LG Electronics announced today Viewty Smart (model number LG-GC900), a brand new camera phone with an Intelligent Shot Mode that makes it easy to take great pictures by automatically analysing scenes and adjusting camera settings accordingly.
Viewty Smart carries on the heritage of the first LG Viewty, which sold over 6.5 million units worldwide. The second incarnation of Viewty offers even greater enjoyment while viewing and sharing, in addition to taking still and moving pictures, with a number of upgraded features in addition to its Intelligent Shot Mode. These include an 8 megapixel sensor with sensitivity up to ISO 1600, a higher resolution WVGA touchscreen, a more intelligent image processor and LG’s easy-to-use S-Class User Interface (UI).
Camera features
LG conducted consumer preference surveys in 14 countries including the US, UK, France, Brazil, Russia, India and China to learn what consumers wanted to see in the next generation mobile device and one key finding was that users thought current camera phones were too complicated to operate.
LG’s engineers addressed this issue in the Viewty Smart with Intelligent Shot Mode, which analyzes the subject, background, and lighting conditions and compares the data against seven pre-programmed scenarios to take perfect pictures every time. This feature, still rare on high-end stand alone compact digital cameras, is a first for a camera phone and only available from LG. This hassle-free mode completely eliminates the need to check settings before taking a photo. It even provides instantaneous feedback, showing exactly how the camera is analyzing a particular scene with real-time indicator bars.
With 8 megapixels of resolution, Viewty Smart’s pictures are not just great for sharing online, but are even sharp enough for printing and framing. With a maximum ISO setting of 1600, shots previously considered too dim or dark can now be captured even without a flash. This can be further augmented with the phone’s LED flash. Viewty Smart adds several new camera features including Multi-Face Detection and DVD-quality D1 video recording. It also carries over features such as Touch Shot, Art Shot, Beauty Shot, Panorama Shot and Continuous Shot.
S-Class User Interface
Viewty Smart also includes the easy-to-use 3D S-Class UI, which debuted on LG’s Arena earlier this year. LG has tailored S-Class around Viewty Smart’s camera features with an on-screen dial for instantly switching shot modes and a thumbnail viewer that shows recently taken photos without having to switch to the photo gallery.
Viewty Smart is as good at sharing photos as it is at taking them. Its wide, sharp 3-inch WVGA screen provides full 480 x 800 resolution, great for seeing every detail in pictures and movies. With 7.2 Mbps HSDPA network and Wi-Fi compatibility, Viewty Smart can upload photos over the internet at broadband speeds. With A-GPS based geotagging, friends can even see the exact spot where a photo was taken. The Viewty Smart can also store photos on its 1.5 GB of internal memory or on MicroSD cards up to 32 GB.
Extremely pocketable, Viewty Smart is just 12.4 mm deep, making it the slimmest 8 megapixel camera phone available. However, with its svelte camera-like design, few people will want to keep this phone hidden from view.
Price and availability
LG Viewty Smart is launching now and will ultimately be available through Telstra in July, and through Vodafone and 3 Mobile in August. The RRP for the LG Viewty Smart is $899.
