แอลจีโชว์เทคโนโลยีหน้าจอสัมผัสสุดล้ำ S-Class UI บนมือถือไฮไลท์แห่งปี LG ARENA

LG Electronics reaffirms its focus on ‘Customer Insight’ by revealing its operation system innovation called S-Class UI on a touch-screen mobile phone. S-Class UI will make smart multimedia experience incredibly easier in its 2009 highlight product: LG ARENA. Thai customers can experience LG ARENA first by pre-booking it at any branch of J Mart in Bangkok prior to its formal launch nationwide at the end of April. In Europe, its pre-order sales have reached one million units. 

Mr. Hyun Woo (Howard) Lee, Managing Director, LG Electronics (Thailand) Co., Ltd., said nowhere has the evolution of touch-screen technology been more evident than in mobile phones. While phones were starting to gain features and processing power similar to those found on computers, their usability was limited by far smaller screens and lack of space for buttons. People loved their feature-filled phones, but found them hard to navigate. More features meant that menus were deeper and more complex.

 “When the convergence trend really picked up, phones were becoming incredibly difficult to use. It had cameras, MP3 players, web browsers and even DMB TV tuners, but the interfaces for each feature relied on the same set of static buttons. We wanted to give our customers new phones that were as easy to use as the simpler phone they replaced, and saw touch-screens as a solution.”

With the 2007 release of the PRADA Phone by LG, the world’s first full touch-screen phone, LG began to fulfill its mission of creating the optimal interface for phones with long feature lists. The company has made remarkable advances in the years since and at the Mobile World Congress 2009, unveiled its new S-Class User Interface, which debuted on ARENA, its flagship multimedia mobile phone.

“With S-Class UI we created an interface that is not only faster and more intuitive than previous platforms, but is also more dynamic and fun to use. It eliminates unnecessary steps, adapting to fit each feature and each person’s preferences. We did all of this while also giving S-Class UI a sense of fun found nowhere else,” said Mr. Lee. 

Touch-based 3D menus give S-Class UI a life-like look that adds to its intuitive nature. Sorting through multimedia is accomplished by dragging a finger across 3D Reels with clearly marked icons, rather than looking through long lists of files. Using the camera in S-Class UI phones is easier than using a standalone digital camera. Because the interface is touch-based, it can transform according to the settings, which are selected using an intuitive onscreen dial, similar to the dials atop expensive D-SLR cameras. 

S-Class UI is also fast. One of LG’s goals for the interface was to make transitions – changes between menus, screens or applications – faster. This is clearly evident looking at its main screen. Built-around a 3D cube layout, S-Class UI actually provides four customizable home screens. The simple flick of a finger instantly turns the cube from one side to the next. With four times the space for direct shortcuts to features, S-Class UI is undeniably speedy.

LG also eliminated nested menus wherever possible. Items in Elastic Lists, a new concept for this interface, instantly expand when touched, providing information and options. This eliminates the extra step of switching to a new screen, which saves time and makes it easier to browse to other choices.

S-Class UI does not just jog along at a mild pace. It sprints instantly between features and screens with rich, vivid graphics. This is important, given the interface’s incredibly fun and dynamic 3D graphics. In the Floating Image Gallery, for example, photos line up instantly in rows when the phone is held vertically. Turned horizontally, the images fall off the screen and larger versions appear, perfectly sized for showing off. Navigation is as simple as flicking a finger. 

In February, LG Electronics launched LG ARENA and its latest touch-screen technology: S-Class UI; in MWC 2009 in Spain. Since its formal launch in Europe, LG ARENA has been well acclaimed with 1 million pre-booked units worldwide. As for Thai consumers, LG will give a chance to those interested to pre-book LG ARENA to experience the extreme multimedia mobile phone in the industry first at all branches of J Mart in Bangkok between April 17 and 30, and get special accessories, such as a portable speaker worth over Bt4,000 before its formal launch in Thailand, which is the first country in Asia, at the end of April.

“S-Class UI will become the standard on LG’s high-end mobile phone. LG plans to introduce several high-end models this year, including camera phones and smartphones with enhanced usability and premium design.