LG will announce first Android 7.0 Nougat phone on Sept. 6

Having choices is great. Samsung's releasing its impressive Galaxy Note 7 later this month, the new iPhones are coming next month and now LG's announced it'll also unveil a new phone in early September.

The LG V20, which the company half-assedly announced — but didn't show — early last week, will debut in San Francisco on Sept. 6.

The invite (below) doesn't reveal anything juicy. We've got a "Play More" title and "The second story begins."

The first part could be alluding to LG's "Friends" modules, which headlined the company's G5. Although it seems unlikely the V20 will also be a modular phone, weirder things have happened. It could also merely be teasing the phone's beefed up entertainment features.

The second part is a little more cryptic. On the surface, the V20 is, of course, the second version of the V10, but it could also be hinting at a second screen or second selfie camera, two things that made the V10 different from other phones.

LG's G5 has two rear cameras. I wouldn't bet against that appearing on the V20. I liked the two-camera system a lot when I reviewed the phone.

The craziest part of the announcement date might be the fact it could come one day before Apple reveals its new iPhones.

Phone leaker Evan Blass tweeted that he has confirmed pre-orders of the new iPhones will begin on Sept. 9 with deliveries on Sept. 12. 

Not to downplay the V20 and what it could bring — it will be the first Android phone to ship with Android 7.0 Nougat, after all — but announcing a new product right when new iPhones are rolled out is practically suicide.

Good luck LG!

LG will compete with Apple in announcing first Android 7.0 Nougat phone

Having choices is great. Samsung's releasing its impressive Galaxy Note 7 later this month, the new iPhones are coming next month and now LG's announced it'll also unveil a new phone in early September.

The LG V20, which the company half-assedly announced — but didn't show — early last week, will debut in San Francisco on Sept. 6.

The invite (below) doesn't reveal anything juicy. We've got a "Play More" title and "The second story begins."

The first part could be alluding to LG's "Friends" modules, which headlined the company's G5. Although it seems unlikely the V20 will also be a modular phone, weirder things have happened. It could also merely be teasing the phone's beefed up entertainment features.

View image on Twitter

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Raymond Wong 

✔@raywongy

Just got the invite for the LG V20 event on 9/6...

8:43 PM - 4 Aug 2016

 
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The second part is a little more cryptic. On the surface, the V20 is, of course, the second version of the V10, but it could also be hinting at a second screen or second selfie camera, two things that made the V10 different from other phones.

LG's G5 has two rear cameras. I wouldn't bet against that appearing on the V20. I liked the two-camera system a lot when I reviewed the phone.

The craziest part of the announcement date might be the fact it could come one day before Apple reveals its new iPhones.

Phone leaker Evan Blass tweeted that he has confirmed pre-orders of the new iPhones will begin on Sept. 9 with deliveries on Sept. 12. 

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Evan Blass 

✔@evleaks

Confirmed: Pre-orders start on the 9th. You can extrapolate the launch event date from there. https://twitter.com/evleaks/status/756708040150249472 …

8:00 AM - 28 Jul 2016

 
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If accurate, Apple could announce them on Sept. 7, as Daring Fireball's John Gruber posits.

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John Gruber 

✔@gruber

Last four iPhone events:

5: Wed 12 Sept 2012
5S: Tue 10 Sept 2013
6: Tue 9 Sept 2014
6S: Wed 9 Sept 2015

I bet this year’s is Wed 7 Sept.

6:37 AM - 2 Aug 2016

 
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Not to downplay the V20 and what it could bring — it will be the first Android phone to ship with Android 7.0 Nougat, after all — but announcing a new product right when new iPhones are rolled out is practically suicide.

Good luck LG!

LG V20 will be the world's first smartphone to ship with the newest version of Android

LG's next flagship phone, the V20, will be the first smartphone in the world to launch with Android 7.0 Nougat, the next version of Google's mobile operating system.

The V20 will succeed last year's V10 and emphasize the "rich multimedia" experiences that the phone brought.

"The LG V20 upgrades and extends its predecessor’s cutting-edge multimedia features a step further, providing distinctive mobile experience and sets a new standard for premium phones for consumers," said Juno Cho, president of LG Electronics and Mobile Communications Company, in a press release.

And that's as much as we know about the phone. Way to announce pretty much nothing, LG.

LG had expected the G5, released earlier this year, would help revitalize its declining smartphone sales and generate interest in modularity. Its latest financials and executive reshuffling, however, indicate the G5 isn't moving the needle in any meaningful way for the company.

