In an attempt to steal the spot-light off its South Korean counterpart Samsung's new smartphone Galaxy S4, consumer electronics major LG announced the introduction of eye tracking 'Smart Video' feature to its flagship Optimus G Pro on Thursday.
The announcement came just hours before Samsung unveiled Galaxy S4 which also features a similar eye-enabled video-view control feature 'Smart Pause'.
LG announced the Value Pack upgrade to its flagship smartphone Optimus G Pro, which include 'Dual Camera', 'Smart Video', 'Magic Remote Pad' and other innovative features.
During the announcement, president and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company, Dr. Jong-seok Park said, "LG is continuously innovating to offer creative ways to offer a user experience that adds value to our customers."
"It's the positive UX that will differentiate smartphones in 2013 and beyond, not only cutting-edge hardware specs." He added.
Brief Description of Features Included in the Optimus G Pro's Value Pack Upgrade:
Smart Video: This feature is very much similar to Galaxy S4's 'Smart Pause' which also uses the eye-tracking technology to detect user's head movement. For instance, if a user looks away while watching a video, smartphone automatically pauses the video, and starts right up again when user turns back.
Dual Camera: This feature too is identical and shares the same name as seen in the Galaxy S4. This camera feature allows the user to take pictures from both front and back cameras simultaneously for the picture-in-picture composition.
Smart LED Lighting: the LED lighting function is similar to red-light blinker seen in the BlackBerry smartphone when a user receives a new message. However, LG has improved this feature with multiple colour option. That is, user can customize the LED light colour based on type of contact list. For instance, user can opt for blue colour to indentify incoming calls, messages from Office and use red colour to spot the messages from loved ones.
With this feature, users can identify the caller's source by just looking at the LED colour light flashing on the phone and prioritize which call to take and discard unknown numbers.
Magic Remote Pad and Text Keypad: By installing QRemote (an application for smartphones to control SmartTV), LG Optimus G Pro users can use it as remote control to change channels on smart televisions (only LG Smart TVs).
LG has confirmed that the Value Pack upgrade for Optimus G Pro will be relased next month in South Korea, and then in other markets. It also promised that the company's other premium smartphones will also receive the upgrade soon.
