Last week Google and Samsung held a joint press conference in Hong Kong to announce the Galaxy Nexus and the newest version of Android, known as 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. As impressive as the Galaxy Nexus is, some people are terrified by the sheer size of the thing. What makes matter worse, Ice Cream Sandwich is optimized to run on screens that have a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. If 4.65 inches is the smallest Samsung can currently build such high resolution displays, then what are people who want the latest version of Android, but also want something that can fit comfortably in their front pocket, going to do? Enter the LG Optimus LTE. Announced roughly 3 weeks ago, it packs a 4.5 inch screen that uses brand spanking new AH-IPS technology that’s been tested by an independent party who says it delivers better color accuracy than Samsung’s competing Super AMOLED Plus panel used in the Galaxy S II, and it even uses less power.
Now granted, the LG Optimus LTE isn’t an Ice Cream Sandwich phone, and when it was announced it wasn’t mentioned whether it would ever leave South Korea. Today, thanks to a video spotted by Unwired View, we can safely say that the Optimus LTE is indeed coming to other countries, the first of which being Canada of all places. Bell will sell the Optimus LTE as the “LG Eye” to consumers at some point in the future. An exact launch date or price hasn’t been specified, but we’re sure it’ll go for roughly the same amount of dough that Bell’s current flagship is going for.
The important questions that remain unanswered: Who else is going to be using LG’s new 4.5 inch 720p panel? Can LG make those 4.5 inch 720p panels in volume? Will Samsung ever make a smaller 720p display, preferably one that doesn’t use PenTile? Will the Optimus LTE (Eye) ever get upgraded to Ice Cream Sandwich?
Oh and one more thing, ignore the mistake the guy in the video makes when he says the screen is 760 pixels tall. It’s not, it’s 720 pixels.