Expected Q3 2008



The LG Secret (LG KF750) is the successor to the LG Chocolate and LG Shine, but it comes with a high-end specification much closer to that to the LG Viewty.


Forming part of what LG called their third-generation Black Label series of devices, along with a new music phone rumoured to be announced in the next couple of months, the LG Secret is a high-end device with a price tag to match.

This is a 5 megapixel camera phone, it comes with a fairly large 2.4" 240 x 320 pixel touchscreen display, it supports HSDPA high-speed data and comes with an unusual carbon fibre casing to give it a distinctive look. At just 11.8mm thick, the KF750 Secret is possibly the slimmest 5 megapixel device on the market.
As with the KU990 Viewty, the camera is a strong point, although it lacks the KU990's advanced lens. The camera has an autofocus and LED flash, and can capture VGA resolution (640 x 480 pixel) video at 30 fps, with QVGA (320 x 240 pixel) video at up to 120 fps. There's a secondary camera for video calling too.



The Secret's touchscreen interface is reported to be derived from the KF510 and KF600 handsets. Most phone operations can be carried out with the numeric keypad safely tucked away, because the main controls are on the front and side of the KF750. Touchscreen phones are definitely in vogue, and the LG Secret will certainly have some market appeal because of this. The screen can work in either landscape or portrait modes and will rotate automatically, and there's also a light sensor that can adjust the brightness according the ambient lighting conditions.
The KF750 Secret also has a multimedia player, plus an FM radio. The internal 100MB of memory can be expanded using microSD cards up to a maximum of 4GB. Stereo Bluetooth is supported, and there's a 3.5mm headset socket too. Software includes a web browser, email client, document viewer, Google Maps and YouTube support. However, the LG KF750 Secret does not come with GPS, so its use as a navigation tool is limited.

It's a relatively heavy device at 116 grams, although that's lighter than the rival Nokia N95 8GB. Talktime is quoted as being 200 minutes with up to 11 days standby time. It's a tri-band GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900 device with UMTS 2100, which effectively means that the KF750 is not suitable for North American markets.
This is an expensive device - LG say that the SIM free price of the LG KF750 Secret at launch will be around €549 (£440) which is significantly more expensive than the current price for an N95 8GB. For that sort of money, we would expect to see GPS support - but then the LG Secret does have a touchscreen, unlike the Nokia. If you view the Secret as a rival to the iPhone, then it certainly looks better on paper.

No exact launch date has been given, although LG have stated that the KF750 Secret will arrive in Europe first, followed by Asia and then the rest of the World.




LG KF750 / LG Secret at a glance

Available:
2008

Network:
GSM 900 / 1800 /1900
UMTS 2100

Data:
GPRS + EDGE + UMTS (3G) + HSDPA

Screen:
240 x 320 pixels, 262k colours

Camera:
5 megapixels

Size:
Medium slider
103 x 51 x 12mm / 116 grams

Bluetooth:
Yes

Memory card:
microSD

Infra-red:
No

Polyphonic:
Yes

Java:
Yes

GPS:
No

Battery life:
3 hours talk / 11 days standby