LG announces $244 million Q4 loss, blames it on poor LG G5 sales

LG's gambit of creating an entirely new flagship smartphone, the LG G5, and make it a modular device together with various "Friends" accessories, including a 360' camera, a camera grip, speakers and other add ons. While I had the chance to test a pre-production LG G5, and liked its dual-camera array, I worried that the modular connectivity (which requires the removal of bottom part which secures the battery, was not ideal.

It seems the LG G5 sold very poorly, despite being heavily promoted. Unfortunately, this didn't help at all as consumers seemed to have ignored the LG G5. LG has a windows of opportunity at Mobile World Congress since Samsung has opted to drop out of the event and release the Galaxy S8 in a separate event. This means  LG can make moves and capture attention for its next flagship.

Source: 9to5Google

CES 2017: LG to abandon modular smartphones and the LG G5 'friends'

Of all the Android smartphone OEMs, LG is notorious for not having any continuity in its design or really investing into long term plans for their devices. Not only are they slow to update Android OS udpates on their mobile devices, each smartphone they release seems completely different from the one they released a year earlier.

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Report claims LG might ditch modular accessories for next flagship

LG G5 Modular smartphone - Photo from Tropicalpost.com

Things are not looking good for LG’s Friends, if this new report is to be believed. Korean-based ETNews cites unnamed sources that claim the “LG G6” or whatever the next flagship phone the brand releases won’t support add-on modules (a.k.a. the Friends). The story claims LG executives want to create a new flagship device that reflects what the customers demand instead of trying to bring innovative features that won’t be used by its users.

While the jury is still out on how useful and successful these modular accessory market (especially with Moto having its own ecosystem with modular accessories), dropping out of this segment too early might also not work in LG’s favor. This is still an unconfirmed rumour at the moment so we can’t say with certainty that LG will be ditching its Friends, especially since an LG spokesman has said the upcoming device will support the accessories. Whether it’s true or not, do you think LG should return to doing more traditional phones or stick with this new path?

Source: Android Authority

Qualcomm releases list of Quick Charge 3.0-compatible devices

There are different fast charging technologies out on the market. One of the more well-known ones is Qualcomm's Quick Charge. Now out with version 3.0, there aren't that too many devices yet that support it. But just so you know which ones do, Qualcomm released the list of Quick Charge 3.0-compatible smartphones. These include the LG G5, HTC One A9, HTC 10, HP Elite X3, Xiaomi Mi 5, General Mobile GM 5+, and LeTV MAX Pro. Of course, for quick charge to work, you'll need a certified Quick Charge 3.0 power adapter for it. Quick Charge 3.0 is said to charge devices 38 percent faster than Quick Charge 2.0 and twice as fast as version 1.0.

Source: Android Police