LG converts its smaller, crazier projects into startups

For every idea a big corporation decides to show to the public, there are thousands sat in a vault down in its R&D labs. LG is the latest to decide that it might be worth trying to spin a profit from some of the projects that were previously consigned to the bin. The Korean conglomerate has announced that it’s spinning out two startups that’ll live or die on the strength of their execution. Much like Sony’s toe-in-the-water approach to crowdfunding, the setup is all about throwing niche concepts at the wall and seeing what sticks.

First up, there’s Acanvas, a 23-inch FHD digital picture frame that’s designed to be hung in a prominent place in your home. The idea is that the device will serve as a portal to what could be loosely be described as Netflix, but for fine art. Simply open your phone and pick a painting to suit your mood and boom, you’re all set up — you don’t even need to head down to Sears.

The device has to be hung above, or close to a wall socket, but there’s no unsightly wiring that’ll ruin your minimalist decor. Instead, the frame itself has a small charging plate that it’ll drop down into a wireless bucket connected to the mains. After the five-hour battery has been depleted, the puck will be lowered down, re-juiced and drawn back up while you cower in fear of the terrible whirring noises coming from the family room.

LG’s pushing to get more of its second-string ideas out into the world, and so has spun out Acanvas into a startup on its own. The company has launched a pre-sale on Kickstarter, where it’s hoping to raise $100,000 to kickstart operations. Early birds can grab one of the $499 devices for $399 and get a year’s free Netflix-for-art subscription, which’ll set everyone else back $120.

The other enterprise that LG is nudging out of the door is a medical imaging startup that sounds more like a tricorder than anything else. There’s a lot less information available about Infit and Company, but apparently it’s working on an optical imaging system for medical diagnosis. Rather than utilizing “radiation to peer inside patients,” the company’s technology can apparently identify conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis.

It looks as if this is going to be a new strategy for the company that’s being spearheaded by LG Electronics’ Skott Ahn. He believes that small, nimble companies with a singular idea should be free from “the bureaucracies of a large organization.” He’s encouraging people to fail, too, since LG employees can go off, form a startup and — if everything collapses within three years — come back to the company no questions asked.

Source: Acanvas (Kickstarter)

LG’s GoPro rival can stream direct to YouTube

LG has made an action camera that can live stream to YouTube (or anywhere else) without a phone or WiFi. The LG Action CAM LTE (clearly, hours spent on the name) has onboard 4G to beam video direct to the web. The camera itself looks like an elongated GoPro Hero4 Session (the frame it’s hanging from in the picture looks almost identical). Unlike GoPro cameras, though, LG’s Action CAM has built-in GPS and motion sensors — much like the Garmin, or TomTom action cameras. This means you’ll be able to record where your footage was taken, gather metrics or easily find video highlights later.

The Action CAM’s 12-megapixel sensor shoots 4K/UHD at 30 frames per second (fps), 1080p at 60fps and for extra slo-mo, there’s a 120 fps option at 720p. If you’re hoping to make use of the cellular livestreaming, then you’re limited to 720p at 30 fps. That cell connection isn’t the only way to get video out of the camera though. The Action CAM supports memory cards up to 2TB, and there’s built in WiFi and Bluetooth too (plus good old USB of course).

LG says the Action CAM is part of its “Friend” line of accessories, which it launched in Barcelona earlier this year with the LG G5, although there are no specifics about how it actually fits in with the rest of the line (especially as it doesn’t need to borrow the phone’s data connection). It’s likely that you’ll be able to use a handset as a viewfinder though. The Action CAM is also waterproof to one meter for 30 minutes without a case, so you’ll definitely not want your phone with it then (we also imagine this hinders livestreaming).

On paper, the Action CAM seems to offer more features than most of its rivals. GoPro cameras don’t have motion sensors, and there are very few with livestreaming built in right now. GoPro gets around this by native support for Periscope, but that still requires you have your phone within WiFi reach. We can’t tell you if this makes LG’s camera a worthy rival just yet, as we have no idea about price, data costs and even where it’ll be available beyond South Korea next month, followed by the US and Europe later.

Source: LG

LG Pay won’t now be unveiled at MWC 2016

Along with its new G5 flagship and mid-range smartphones, LG has been gearing up to launch its LG Pay service at this year’s Mobile World Congress. However, LG has now pushed the launch date back into the second quarter of the year to ensure maximum exposure for its upcoming G5 smartphone.

LG has been preparing to launch its mobile payment service since late last year and has been partnering up with a number of card companies. However, the electronics giant looks to be prioritising the launch of its G5 smartphone ahead of its mobile payment system.

“LG Electronics has delayed the official launch of LG Pay to the second quarter of this year to help the new LG flagship smartphone ― G5 ― receive more media attention,” – LG official

In addition, one of LG’s technology affiliates suggests that the company is concerned about flagship smartphone sales, after facing tougher market conditions and a lack of traction with its last generation flagships. The G5 is looking to be a key handset to lift LG’s mobile business, which posted another, albeit smaller, loss in the most recent quarter.

LG’s mobile payment system would be going up against the Apple and Samsung Pay platforms, which have already staked out strong claims in the market. However, rather than relying solely on mobile devices, LG Pay would make use of a general purpose “White Card” that can be tied to existing bank accounts and cards. The card appears to make use of a small display and navigational buttons to allow consumers to pick between associated cards.

See also: LG G5 rumor roundup: release date, specs, and features93

LG has apparently already signed up a number of Korean card companies, but rumors suggest that LG may be behind on signing up card companies in other target markets, such as the US. Although an LG official denied that this has anything to do with the launch delay.

LG revamps its mid-range with two “Specialist” handsets

Ahead of its main announcement at this year’s Mobile World Congress, the G5, LG has announced two new mid-range smartphones that boast some of the company’s high-end technology. The new Specialist X Series is made up of the X cam and X screen, which reveals a little about the special features included with each of the handsets.

Starting with the X cam, the smartphone boasts a dual-rear camera configuration that is built from a 13 megapixel and 5MP sensor, presumably allowing for adjustable focus post-processing. This is accompanied by an 8MP front facing sensor. The handset also features LG’s 3D Bending Glass for a curved front panel finish. Other specifications include a 5.2-inch FullHD display, an unspecified 1.14GHz octa-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage and a 2,520mAh battery. There’s also Android 6.0 Marshmallow installed by default and 4G LTE support.

The X screen features very similar base specifications, with 2GB of RAM, a 13MP rear and 8MP front camera combination, 16GB of memory, Marshmallow and LTE support. However, there’s a 1.2GHz quad-core processor in this phone, paired up with a slightly smaller 2,300mAh battery. The big feature with the X screen is a secondary always-on display, similar to that which featured in the flagship V10 model. The 1.76-inch ticker screen displays frequently used apps, battery information, and notifications, among other things. This display sits right above the main 4.93-inch HD display.

See also: LG G5 rumor roundup: release date, specs, and features93

There is certainly some interesting hardware available with LG’s latest mid-range handsets. Unfortunately, we don’t know how much these smartphones will costs yet or when they will be hitting store shelves. LG will probably unveil the final details when it showcases the X cam and X screen at MWC in Barcelona on February 22^nd.