LG says its Android Optimus tablet will be better than the iPad

August 20, 2010 | Devindra Hardawar
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LG played the internet like a fiddle today when its VP of marketing, Chang Ma, told the Wall Street Journal that its upcoming Android Optimus tablet “will be better than the iPad.”

Clearly, this man is a marketing genius. What better way is there to get the word out about its device — which we initially caught word of in early July — than saying it’ll be better than a highly successful Apple product.

Surely none of the other hardware manufacturers preparing Android tablets — which at this point includes Asus, Acer, and Dell — actually think their devices stand a chance against the iPad. LG, through its complex oratory jiujitsu, has declared itself the next king of tablets — despite the fact that we know practically nothing about the Optimus tablet.

All we have to go on now are vague promises. “It’s going to be surprisingly productive,” Ma said. Users will be able to write documents, edit video, and it will have some “high-end features and new benefits” with a productivity bent.

He reiterated the sentiment of many iPad critics who deride the device as something primarily meant for content consumption, rather than productivity. But while I would agree that the iPad isn’t an ideal productivity device, nothing about LG’s Optimus tablet seems to be any more productive. iPad users can already create documents, and there are existing apps like ReelDirector for video editing (Apple will certainly release an iMovie app for the iPad as well).

There aren’t any hardware details for LG’s Optimus tablet yet, but you can expect a screen around 10 inches, and enough power under the hood to run Android 3.0 (to be released later this year). LG expects to launch the tablet worldwide by the fourth quarter.

In other news, the company is revamping its smartphone line in September with the release of the Android-powered Optimus One. The phone won’t be a hardware powerhouse, but LG expects it to be a “gateway smartphone” for new users. Eventually, the company will release more powerful Android devices. LG has plans to use Nvidia’s dual-core CPU in the fourth quarter, and it’s also gearing up for 4G phones running LTE technology in 2011.

Top image via Engadget, front page image via Rego Korosi

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About the Author,

Devindra Hardawar is VentureBeat's National Editor and lead mobile writer. He has been writing about technology since 2004, worked in IT support for several years, and studied philosophy at Amherst College. He now lives in Brooklyn, New York. You can reach him at devindra@venturebeat.com (all story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com), and on Twitter at @Devindra.

  • http://www.techandfit.com/ techandfit

    I wish we had some sort of specs, in regards to the iPad why would anyone want a tablet pc for productivity. That's like saying your going to play star craft 2 on a net book.

  • http://www.charakupa.com/ Joe Charakupa

    With journalism like this you can see why Apple should never bother advertising.Of course LG's tablet could be better. I would argue there are already better tablets out there. On the other hand if he had said they were going to outsell the iPad, maybe you might have a story.-'Being the best doesn't mean they'll sell well. But it's VERY much possible LG will make a better tablet.

  • Argent009

    Considering the fact that every LG product I've ever owned has been garbage, I have no high hopes for this tablet to be anything more than some useless hype with a few poorly designed bells and whistles.

  • JC

    Yo, VentureBeat. If I wanted to read a blog that's paid off by Apple, I'd still be reading Tech Crunch and MG Siegler. Dumbasses. Was this really news?

  • http://www.devindra.org Devindra Hardawar

    I don't own an iPad, but I respect what Apple has done with it. Name a better tablet out right now :P Of course it could be better, but when was the last time LG has actually made a memorable product? If you're going to say something lofty, you need to be able to back it up. All we have now is words.

  • http://www.devindra.org Devindra Hardawar

    I love how pretty much everyone is “paid off by Apple” if they write something vaguely in support of it.

  • http://www.charakupa.com/ Joe Charakupa

    I too respect what Apple has done with the iPad, but we don't need to trash other people just to highlight the good job Apple has done. Having the media perpetuate that un-deserved trashing also doesn't help because pretty much most credibility comes from perception.Apple had never done a tablet before, so there's absolutely no reason LG can't also deliver a great tablet. They're a great consumer electronics company that has made great phones one of which probably inspired the iPhone 4 design.Re better tablets, for me my N900 is a better tablet than the iPad (despite Nokia woefully trying to market it as a phone.) I owned the original N770 back 2005 which was abviously the iPad's inspiration along with other devices.The iPad is too big to read from whilst lying in bed or on the couch. My N900 is more portable whilst not being too small.I have a 32GB built-in hard drive. I can drag and drop all my music and file it the way I have it filed on computer and go on to play it by folder.I have full flash and therefore can stream music from We7, Hypebot etc. N900 doesn't RELY on a desktop app on another computer which the iPad seems to. I have enough apps and games notwithstanding the 200,000 iPad owners have access to. I have a hardware keypad and a decent on-screen one. I can use it as a MOUNTED Sat Nav.I have a built in FM transmitter and receiver. Infra-red too.It has a 5 meg camera and a front-facing one for video calls. The N900 is not perfect though I could go on about it's good points.I believe the iPad is a good product too. There's just no need to think that noone else can do better, even though (ironically) we all know that Apple can improve quite a few things. —– Original message —–

  • http://www.devindra.org Devindra Hardawar

    Well Apple did produce the Newton in the 90s, and even though that wasn't the greatest machine, they certainly learned quite a bit from it. I'm not the biggest fan of the company, but I respect its ability to transform the marketplace when it needs to. LG has never had any products on that level, so to say that their tablet will trounce the iPad — without anything to back it up — is the height of hubris ;) IMO they deserve the mocking–

  • JC

    Lol, go and write a “pro-Apple” article then, not an Android/LG-bashfest. Ask yourself: did it really warrant an entire article to make a big deal out of something which you admit other companies do everyday (claim they're better than the competition)? No. So I'm left with thinking either this was a slow newsday and you had to fill a quota on whatever crap you felt like, or you just wanted to bash Android some. Either way, there's no real point in it.

  • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/7HPPMJZMCVPYC3S2C5OQVD3KL4 Mary

    I guess that wouldn't take too much to beat the iPad in it's current form. LG just needs to make sure the UI and everything for their tablet is on-par with the iPad when they release it. However, the next iPad would have better features so it won't be so easy.

  • http://www.socialcubix.com/services/facebook-connect Facebook Connect Integration

    lol! I hope this is true what Chang Ma says, coz I'm just sick of this Apple Monopoly and favor-ism every where! :)

  • leenakaimo

    Depends, Actually, this one alredy has a preview and it is looking worst! LG Tablet Early Leaks

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