Microsoft steps up offensive on smartphone front

Owning a smartphone that runs on Android or iPhone OS may be the coolest thing on Earth as both mobile operating systems have been topping the numbers in terms of current usage.

But Microsoft has not conceded the game yet. The Redmond giant recently announced forthcoming smartphones with a reinvigorated Windows mobile OS meant to challenge Android and iPhone’s presence in the smartphone space.

The Windows OS will next appear in the LG Optimus 7—a product of a strong collaboration between Microsoft and LG Mobile Phones.

The LG Optimus 7 runs on the completely overhauled Windows 7 OS platform. It has an intuitive “tile format” user interface vastly different from the UI feature of the Android and iPhone operating systems where icons appear in a grid format.

The LG Optimus 7 is positioned as a multimedia smartphone, offering the best multimedia experience with links to Zune Marketplace and Xbox Live—gaming and multimedia services under Microsoft’s stewardship.

As a multimedia device, the LG Optimus 7 allows you to enjoy top-of-the-range gaming as it provides a unique link to X-box via a dedicated tile window.

The LG Optimus 7 is equipped with a 5-megapixel digital camera with intelligent shot mode. It also allows the user to play or capture memorable moments in HD video quality.

The camera has more to offer with the LG Augmented Reality feature—it allows users to easily search their surroundings by tilting the Optimus 7 toward the ground and useful points of interest (POI), landmarks and maps. Even the latest weather forecast may be shown on the screen.

As a social networking tool, the LG Optimus 7 features a voice-to-text facility that enables a user to “speak your tweet”—a particularly handy tool when updating status on Facebook or Tweet site.

The Optimus 7 promises Microsoft Outlook integration with seamless sync to your PC’s calendar, mail and contacts, allowing users to reply to text messages directly from their PCs.

The Optimus 7 is equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 1GHz processor and a 3.8-inch TFT screen display. It also comes with 16 GB of internal memory that enables users to store large amounts of HD content such as games, movie clips or music tracks.

The LG Optimus 7 is priced at P29,990.

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