LG Windows Phone 7 – Optimus 7 and Quantum Hands On Video

At a recent LG event, we got some hands on time with LG’s two Windows Phone 7 devices headed towards the Canadian market, the LG Optimus 7 slate style phone on Telus, and the LG Optimus Quantum QWERTY slider on Bell. Both phones sport 16GB of RAM and 1GHz processors, with the real differentiator between the two being the choice of keyboard or not.  The Optimus 7 has a 3.8″ screen, while the keyboard packing Optimus Quantum has a slightly smaller 3.5″ screen.

During our demonstration, Frank Lee of LG shows us how contact merge merge in Windows Phone 7 works, including contacts from services such as Windows Live, Outlook, Gmail, Facebook and Twitter, so that you don’t have duplicate names on the device.  For the most part, this should be automatic, but in the rare cases where there’s not enough information, you can establish the link yourself.  What’s interesting about Twitter is that although the Twitter app is a stand alone download, and not integrated out of the box, the contact merge option will may work with it.

UPDATE:  we should note that we were told that Twitter would also integrate before rolling, although the account used for demonstration didn’t have a Twitter account tied to it.  Since Frank only had the phone for a few days, this may not be entirely accurate…

We also take a look at a couple of LG-specific apps.

The first is Scan Search, an augmented reality app along the lines of LAYAR, which allows you to use the camera and GPS on the phone to display location based data in real time.  Scan Search was made in partnership between Microsoft, Google and LG, and allows users to filter out what type of information is presented to them.  It’s interesting that Scan Search is built as part of a partnership with Microsoft and Google, given the competitive nature of the two tech companies in the mobile space.

The other application is the obviously named Panoramic Shot, an LG alternative camera app which enables users to autogenerate a panoramic image by combining up to 5 images on the fly.  After taking the first picture, you simply rotate the phone, and a visual overlay suggests the best positioning for the next shot.  Once finished, it puts the pictures together as a single photo.

All in all, both devices are well-designed, and some of the best phones LG has produced. I was particularly impressed with the Optimus 7, which had a very premium feel, and with only subtle curves, features an industrial design that is very suitable to the clean lines of Windows Phone 7 itself.

This article is also featured on the Future Shop Tech Blog here.