A refocus on the V20 could give LG a much-needed boost. But burning questions remain: Will the phone have two selfie cameras like the V10? Will it also have a secondary screen on top of the main screen? 

The V20 is slated for a release in Q3. It's possible LG will announce the phone at IFA in Berlin at the end of August.

Still, the announcement marks an important moment for Android this year. It means we're very close to the release of Nougat.

Renowned phone leaker Evan Blass (@evleaks) tweeted out a possible release date as Aug. 5:

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Evan Blass @evleaks

Android 7.0 releases next month, with the 8/5 security patch. Sorry Nexus 5 owners, no Nougat for you 

10:57 AM - 30 Jul 2016

 
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According to Blass, Nexus 5 owners will not be getting Nougat. The Nexus 5 was released in 2013. 

While Google is committed to security updates for its Nexus phones for three years, it's only committing to new OS releases for phones for two years — which makes the Nexus 5 already too old to receive Nougat.

LG's V20 needs to be awesome since the company is not expected to be working with Google to produce a Nexus phone this year. Huawei and HTC, instead, have been reportedly contracted to build this year's Nexus phones.

LG announces first phone to ship with Android Nougat, but doesn't show it

LG's next flagship phone, the V20, will be the first smartphone in the world to launch with Android 7.0 Nougat, the next version of Google's mobile operating system.

The V20 will succeed last year's V10 and emphasize the "rich multimedia" experiences that the phone brought.

"The LG V20 upgrades and extends its predecessor’s cutting-edge multimedia features a step further, providing distinctive mobile experience and sets a new standard for premium phones for consumers," said Juno Cho, president of LG Electronics and Mobile Communications Company, in a press release.

And that's as much as we know about the phone. Way to announce pretty much nothing, LG.

LG had expected the G5, released earlier this year, would help revitalize its declining smartphone sales and generate interest in modularity. Its latest financials and executive reshuffling, however, indicate the G5 isn't moving the needle in any meaningful way for the company.

A refocus on the V20 could give LG a much-needed boost. But burning questions remain: Will the phone have two selfie cameras like the V10? Will it also have a secondary screen on top of the main screen? 

The V20 is slated for a release in Q3. It's possible LG will announce the phone at IFA in Berlin at the end of August.

Still, the announcement marks an important moment for Android this year. It means we're very close to the release of Nougat.

Renowned phone leaker Evan Blass (@evleaks) tweeted out a possible release date as Aug. 5:

 Follow

Evan Blass @evleaks

Android 7.0 releases next month, with the 8/5 security patch. Sorry Nexus 5 owners, no Nougat for you 

10:57 AM - 30 Jul 2016

 
•  941941 Retweets
 
•  1,0901,090 likes

According to Blass, Nexus 5 owners will not be getting Nougat. The Nexus 5 was released in 2013. 

While Google is committed to security updates for its Nexus phones for three years, it's only committing to new OS releases for phones for two years — which makes the Nexus 5 already too old to receive Nougat.

LG's V20 needs to be awesome since the company is not expected to be working with Google to produce a Nexus phone this year. Huawei and HTC, instead, have been reportedly contracted to build this year's Nexus phones.

LG Mobile reports $132M loss as flagship G5 gets off to a slow start

Flagship phones are often make or break in the mobile industry. Just ask LG. The Korean company’s G5, an ambitious effort at modular devices, continues to weigh on the company’s financial performance this year.

LG announces its Q2 2016 report today and, in short, its mobile business is still some way from breaking even. While LG Electronics — the entire group — posted an operating profit of KRW 584.6 billion ($503.10 million), up 140 percent on the previous year, LG Mobile dragged things down with a KRW 153.5 billion ($132.10 million) loss for the period, though that is a 35 percent improvement on the loss in Q1.

LG shipped 13.9 million devices over its most recent three-month period, that’s higher than the 13.5 million it recorded in the previous quarter but lower than the 14.1 million from one year ago. The mobile business saw overall revenue lag, too. Its Q2 2016 revenue came in at KRW 3.33 trillion ($2.86 billion), an increase on the previous quarter — KRW 2.96 trillion ($2.46 billion) — but down nine percent year-on-year.

The company said the quarter’s loss “reflected increased marketing expenditures and somewhat slow initial sales of G5 smartphone.” LG didn’t give an exact figure for G5 sales, but it did convey its hope that a slate of new lower-end devices — the new V series and more devices within with K and X series — can reverse its fortunes in the next quarter.

LG’s mobile play might not be going as swimmingly as Samsung, which just recorded its most profitable quarter for two years, but it does have other business units to crow about.

