LG KM900 Arena Tips

Tip 1: If you cover the sensor, the screen will turn black. The sensor is located on the left of the LG logo.



Tip 2: Test mode shortcut: 3845#*900#should be 1809#*900#

Tip 3: Experience the mobile here (from LG Official site)
(will add and update when necessary)

Facelift of KC910 - LG Renoir KC910i

Four months after the launch of LG KC910, a facelift of the handset is available. Although official name is still Renoir KC910, in MWC, LG called it KC910i.

The differences for the original Renoir and facelift one are:

- The notorious photo cropping function was a miserable experience for some users, and the new version of viewfinder solves the problem of.

- The lens cover is now automatic.

- The ROM also features the Microsoft Exchange sync, where you can sync your email, contact list and appointments between your PC and the phone, like a Windows Mobile handset.

- Now more black in color instead of silvery.

Of course, the goodies - wi-fi, 7.2M HSDPA, 640x480 30fps video, 8mp camera are still there. For information, price here was 440€ on KC910's launch (November 2008), and 350€ on KC910i now (March 2009).

LG KM900 Arena will launch ... on March 2009

Yes, it's official. LG KM900 Arena is out this month. Being one of the most powerful flagships in the MWC this year, Arena takes the earliest invasion to the market.

LG's marketing strategy is to focus on the multiedia features. True, aside being regarded as too "iPhone" in the menu, its media functions are overwhelming. In addition to the Dolby Mobile sound system, a 5mp camera on a 3 inch WVGA screen, it features the all-new "3D S-Class" interface.

Better still, it finally features a 3.5mm audio jack, which is a big stepforward - you can finally use the handsfree when charging.

Beware of their "40GB" memory though. It merely means it has 8GB internal storage and can support a 32GB MircoSD card.


Hey, look, it lags.

400x240 sized Wallpapers and screen backgrounds

As KU990 Viewty is 400 x 240 in pixel (WQVGA), other handsets with the same resolution can display these wallpapers too. Known handsets with the same resolution include:
LG Cookie KP500, Renoir KC910, Prada KE850
Samsung Omnia i900^*, Pixon M8800
SonyEricsson Xperia X1
K-Touch E60

*Note: 400 x 240 pixel pictures interacts poorly for Omnia i900's accelerometer, you will need larger pictures to eliminate the black edges

How big is 400x240 is in your screen? We have attached a photo of Ribeauville, Alsace, France for your reference. (If you like it, feel free to use it as your phone background.)

When we search the net, we found a massive load of screen background (swf) and wallpapers (jpg) for Viewty which you might want to see. High quality good stuff. http://www.reptilis.org/Viewty/index

LG KM900 Arena Device Presentation, MWC 2009

In Mobile World Congress 2009, all major manufacturers are presenting their flagship mobiles, attempting to astonish the crowd. We don't have the ticket to the Congress, and so we are lurking around in website and Youtube trying to get the bits of information:

Official Promo Video:


Youtube video taken by commentator sites of MWC:


One more:


and finally:


The multimedia subpage seems to be not quite convenient if you have a lot of pictures (Before believing everything in the video, think "Cache" and "Thumbnail". They might have did something before presenting). If you have lots of MP3s, especially when you don't have the album art stored, you will surely face massive problem in scrolling.

Oh, btw, the three buttons on the bottoms seems to be sensored by heat, will it work if air temperature > 37 degrees?

iPhone/Tocco/Diamond whatever Themes for KU990

Hacking LG KU990.

This phone is known for its flexibility to customize due to the fact that its a massive Flash Player.

Some FAQs for the customization of KU990 (in additional to those you can find in the wiki courtesy of the MyGreatPhone UK)

Q: Can you change the operating system to Windows Mobile?
A: In short: NO WAY. While you can change the layout of almost all the graphics of KU990, its system is totally independent to Windows Mobile.

Q: How about the layout of Windows Mobile?
A: Up to today, there is no themes resembling WM6 to our best knowledge. But there is a similar theme that mimics the TouchFLO of a HTC handset (and they call it "Diamond"), it is yet to be released though.


Q: And Samsung F480 Tocco?
A: Yes, the official thread here.


Q: There must be the ever-popular iPhone theme.
A: True, there are actually a range of options, each one with different scale of similarity to iPhone. One example:

How to change the font for LG KU990 Viewty

In our testing machine of LG KU990 (Viewty), there are two font files, one is LG_Vector which is pretty small and contains Latin alphabets like English, the other one is LG_Vector_Gothic which contains other fonts like Chinese.

The English fonts on KU990, "LG_Vector" look nice in most cases, but for Chinese fonts, even the font style is way better than SonyEricsson or Nokia's defult font, the font style can be improved.

Warning: Inexperienced users might brick the phone during the process. Please stop reading if you are not familiar with the "EFS_MEDIA_BUILDER" software (a software for hacking KU990, more information on MyGreatPhone UK's wiki). Never try this unless you know what you are doing!

Step 1:
Get your favorite .TTF font, but mind that: 1) it can only be .TTF, no .TTC or .FON files; 2) the font display on phone might shrink for some fonts.

Step 2:
Load the EFS, and use the "TOTO method" to rename the file, i.e. rename the LGAPP folder to TOTO or anything else, as a backup measure. Disconnect and restart the phone.

