MWC 2019: LG Premiere Press Event, a Live Blog (6:30PM UTC)

01:22PM EST - LG recently announced that it has a range of new technologies ready for its upcoming ThinQ branded smartphones. We're here at the press event to find out all the details.

01:27PM EST - Almost ready to start

01:27PM EST - The images at the back of the room clearly state that we're dealing with the LG G8 ThinQ and LG V50 ThinQ today

01:28PM EST - That's LG V50 ThinQ with 5G

01:29PM EST - LG has kind-of half announced these phones through press releases and social media posts, but today will be the first proper look at the final hardware set for consumer products

01:30PM EST - Here we go

01:31PM EST - MWC is the conference for mobile

01:31PM EST - LG is always focusing on mobile innocations

01:31PM EST - 5G is going to push us in ways we never thought of

01:31PM EST - Coming faster than you expect

01:32PM EST - A 5G phone has to cope with the speed of change

01:32PM EST - LG's job to predict the user mobile needs

01:32PM EST - Real innovation comes from insight

01:32PM EST - Making every day better

01:32PM EST - 'Insightful Innovation'

01:32PM EST - Seeing where LG can add value to technology and design

01:32PM EST - Meeting needs, meeting unexpected needs

01:33PM EST - Features like Knock On

01:33PM EST - Steering our course

01:33PM EST - Elevating your mobile experience

01:33PM EST - Keeping the experience fresh and relevant

01:33PM EST - Two new products

01:34PM EST - V50 ThinQ 5G

01:34PM EST - Freely create and enjoy high quality content over 5G

01:34PM EST - Experiencing what 5G has to offer

01:35PM EST - Required trusted partners to achieve

01:35PM EST - Michel Combes, CEO of Sprint to the stage

01:35PM EST - >Looks like LG will be exclusive on Sprint in US?

01:35PM EST - Aiming for a pure adrenaline rush

01:36PM EST - Race to 5G

01:36PM EST - Sprint and LG approached the race as true partners

01:37PM EST - Leaders in the industry

01:37PM EST - 5G will change the world

01:37PM EST - Collaboration with Qualcomm

01:37PM EST - Very aggressive timeline with Qualcomm

01:38PM EST - Customized 5G solution for Sprint

01:38PM EST - Nice form factor

01:39PM EST - Sprint employees loved the prototype

01:39PM EST - A wild ride, ready to see where go next

01:39PM EST - Pioneering the 5G experience

01:39PM EST - LG back to the stage

01:40PM EST - It will be fast, and stable

01:40PM EST - Study showed that 61% of Koreans and Americans didn't know about 5G

01:40PM EST - Set to change our daily lives

01:40PM EST - 5G begins with LG

01:41PM EST - VR and augmented reality

01:41PM EST - A heightened sense of immersion with 5G

01:41PM EST - Experience a future state with 5G

01:41PM EST - Going beyond limits

01:42PM EST - Dr Kim, SVP of 5G at LG

01:42PM EST - Meaningful moment for the company

01:44PM EST - Key moment occured at CES 2018. At the time, Sprint believed it was impossible to launch 5G in this timeframe. Not a solution to meet their requirements. But LG's experience being the first to offer 4G and 3G put them in a unique position to offer to sprint. Also had to consider global 5G ecosystem and needed Qualcomm support. That particualr discussion was the springboard to work with parnters to introduce LG V50 ThinQ 5G in the first half of this year

01:44PM EST - Qualcomm to the stage

01:45PM EST - Collaboration with LG has always been exciting. There were a lot of challenges to the beginning of 5G. Prior to the announcement of the first sub-6 GHz 5G phone, we had to make impossible possible. We had to make the carrier technology provider and the technology provider were on the same page

01:45PM EST - Focused on building a legacy

01:46PM EST - Leadership in LTE/LTE-A, aim to bring 5G phone in first half of 2019, in the US, Korea, Europe etc

01:46PM EST - This is not the end of the story

01:46PM EST - Worked closely between LG and Qualcomm for decades

01:47PM EST - Snapdragon 855 connecting the world with 4G and 5P

01:47PM EST - 4G and 5G

01:47PM EST - Lots of complexity

01:47PM EST - LG and Qualcomm will continue to provide worldwide 5G solutions

01:47PM EST - LG and Qualcomm will continue to provide worldwide 5G solutions

01:48PM EST - Gaining the trust of partners and customers that believe in our technology

01:48PM EST - Industry leading performance and power efficiency for new experiences in the transition to 5G

