LG's Optimus 7 & Samsung's Focus Reviewed: A Tale of Two Windows Phones
by Anand Lal Shimpi on December 3, 2010 10:14 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Samsung
- Windows Phone 7
- LG Optimus
- LG
- Samsung Focus
- Mobile
LG's Software Bundle
This is the way smartphone competition is supposed to work. You get a single, well done UI, and the manufacturers compete based on design choices, form factor, build quality and bundled value.
LG delivers build quality, screen size and attempts to offer additional value with its software bundle. Optimus 7 owners get access to three LG specific apps on their Windows Phone 7 device: Panorama Shot, Play To and Scansearch.
The Play To app allows the Optimus 7 to act as a digital media server capable of streaming content to any DLNA digital media renderer. This can be anything from an audio receiver to a HDTV, as long as they are DLNA compliant DMRs.
Launching the Play To app gives you a list of content types. You can choose from music, photos or videos although you can't stream content from your Zune Pass.
Pick the content you want to play, then pick the device you want to play it on. The device list is enumerated according to any DLNA compliant renderers that exist on the same network as the Optimus 7. For me the Optimus 7 discovered by Sonos Zone Players as well as my Samsung HDTV.
To push photos or videos to the TV I just choose the content I want to play, I get a message on my TV telling me what's going on and I'm good to go.
Data has to go over your WiFi network so there are obvious bandwidth and range limitations, but the Play To app is a great way to get content on your phone onto DLNA renderers in your house.
Photos stream well. The default view is a slideshow mode, although you can pause the slideshow and push individual photos over the network. It takes a couple of seconds for each photo to get pushed out to the TV. Don't expect anything instantaneous. There's no support for rotating photos either, so if you take any photos in portrait mode using the phones camera expect to be looking at them sideways on your DLNA compliant TV.
Videos stream via Play To just as easily as photos. Once more this is a great way of getting videos you've made with your phone onto a larger screen without any copying/syncing. There is a few second delay before you get started.
Music streaming works for content you have stored on the device as long as it's DRM free. Unfortunately that means you can't turn your Zune Pass equipped Optimus 7 into a jukebox of unlimited proportions.
Panorama Shot is exactly what it sounds like. It's LG's own camera app that lets you stitch together five photos for a single ultra wide aspect ratio shot. Once you take the first shot in a panorama you get a red outline on the screen telling you where to position the phone for the next shot. The process continues until you have taken all five shots required, you can't stop short.
Panorama Shot - first image
Panorama Shot - second image, note the guide to help line up shot #2
Then there's a lengthy stitching process on the camera. Remember we're still dealing with first generation Snapdragon silicon here.
The final product is workable but honestly doesn't look very good:
Panorama Shot produces 2.55MP images at 3656 x 698, but the resulting file size is only 1MB - there's a lot of compression at work here (although technically less than the camera's 5MP images).
Like many 3rd party apps on Windows Phone 7, the Panorama Shot app isn't very fast. The live viewfinder runs at what looks like 15 - 20 fps.
Scan Search is the final member of LG's app bundle for the Optimus 7. You get an augmented reality interface that uses your GPS location and data connection to find and mark points of interest on your screen (e.g. nearby restaurants).
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omega12 - Friday, December 3, 2010 - link
"Apple is the first company I've seen to take the pace of innovation offered by Moore's Law and pair it with an equally aggressive expected upgrade cycle."Last time i checked their hardware was not exactly up to date so I don't think you can say they are the kind that follows Moore's Law closely. Aggressive upgrade cycle they do have though.
Maybe you meant that with each upgrade they usually change their core hardware? But then again that's hardly the case. I don't get it.
sprockkets - Friday, December 3, 2010 - link
I think Moore and his law need to die. This isn't even cpus we are talking about, and Anand even referenced the stupid law when referring to SSDs.For that matter, if they really were following Moore's law they would upgrade like every 18 months, not 12, and others upgrade like every 6 months. And those ARM cpus are not getting upgrades solely based on litho process improvements either.
foolsgambit11 - Monday, December 6, 2010 - link
Moore's Law is often used a simple shorthand for referring to the rapid pace of technological innovation, and that's how it was used here. But given that, Moore's Law originally only said that the number of transistors that can be fit on a given size of silicon will double roughly every 18-24 months (Moore used different numbers at different times). So it applies equally well to SSDs.Anand Lal Shimpi - Friday, December 3, 2010 - link
I meant from an end user standpoint. The typical PC upgrade cycle is 3 - 5 years, Apple's sales strategy seems to be to shorten that cycle fairly aggressively.The holy grail a decade ago was selling PCs like cars - a new one every model year. Apple has effectively done that. It's great for Apple's bottom line for sure.
Take care,
Anand
StormyParis - Saturday, December 4, 2010 - link
Indeed, the car model-year explanation makes a lot more sense. People like getting stuff that is "new", it's an easy-to-grok upgrade cycle, and, thanks to technological progress, PC model-years mean more than cosmetics changes, which are what most car model-years are about.I'm wondering why most brands don't go with the yearly line-up refresh, probably towards the end of summer. I'm guessing PC companies still mainly see themselves as tech-driven, or even component-driven, which kinda explains why Apple is making a killing.
Pirks - Sunday, December 5, 2010 - link
"why most brands don't go with the yearly line-up refresh, probably towards the end of summer"That's because most brands are run by the Mototrolls and frobitches of the world.
wyvernknight - Monday, December 6, 2010 - link
Wow, its pirks, the persistent apple-lover from dailytech. Long time since i read one of your comments!Exelius - Monday, December 6, 2010 - link
Apple's hardware was pretty up to date when it was released; which was quite a while ago. The trick for Apple is that they underclock everything to achieve excellent battery life.Mobile hardware goes out of date pretty quickly; but I still wouldn't say the iPhone 4 is exactly ancient. They release one hardware upgrade and several software upgrades per year.
If you mean stuff other than the iPhone, then sure. But I'm not really sure they need to be the latest-and-greatest; the MBP is still easily the best selling laptop in the world and when you compare the MBP to truly comparable laptops, it's not poorly priced. Try to find a laptop with high-res, quality 15" screen, discrete switchable GPU, i5 or i7 and 5+ hours battery life... The entire package is what's important.
It's almost to Apple's advantage to sell slightly out-of-date components, so you buy a new one every year... Compare this with a company like Dell, HP or Acer where they release a new product every week, so the end-users know that whenever they want to upgrade, there will be a new product there for them to buy. With Apple, you try to time your purchase right after a major announcement.
mfenn - Friday, December 3, 2010 - link
The Youtube video on page 9 is marked as private. :(tipoo - Saturday, December 4, 2010 - link
Works fine for me, but not in the embedded player. You have to double click it to open it in youtube.