This latest quarter’s impressive profit and KRW 14 trillion ($12.05 billion) in revenue — up just 0.5 percent year-on-year but five percent quarter-on-quarter — is predominantly down to its home appliance and air solutions and home entertainment units which pulled in record revenues.

Sure, air conditioning may not be as sexy as smartphones — don’t say that to Xiaomi — but with a KRW 433.7 billion ($373.24 million) profit on revenues of KRW 4.70 trillion ($4.04 billion), the division was LG’s stellar performer courtesy of increased sales in Europe, Korea and the rest of Asia.

Likewise, the home entertainment division carded an operating profit of KRW 356.7 billion ($306.97 million) on revenues of KRW 4.16 trillion ($3.58 billion).

Nationwide IoT network to link up South Korean smart cities

Smart city ambitions just leveled up thanks to a partnership between South Korean firms Samsung Electronics and SK Telecom that will build a nationwide Internet of Things (IoT) friendly network.

As reported by TheVerge.com, the companies announced plans to construct a network across South Korea for connected devices and smart city technology.

The coast-to-coast network is based on LoRaWAN technology, which stands for Long Range Wide-Area Network. The South Korean companies hail the initiative as the world’s first commercial LoRaWan network on a national scope. However, both KPN in Holland and Swisscom in Switzerland are rolling out national networks this year as well.

The network will be first rolled out in Korea’s fourth largest city Daegu utilizing the 900MHz frequency band. Following this, the network will be deployed nationally by mid-2016 according to the companies.

Samsung said that Daegu is serving as the test bed for the IoT network. Its initial focus will be on infrastructure for renewable energy, cloud computing and big data for healthcare and medical services, and infrastructure to accommodate electric cars and autonomous vehicles.

It gave an example of how Daegu’s streetlights will collect traffic and weather data via IoT sensors, which enables cost efficiencies by allowing the city to automatically adjust light levels, while simultaneously transmitting air pollution information.

South Koreans already have embraced connected tech

LoRaWAN is a long-range, low power and low-bandwidth networking technology that is ideally suited to facilitate communications between IoT sensors that will enmesh smart cities of the future. These networks seek to augment rather than replace existing networking solutions for connecting such devices like smartphones and laptops that consume large amounts of power and bandwidth.

South Korea is known as one of the world’s most technologically advanced countries with its capital Seoul being one of the smartest smart cities on the globe.  Indeed, almost every aspect of public life in Seoul is guided by technology, from its integrated public transport system to the government’s emergency warning system.

Seoul is partnering with such companies as Microsoft, Cisco and LG to deploy smart city technology in all corners of the metropolis.

Nationwide IoT network to link up South Korean smart cities

Smart city ambitions just leveled up thanks to a partnership between South Korean firms Samsung Electronics and SK Telecom that will build a nationwide Internet of Things (IoT) friendly network.

As reported by TheVerge.com, the companies announced plans to construct a network across South Korea for connected devices and smart city technology.

The coast-to-coast network is based on LoRaWAN technology, which stands for Long Range Wide-Area Network. The South Korean companies hail the initiative as the world’s first commercial LoRaWan network on a national scope. However, both KPN in Holland and Swisscom in Switzerland are rolling out national networks this year as well.

The network will be first rolled out in Korea’s fourth largest city Daegu utilizing the 900MHz frequency band. Following this, the network will be deployed nationally by mid-2016 according to the companies.

Samsung said that Daegu is serving as the test bed for the IoT network. Its initial focus will be on infrastructure for renewable energy, cloud computing and big data for healthcare and medical services, and infrastructure to accommodate electric cars and autonomous vehicles.

It gave an example of how Daegu’s streetlights will collect traffic and weather data via IoT sensors, which enables cost efficiencies by allowing the city to automatically adjust light levels, while simultaneously transmitting air pollution information.

South Koreans already have embraced connected tech

LoRaWAN is a long-range, low power and low-bandwidth networking technology that is ideally suited to facilitate communications between IoT sensors that will enmesh smart cities of the future. These networks seek to augment rather than replace existing networking solutions for connecting such devices like smartphones and laptops that consume large amounts of power and bandwidth.

South Korea is known as one of the world’s most technologically advanced countries with its capital Seoul being one of the smartest smart cities on the globe.  Indeed, almost every aspect of public life in Seoul is guided by technology, from its integrated public transport system to the government’s emergency warning system.

Seoul is partnering with such companies as Microsoft, Cisco and LG to deploy smart city technology in all corners of the metropolis.