It has the makings of a success story. Two tech giants combining to offer what might just be the phone to shoot an arrow right through that pesky Apple iphone. LG fans and Microsoft devotees alike are waiting for the Windows Phone 7 LG Panther that’s rumored to be set for release later this year.
Also called the LG GW710 (although who wouldn’t want a Panther in their pocket or purse, rather than a jumble of letters and digits?), this is the first Windows 7 phone to be put out by LG. It has only recently cleared the FCC and is moving from being solely in the hands of developers to being onstore shelves this fall.
Hardware specs weren’t available, but with the Windows 7 phone having quite a beefy set of requirements, you know this LG phone will hold its own.
What Will Draw the Crowds?
The LG Panther does have a host of impressive features. Besides the 5-megapixel camera that also takes 720p videos, this phone has a 3.5” WVGA touchscreen as well as a slide-out QWERTY keyword in landscape format. Best of both worlds indeed.
Did you notice that the camera also has autofocus and a dual-LED flash on the backside for shooting in darks rooms or areas with low light levels? On board GPS will keep you on track, Bluetooth is for hands free and all the speed and dependability of 3G is at your fingertips.
These features aren’t anything new for LG, so what does Microsoft bring into the mix? Combine these handy features with the usual suspects for the Windows 7 phone. Zune HD interface and player, top of the line on the go integration with Microsoft Office as well as IM apps and Xbox live support will make an appearance on the Panther.
Is that enough to make the market stand up and take notice? It’s expected that those who are already in love with the Windows 7 phone hype will be on board with the LG Panther.
There’s no set release date yet, but the Panther is expected in September. Price hasn’t been discussed either, but industry experts think it will land in or around the $200 mark with a two year contract at AT&T.
As the hype builds, videos fly around the web and more and more people eagerly anticipate the Panther’s release, performance expectations climb ever higher. Only time will really tell whether this LG and Microsoft team will live up to it like a true wild cat or curl up and purr like an overstuffed house cat.
Related posts:
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
The $200 price, plus Zune and all those other capabilities make this phone sound really appealing to me, even though I’m not really in the market for a new phone right now.
It sounds like there will be a lot of Windows 7 phones coming out this year. I wonder if they’ll end up competing with each other as much as they compete with other companies.
Has the Panther’s release date been set back? I haven’t heard anything about this phone since reading this post.