LG teases V10 smartphone's unusual second screen in video
The unconventional smartphone, to be unveiled on 1 October in New York, will carry the South Korean electronics company's hopes for success with Android phones.
LG Electronics, trying to build up excitement for an Android smartphone arriving in a crowded market, gave the Internet a glimpse of the device's unusual front face in a teaser video on Thursday.
The phone, thought to be called the V10, will debut on 1 October in New York, just days after Google unveils competing phones powered by its Android operating system and Apple's new iPhone 6S and 6S Plus go on sale. But Google isn't just a competitor; one of its rumoured two new Nexus phones is likely manufactured by LG.
Apparently leaked photos of the V10 have already showing what appears to be dual cameras on the front and a second small "ticker" screen to display app shortcuts. The idea is somewhat like the apps edge on the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+. But unlike Samsung's second display, which runs down the side of the phone, the V10's ticker screen appears directly above the main display.
The 15-second clip posted on the South Korean company's YouTube channel seem to confirm that the photos, posted by @evleaks and reported by Android Police, are accurate. It again shows the dual cameras, which are nestled next to the ticker display along the top edge of the screen.
A two-screen design could help LG try to attract customers who have generally preferred products from LG's South Korean rival, Samsung. LG remains an important player in the fragmented and chaotic Android smartphone market, but it's reported declining sales throughout 2015 despite releasing a new flagship phone, the LG G4, in April. The V10 may be the company's attempt at trying to regain lost ground.
When Samsung released the Galaxy S6 Edge with its curved screen earlier this year, it proved so popular that the company struggled to meet demand for the phone, suggesting that there is a market for alternative-looking smartphones. You only need to look as far as the LG G Flex 2 -- a large, curved smartphone that had a rounded back and a concave screen -- to see that it is not unusual for LG to experiment with unconventional phone designs.