LG's V20 Will Be The First Android Nougat Smartphone
LG must know somewhat about its competitors' plans for the next version of Android because it wants everybody to know that it will be the first seller to ship a new smartphone with Nougat on board. On Monday South Korea's LG Electronics Inc declared it plans to start selling a new premium smartphone from September, expecting the device will help its struggling mobile business recover from unsatisfactory sales.
LG said its V20 device, successor to the V10 that went on sale in October last year, will be the first product to run on Google's latest version of its Android mobile operating system called Nougat at launch. The company did not reveal further details on the V20.
"We are excited to offer the first phone in the world to feature Nougat out of the box", says LG president Juno Cho. "The LG V20 upgrades and extends its predecessor’s cutting-edge multimedia features a step further, providing distinctive mobile experience and sets a new standard for premium phones for consumers".
“The LG V20 upgrades and extends its predecessor’s cutting-edge multimedia features a step further, providing distinctive mobile experience and sets a new standard for premium phones for consumers,” he added.
Usually, a new version of Android is always going along with with a new Nexus smartphone, but this year things could change as LG has declared that it will be the first smartphone to run Nougat. That being said, Google could very well declare Nexus phones at a later date. Already, there are rumors flying about HTC developing a Nexus smartphone.
Irrespective, LG's declaration gives us a pretty good idea about the accessibility of Android 7.0 Nougat. This Friday a report proposes it will be launched , after the opening of the Galaxy Note7, and it would absolutely make sense when factoring in the release date for the V20.
The declaration almost hints that the V20 will be carrying on a unique feature from the V10, but you can only estimate what it is. The V10 had that dual lens selfie camera module, as well as that second screen strip (like the “other Korean manufacturer’s” edge models, only more useful).
Previous in the year, Google CEO Sundar Pichai also hinted that the company will be investigating more with the Nexus smartphones and the software will be more customized, so the promotion of the V20 could tie-in with this new plan. Before the V20, LG’s South Korean competing Samsung is likely to launch the Galaxy Note 7 on August 2, but it is likely that the phone will not launch with Android 7.0 Nougat.