Don't panic if you see the yellow "REFRESHING. . ." screen.

Step 3:
Reconnect using EFS, go to TOTO/Media/Font and rename the LG_Vector.ttf (or LG_Vector_Gothic.ttf) to anything else.

Step 4:
Rename your favorite font to LG_Vector.ttf (or LG_Vector_Gothic.ttf) and put into TOTO/Media/Font, and then rename the TOTO folder back to LGAPP. Disconnect and restart and you should see the change.

LG Arena KM900, another copycat of iPhone?!

According the photo put up by AllAboutPhones.nl (Holland language site), which is supposed to be on a certain promotion material in Holland language about LG Arena KM900, a high-end phone with GPS, wi-fi and "innovative S-Class 3D interface".

The layout and color scheme is fairly unoriginal. What phone is it trying to mimic?

LG KS360 - a Nominee of Global Mobile Awards 2009

LG KS360 is one of the Nominees of Global Mobile Awards 2009 [Link] (the other four are Nokia E71, T-Mobile G1, INQ¹, BlackBerry Storm 950). Let us examine how does this cute phone gets its nomination.

For technology chasers this "Ultimate Chatter Box" won't be your dream phone, not even close, and we'd say this is a bit feminine with the cute round shaped design. It'll be a great addition for your girlfriend, especially if she tend to "accidentally" lost a phone when she see another dream phone. The phone tracing function will SMS the number of the new SIM card inserted to your phone, so you can contact the one who pick/stole(/bought) the phone.

Sure there is no cutting edge technology, with its limited specification of EDGE 2.75G connection, 2 megapixel camera, and 2.4" screen, this is very basic comparing with other competitors. But it's probably one of the cheapest full QWERTY phone around (150€). Even though it does not have touchscreen (except as dialpad, strange), QWERTY keyboard alone is additive if you need to send emails, albeit the keyboard is a bit too small for men.

LG Prada II (KF900) and Prada Link

LG Prada II (KF900) is the sequel of LG Prada, one of the first fashion branded phones.

Specs:
Screen: 3", resolution 400x240
Input: QWERTY Keyboard
Camera: 5.0 Megapixel (2560x1920), video 30fps 720x480
Connectivity: HSDPA, Wi-Fi(b/g), Bluetooth 2.1
Dimensions: 105 x 54 x 17 mm
Weight: 130g (with battery)
Time: Standby up to 400 hours, talk 3 hours

Similar to KC910, with tabbed menu and widgets, no new additions. A nice collection of background pictures pre-loaded in the phone memory, plus the brand printed on the phone body (like the previous PRADA) - if you are a fan of the brand, PRADA 2 is made for you.

There is an optional accessory called "Prada Link", which is a watch capable of displaying the phone's status - calls, SMS, battery, reject call etc. Wearing it = "I'm rich".

Bonus: The background can actually be downloaded online (http://www.pradaphonebylg.com), and since the pictures are 400x240, your Viewty or Renoir can also use these background.

Samsung PIXON M8800 or LG KC910 Renoir?

There has been comparison on Samsung Pixon M8800 (M8800H) and LG KC910 Renoir recently. Here we provide a really simple comparision for your convenience.

What Renoir features but Pixon lacks:

• wi-fi
• front camera for video call (CMOS 0.3 megapixel)
• Xenon flashlight (Pixon uses LED flash)
• ISO 1600
• 120 fps video

What Pixon features but Renoir lacks:

• 720 x 480 video (Renoir is 640 x 480)
• 16x digital zoom
• 200 MB internal memory (100 MB for Renoir)
• a larger screen (3.2" for Pixon, 3.0" for Renoir)

As of 14 January 2009, Renoir sells for $440 and Pixon sells for $490 here. Seems Renoir wins in many ways but the screen size and outlook. It is still not clear that the Renoir will have the versatile customization ability like its precedator KU990 Viewty, but all in all, we believe that Renoir has some edge on the competition.

LG KU990 Viewty Alarm Trick and other tips

Alarm Trick

Viewty has a very user friendly function of the anti-shake button. When the alarm sounds, you can double tap the anti-shake button to make a 5-minute snooze function.

Quite handy if you are lazy to open your eyes to stop the alarm, or if you don't have glasses on! Sleeping is the most important, after all!


Test Mode

Key in 3845#*990# in dialer pad. Contains modification of ringtones, tweaks on camera, etc. . .
May brick your phone if used properly. Use with extreme caution and at your own risk!!


Using a Micro SDHC Card (MicroSD card with memory greater than 2GB)

It is not possible to use a new MicroSD with capacity greater than 2GB. You will see 0 bytes available for the card memory. To solve this, do the followings:

1. Format the MicroSD card with "FAT32" format. (Any card reader capable of reading this card) (In Windows XP: Locate the drive, right click and choose "Format")
   
2. Fill the card with files (for example, your favorite MP3 songs and movies) until the free space is less than 2.0GB (in manufacturer's definition, i.e. 2,000,000,000 bytes, which means around 1.9GB in reality)
3. Put the card into the phone and you should be able to use it.
   

Note that your phone will be slower with larger SD cards. 2GB is optimal, 4GB is okay, and 8GB will be a bit slow. 16GB is not recommended (and not tested by me).


Some useful tips

You might want to visit http://www.mygreatphone.com/wiki/index.php?title=KU990 for some additional tips.