I have not ventured to write much about the wide range of different cell phones provided from all the different cell carriers. The tech specs, features, operator customizations and software bundles is so confusing I wouldn't even try to sort out the differences. Heck, the same phone has different names on different carriers!

But it looks like the crew over at SNL took it upon themselves to cover all the tech mumbo-jumbo like 4G-LTE, a 1,000 different HTC handset versions and all the rest. So much noise that is leaving the "non-tech geek" so confused. If this doesn't clear it up for you...I don't know what could help ;-)

Larry Pacey, award-winning designer tracks the latest news on consumer products, electronics, appliances, smart devices, networking and the gadget lifestyle.

For the latest news follow me on: ------------------------------ OR ------------------------------- Follow me on Twitter @WouldntMindThis Please comment below and share your thoughts. If you have any feedback or questions, feel free to email me at wouldntmind@gmail.com. Just my 2-cents, Larry

LG is looking to take a leadership position across the home appliances market-place similar to their current leadership in the front-loading clothes washer segment which they have held for the past 4-years.
Washer and Dryers
To maintain their competitive edge, LG is introducing their fastest and largest capacity washing machine. The washer has a more streamlined user interface and includes a smartphone application to notify of simple problems like leaving the door ajar. And might I say, it is a pretty mean looking machine.


Refrigerator
LG introduced it's largest capacity french-door refrigerator at 31 cubic feet of storage. No only does this refrigerator feature a nice contemporary look but also contains some very state of the art features.

The appliance is smart, like all the LG home appliances and tracks what it's contents. And using the your smartphone you can make a grocery shopping list, scan your grocery receipts to automatically add items purchased to refrigerator inventory and even purchase items right on the display. The app will allow you to see what is in your fridge and what needs replacing while you are shopping.

Take recipes found on the fridge and send them to your LG oven

Another innovative feature is the Blast Chiller that will quickly cool two cans of soda or beer in just 5 minutes or a bottle of wine in 8 minutes. It is accomplished this through a controlled, circular chilled airflow.

Smart ThinQ
All these devices are functioning across the LG Smart ThinQ network to allow these and future capabilities.

LG believes the continued success of LTE cellular technology is a key strength of their's with a large library of patents in the space. With those investments they continue to push the envelope of form and function within the Android-based smartphone marketplace.

LG Spectrum
The big news was the LG Spectrum with HD IPS display (same high-end technology used in their premium displays) with 329 pixel per inch and lower power needed than OLED. The smartphone's display is a 16x9 aspect ration to give you true high definition imagery.

Powering the device is a 1.5ghz dual-core processor, 4G LTE and an 8-megabyte camera that can record 1080p video. The phone will launch with Android 2.3 but is upgradable to Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0).

The phone will launch with Verizon and features exclusive HD access to the ESPN ScoreCenter application. Product will be available on January 19th for $199.99 and a two-year contract.

Enterprise Smartphone?
LG is also focusing on enterprise smartphone solutions based on VMWare virtualization that enables the user to have two Google Android operating systems (one for work and one for personal). The Revolution LTE will be the first to support this functionality.

You can read more about CES and Future product trends at WouldntMind.com.

84" 3D display at the LG CES 2012 Press Conference (as seen through the glasses)

LG opens up the first presentation of CES 2012, Wayne Park President and CEO of LG Electronics USA walks the packed crowd of press and analysts through the past year and introduces a wave of presenters to cover all through all the product categories. One business note worth mentioning is that LG USA grew 8% last year even in this challenging economy.

Home Entertainment

LG is focused on larger display sizes this coming year including 55, 60, 72 and 84 inch varieties. The 84"  includes an Ultra Definition with is equal to 4 x 42" high-definition televisions.

Core to much of LG's television line relies on a Nano Full LED (every pixel has its own small LED light source) and Cinema Screen design that enables these displays to approach nearly edge-to-edge display. 2012 models have a 1mm bezel and 28mm depth.

In an effort to push the capabilities beyond traditional internet/smart televisions, LG has developed their own high-performance L9 chipset that features a multi-core CPU/GPU (the brain and graphics technologies) to enable faster innovation on their solutions.

Magic Remote introduced last year has been highly successful and this year the new models go beyond just pointing by adding a wheel, pattern gesture (moving the wand around like a Nintendo Wii remote) and voice recognition for text input capabilities. And with an additional camera technology similar to the Microsoft Kinect, LG TVs will have an additional 3D Gesture Interface your body movements will control aspects of the user experience.

LG has also advanced their Smart Share Plus network technology inside of their home entertainment products by including a network file browser, wi-fi screen share for mobile devices, 2nd display configurations, MHL Mobile HD Link between devices and support for WiDi from Intel that allows WiDi-enabled laptops to share their content wireless on the TV.

With regards to 3D capabilities, LG was pretty much the lone voice last year talking about passive 3D glasses versus the active glasses. Passive glasses are similar to those you get when you go to a 3D movie at the theaters. Active glasses run on batteries and had a very fast flicker shutter that controlled the 3D affect. The passive glasses are lighter, don't require charging and are far more inexpensive. LG's predictions have proven correct and consumer trends are moving toward the passive solutions.

LG also announced their support for Google TV and in 2012 there will be two televisions that support those capabilities.


We also received a preview of future technologies with a look at the largest OLED at the show. LG's 55 inch creates stunning imagery and is a peek at where the world is going in the coming few years.


LG has demoed a glasses-free 3D display for personal experiences on smaller devices. This is definitely an area that many are pursuing to remove the glasses from the equation as some point once that technology evolves over the next decade.

You can read more about CES and Future product trends at WouldntMind.com.

LG is the latest to join the GoogleTV camp and has released some images of their new televisions that feature a slightly tweaked user interface. The LG televisions according the their release will include the Cinema 3D FPR technology (3D glasses similar to those you experience at the movie theater) and a "Magic Remote QWERTY" which uses voice and a Nintendo Wii-like wand to control the system. And the reference of QWERTY means the remote will also feature a keyboard that is so critical for controlling the GoogleTV interface.


Sony and Vizio have also confirmed they will be demonstrating new offerings that support the Google teams latest efforts.

Below is Google's CES 2012 demo video...

Organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays have been around for a few years and offer stunning visuals but have been constrained to smaller cellphone sizes. This very respectable 55" OLED promises to be a real stunner. One aspect of this technology is how small the technical underpinnings are allowing for incredibly thin executions. We are talking about a 55 inch television that is a 1/6th of an inch deep and weights 16.5 pounds.

This type of OLED technology has a refresh rate a 1,000 times greater than most plasmas and LCDs. And a contrast level of 100,000,000:1 that results in deep, dark blacks and very vibrant colors. The bad news is there really isn't a lot of original content or distribution solutions that support this level of quality. That will need to mature over the coming years.



While the technology is maturing, this calendar year we'll be looking at smaller executions in the 30" or less category and even those will be retailing in the high four-digits! We'll get a better sense of timing and the commercial roadmap of this technology at the show next week. We expect "incredible resolutions and visual clarity" to be a hot topic at the show.