A Guide To The LG Optimus GT540
Over the past several years, LG has risen through the ranks of the cell phone market. Until recently, however, they have been reticent in entering the Android world. The company took its first steps in this area with the Intouch Max GW620 and have followed that device up with the LG GT540. Better known as the Optimus, it expands on the capabilities already found on the 620. Those new to the Android operating system as well as those who are already familiar with it will enjoy this phone. With a body crafted from a contoured, high quality plastic, the Optimus offers a 3.2-inch resistive screen. Comparable in size to many other models, it stands 109mm tall, 54.5mm wide, and 12.7mm thick. Some prefer the ease of capacitive touch screens, but the one found on the Optimus is rather responsive. It displays bright images at a resolution of 320 x 480 pixels and supports 256K colors. Powered by the Android 1.6 operating system, the Optimus also uses an updated S-class user interface. Call, menu, and messaging buttons are found at the bottom of one of two home screens. Available are the basic Android home screen or a customized LG version. The customized home screen offers some nifty features like the ability to access messaging whenever you wish as well as portions of the drag-up menu, widgets, folders, and shortcuts. UI is very friendly and affords the user the convenience of importing contacts from Facebook, Bebo, and Twitter. Your friends are only a touch away. The LG Optimus includes a 3-megapixel camera equipped with autofocus. Photographs are presented in 2048 x 1536 pixel resolution. Face and smile detection are nice additional features. Those familiar with the LG Viewty Smart will already be comfortable with the camera interface. The camera also records VGA video at a rate of 17 frames per second. Cell phones have evolved far beyond the ability to provide a tool for conversation. They have become multimedia systems and the Optimus is no different. Xvid and Divx formats are supported by the media player. The music player is based on the same interface of LG’s other models and supports FM radio and has an RDS feature containing radio channels. The Bass feature adds some punch to the sound and the Optimus comes with 150 MB of internal memory. Though it is an early entry into Android technology for LG, the company has created a smartphone that capably handles the operating system and will please new users and prior owners of LG equipment. By keeping it somewhat simple, the LG Optimus is advanced enough to take advantage of what there is to offer but won’t overwhelm those new to the world of Android-powered phones.