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| David Yoon, vice president of LG Electronics' mobile product planning division, introduces the LG V50S ThinQ smartphone during a press conference at the IFA trade fair in Berlin, Thursday. / Courtesy of LG Electronics |
By Baek Byung-yeul
BERLIN ― LG has unveiled a new high-end smartphone ― the V50S ThinQ ― that comes with an upgraded dual-screen attachment accessory at the IFA electronics trade show.
The company said the accessory will offer an enhanced user experience as it adopts 360-degree free stop hinge technology, enabling the second screen to stop and hold at any position.
David Yoon, vice president of the company's mobile product planning division, said the twin 6.4-inch displays will offer a seamless multitasking experience to users.
"When we introduced the V50 ThinQ earlier this year, we received a lot of negative responses but many changed their impression of the device after they experienced the convenience of the dual screen," Yoon told reporters.
"As we found that many users want their dual screen to stop at any position, we decided to develop an upgraded accessory.
He said this is the biggest improvement compared with the previous version that can be positioned at either 104 degrees or 180 degrees.
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| LG Electronics' V50S ThinQ smartphone. / Courtesy of LG Electronics |
The device will hit the global market, including Korea and the United States, in October. The price has not been decided.
LG said it will announce later whether the accessory will be available as a complete bundle or separate packs.
The V50S will come in two versions ― 4G-enabled and 5G-supported, depending on the country. For countries selling the 5G version, such as Korea, the device will be named the V50S ThinQ, while it will be called the G8X ThinQ in those selling the 4G version.
LG has expanded its collaboration with companies such as Naver and Netmarble to make the phone more useful.
The V50S ThinQ supports Naver's new mobile browser, Whale, to improve the user experience on the dual screen. Using a split-screen feature on the browser, V50S ThinQ users can browse different websites at the same time.
Naver's other services such as translation, synchronizing between PC and mobile devices, and finding search results from different platforms are also available.
In collaboration with Netmarble, users playing the mobile role-playing game "Lineage 2: Revolution" can display a mini map of the game on the second screen.
LG is pinning high hopes on the latest smartphone, as the dual-screen accessory will hit the North American market for the first time.
"The smartphone will hit the North American market next month and it will come with the dual-screen accessory," Yoon said. "To meet with more users there, we are planning to come up with customized promotions."
While Samsung Electronics, Huawei and Xiaomi have been focusing on developing smartphones that can be folded to seek a breakthrough in the market, LG has gained attention with its different approach.
Yoon said its dual-screen smartphone is capable of becoming a good competitor to Samsung's Galaxy Fold.
"Given LG unveiled a 'rollable' TV in the first half of 2019, the company is capable of joining the foldable smartphone race," Yoon said. "As the V50S ThinQ can offer an enhanced user experience compared with the V50 ThinQ, I think we have enough competitiveness in the race."
