of whom are strong contenders in the camera game) roll out their Android phones, the Android platform currently has no competitors against Symbian when it comes to cameraphones.

It sure didn’t help that the first Android devices were from HTC – well known for less-than-stellar cameras on their devices.

The dotMobi WordPress Mobile Pack is a complete toolkit from dotMobi to help mobilize your WordPress site and blog.

It includes a mobile switcher to select themes based on the type of user that is visiting the site, a selection of mobile themes, extra widgets, device adaptation and a mobile administration panel to allow users to edit the site or write new posts when out and about.

The plugin gives tremendous customisation options. This plugin is what powers the mobile version of this site now. Below are images of the plugin at work on the built-in browser of the LG KS360:

The Mobility Nigeria mobile theme. Simple and easy to use

The Mobile Admin interface

I'm typing out the draft of this post on the LG KS360's built-in browser

More of the New Post interface

My draft has been saved, and a link for further editing provided

Comments moderation interface on mobile

The mobile admin interface is basic, but in my own opinion, that is exactly what is needed for it to be usable on the majority of mobile browsers in the market today.

You can download the dotMobi WordPress Mobile Pack.

In the first part of my review of the LG KS360, I examined the form factor and multimedia. In this second part, I am examining the internet capabilities, email, and other features.

Internet

The KS360′s built-in browser is by a company named – guess – Teleca. Ever heard of them? Didn’t think so. But they’ve been at the mobile browser thing since 1999, with the world’s first WAP 1.1 browser, though its development process started in 1997. Surprised? There’s more.

Teleca’s global market share was 14% as of 2007, and held 3rd place in mobile browser field. More than 600 million of mobile phones are equipped with Teleca products, and many of the excellent browsers built-into Samsung, LG, Motorola and Sony Ericsson phones are the handwork of Teleca.

Teleca has also produced a browser that’s a worthy competitor to all of Opera Mini and Mobile, Nokia Webkit and the iPhone’s Safari. Don’t take my word for it; see Dennis Bournique’s review of Teleca’s New Browser – Wow!

I know what you are thinking. No; I have not been paid to market Teleca. Or LG

Anyway, Teleca recently rebranded to Obigo.

Okay, I’m done with history class. Does the the Teleca/Obigo browser on the KS360 pass the test? It does a good job but it is just not the most capable of browsers.

Browsing dedicated mobile sites on the KS360 poses no problem, and browsing not-so-heavy HTML pages is not either. However, the browser runs into a wall when you attempt to load a very large page and displays an “out of memory” error.

I mean, this means I cannot do any serious work on that browser. I cannot log into Alireta‘s web-based client admin area. I cannot do any cpanel operations, et al. Add this to the fact that the browser is also a wee bit slow in loading pages.

The KS360 impresses me in many areas, but this limitations of the browser is a deal-breaker for me. It would serve a casual user of the mobile web quite aptly though, so its up to you to decide whether it will do.

However, if a website has been deliberately designed to be mobile-friendly, the Teleca/Obigo browser in the KS360 handles it beautifully well.

Email client

POP3 and IMAP4 email clients are supported. Attachments to email can be fully downloaded. The KS360 also has an auto message retriever that searches for new mails at set intervals and announces new mails with a tone/note.

There is an issue I have with the mail client. For some reason I am still not able to deduce, the mail client does not show me an up-to-date list of the most recent mails on my server. The list it presents always has the most recent week’s mails missing.

This is a deal-breaker for me. My most recent mails are important to me. Whether this is a server issue or a device isssue is not clear, though I doubt the former. All other email clients I have used work flawlessly on this score.

Photo Gallery

LG has provided a very sleek image gallery. The user can choose between 4 viewing styles, including thumbnail view, two 3D view options, and a list view. The 3D view options are stunning, though things can get sluggish a bit when viewing images stored on a a heavilly loaded microSD card. I had a 2G card in the phone.

There’s also a slideshow view option.

Organizer and Office features

Surprise; surprise! The KS360 comes with office document viewer, giving the user the ability to view MS Office documents. For a phone in this price range, that’s a deal.

Battery Life

The battery just lasts and lasts. Quite impressive.

Java

Other features:

- Voice Recorder
- FM radio
- Calendar
- memo
- Games
- Calculator

Conclusion

The KS360 is a noble effort from LG. The feature set is extensive, and the user interface nice and simple. But if you make extensive use of the internet and email, this may not be what the doctor ordered.

But its specifications, general performance and price makes this phone a recommended one for anyone on a budget and looking for an all-round device.

I have not handled the LG Arena or any other device running LG’s new dust-stirring user interface, quite aptly dubbed “S-Class”. But I haven’t handled the Apple iPhone either. Still there is no contention about the top-notch interface that the iPhone sports.

If the rave reviews that the new LG Arena is getting is anything to go by, an erstwhile underdog has gotten right what the giants are stumbling and fumbling over.

Samsung’s TouchWhiz interface is more of a hit and miss. Nokia’s new S60 5th Edition doesn’t have the fluidity and Waow factor, and stillfumbles in usability here and there. HTC’s TouchFLO is merely a thin layer of icing spread over the dated WinMo OS and interface.

But the LG S-Class UI simply rocks and seems set to become the best thing that happened to mobile phones since the iPhone. LG is getting something right.

A few weeks ago, I purchased a mid-range LG, the KS360 with slide-out QWERTY and touchscreen dialer. It ain’t no Arena and certainly isn’t running S-Class, but even that device left me with a very good experience. Dayo and I are agreed that LG did a good job with such an affordable device. The haptic feedback and responsiveness of the touchscreen dialer is very good. And functionality-wise, LG didn’t pull any punches either. Yes; the device has a couple of niggles, but for its price, its a deal.

Then, there’s the LG Cookie, also getting good reviews here and there. Coincidence? Or has LG struck pay dirt?

Related Article: LG KM900 Arena: A touch of class