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LG makes Knock a standard feature on its smart phones

LG is making it possible to wake up any of its smart phones just by double-tapping the screen. Power button, begone!

Joe Svetlik Reporter
Joe has been writing about consumer tech for nearly seven years now, but his liking for all things shiny goes back to the Gameboy he received aged eight (and that he still plays on at family gatherings, much to the annoyance of his parents). His pride and joy is an Infocus projector, whose 80-inch picture elevates movie nights to a whole new level.
Joe Svetlik
2 min read

The LG G2 is quite a phone, with a ridiculously powerful chip, and great battery life. But it also debuted a new feature for LG -- you could wake up the handset just by double-tapping the screen. Well you'll soon be able to do the same with all of LG's smart phones, as the company has announced it's making it a standard feature.

The LG L Series II will be the first range of handsets to get the 'Knock' feature retroactively through a maintenance release, starting in January. Is this the end of buttons as we know them? 

As well as the LG G2, Knock (formerly known as KnockON) featured on LG's G Pad 8.3 tablet, and the G Flex curved smart phone. The G Flex, like the G2, has buttons on its back, so double-tapping did away with the need to reach around for the power button. But the functionality isn't exclusive to LG. Nokia's Lumia 1020 has it too, but Nokia didn't feel the need to give it a name.

"Knock is distinctively an LG UX and a great example of what happens when you marry the latest in mobile technology with consumer-centric insights," LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company's president and CEO Dr. Jong-seok Park said in a statement. "No one ever thought that a power button needed to be improved until our engineers wondered why they couldn't turn the entire screen into a power button."

So when will LG L Series II handsets get the feature? The rollout will vary by region and operator, according to the release, so we'll have to wait for a UK announcement.

LG recently confirmed it has some wearable tech in the pipeline too, but wouldn't be drawn on exactly what it is. Rumours say LG is readying a smart watch called the G-Arch, and a health and fitness tracker called the G-Health. I'm sure we'll know more come CES next week. Or maybe it'll unveil them at Mobile World Congress in February.

Do you want to double-tap your phone to wake it up? Are the days of buttons numbered? Let me know in the comments, or on our Facebook page.