01:48PM EST - Google Lens intelligence onto the camear

01:48PM EST - camera

01:49PM EST - almost 4x faster due to S855

01:49PM EST - Also Qualcomm Spectra ISP

01:49PM EST - Computer vision enabled AI

01:50PM EST - Optimal gaming experience

01:50PM EST - At LG, we believe in multimedia

01:51PM EST - 74% of people looking forward to 5G services

01:51PM EST - Already made practical innocations in the V50 to enable 5G

01:51PM EST - Focused on the multimedia can support every element of creating content

01:52PM EST - 6.4-inch OLED FullVision display

01:52PM EST - Found a way to double the screen

01:52PM EST - LG Dual Screen

01:53PM EST - An additional screen you can add to your V50 as an accessory

01:53PM EST - (It's not a foldable, it's a second screen)

01:53PM EST - Second screen can act as a controller, as a side by side reading

01:54PM EST - Enables new experiences

01:54PM EST - Enjoy content and multitask

01:54PM EST - Casting off the limitations of a single screen

01:54PM EST - Audio is an essential element

01:54PM EST - Provising unmatched sound quality

01:55PM EST - DTS:X 32-bit Quad DAC

01:55PM EST - BoomSpeaker

01:55PM EST - 4000 mAh

01:56PM EST - Efficiency increased 20%, charging speed increased by 50%

01:56PM EST - Advanced Heat Dissipation system

01:56PM EST - Heatpipe that is 270% larger than the one in the V40

01:56PM EST - Dealing with heat from the design

01:56PM EST - 5G phone at the same temp as a 4G phone

01:57PM EST - 183g, width of 8.3mm

01:57PM EST - Multiple Carriers

01:57PM EST - (Verizon as well as Sprint)

01:57PM EST - Now for the second phone, the LG G8

01:58PM EST - LG G8 ThinQ

01:58PM EST - LG released the first touch screen phone

01:58PM EST - Finding new convenient ways to interact with devices

01:59PM EST - Waking up the phone 110 times a day

01:59PM EST - New dimension in depth

02:00PM EST - Percieve space and distance, but phone interactions are still only 2D

02:00PM EST - Z-Camera can detect a hand up to 20cm from the device

02:00PM EST - Down due to a Time-of-Flight sensor from Infineon

02:01PM EST - Real time 3D data

02:01PM EST - Infineon to the stage

02:02PM EST - ToF measures the time from photon emission to when it gets back to the sensor

02:02PM EST - Enables a very secure smartphone-user interaction

02:03PM EST - ToF is the most secure 3D technology on the market

02:03PM EST - ToF is more reliable, smaller in size, and more cost competitve, and reduced power

02:04PM EST - Patented that neutralizes bright sunlight. Can be used outside

02:04PM EST - A more natural interaction with a smartphone

02:04PM EST - It ends the limitations of 2D imaging

02:04PM EST - A 3D camera enables you to be in the middle of your environment

02:05PM EST - working with LG since 2012

02:05PM EST - Enabling 3D use cases

02:06PM EST - LG G8 enables different security

02:06PM EST - Hand ID

02:06PM EST - unlock your phone with your hand without touching it

02:06PM EST - Younger users more likely to use biometric multiple-factor authentication

02:06PM EST - Vein authentication

02:06PM EST - World's first vein recognition

02:07PM EST - Vein recognition is stronger for security

02:07PM EST - Possibility that two people have the same vein structure is 1 in 1 billion

02:07PM EST - Can't be tricked with photos. (Can't be tricked if someone cuts off your hand, apparently)

02:08PM EST - Face and Hand recognition is safe and fast

02:08PM EST - Can use hand unlock when cooking or driving

02:08PM EST - Can also use gestures 20cm from the phone to control volume or answer calls

02:09PM EST - Air Motion

02:09PM EST - This adds multiple ways to communicate with the device

02:10PM EST - Can open applications without touching the phone

02:10PM EST - can take screenshots too

02:12PM EST - That's called the z-camera

02:12PM EST - records depth data with photography

02:12PM EST - Can do video bokeh

02:13PM EST - On the selfie camera

02:13PM EST - Calculate to the nearest mm

02:13PM EST - 8.4mm thick

02:13PM EST - First G series with an OLED

02:14PM EST - Boombox

02:14PM EST - DTS:X and 32-bit quad dac

02:14PM EST - Keeps the 3.5mm jack

02:15PM EST - product video time

02:15PM EST - Face unlock in the dark due to ToF

02:16PM EST - Crystal Sound OLED - screen acts as a speaker

02:16PM EST - Two and Three rear camera models depending on region

02:16PM EST - G8-S variant coming later

02:17PM EST - (G8S is slightly lower cost)

02:17PM EST - Devices are coming soon. Pricing will depend on region launch specifics

02:17PM EST - That's a wrap.