The Optimus 4X HD isn’t the only fancy new superphone in the works from LG, if a report from Korean site DDaily is to be believed. There’s a new phone, codenamed the “D1L”, which was spotted in a recent company roadmap (second from the bottom in the right column). There’s some drool-worthy hardware there to be sure – 4.7-inch 720p screen, a Snapdragon S4 processor and an LTE connection. But none are so noteworthy as the promised inclusion of Ice Cream Sandwich, a software feature that’s all too often absent even months after the open source code was released. The D1L is slated for release in May, though that’s almost certainly its South Korean date.
The LTE connection and the decision to go with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chip architecture go hand in hand. NVIDIA’s quad-core Tegra 3, all the rage at Mobile World Congress two months ago, isn’t compatible with super-fast LTE connections yet. Not that many will mind: our own benchmark tests of the HTC One Series show the dual-core Snapdragon S4 beating the Tegra 3 by a factor of 20% – not bad at all. High-end features like a 720p screen (probably using LG’s excellent IPS panels) are icing on the cake.
The D1L’s specs line up pretty closely to the Optimus 4X HD, with the exception of the chipset and wireless standard. I’m betting the D1L (soon to be renamed something like the Optimus D LTE 4HD SUV) will be offered to LTE carriers in South Korea and North America, while those with HSPA+ standard (most carriers around the world) will get a shot at the Optimus 4X HD. The latter is also rumored to become available in May, and also has a 4.7-inch 720p screen and Ice Cream Sandwich.
[via SlashGear]
