Throngs of people with knives on sticks and BB guns at marketing promo would easily pass for a scene in “You’re Next” one of the top 10 horror movies of 2013. But the scene which was played out a park in the South Korean capital was not staged; it was a marketing promotion gone wrong.
The giant electronics manufacturer had filled up hundreds of balloons with helium, and attached vouchers for free G2 units to them before letting them ascend into the clouds. The smartphone- aficionados turned out with guns and knives on sticks to pop the balloons and claim a voucher for a free LG G2 – the new phone retailing for the equivalent of £550 (excluding shipping costs).
In an attempt to shoot some of the balloons down prematurely, a scramble for the swanky device ensued and got about 20 people injured according to the Korean Times. One local TV station called the scene ‘World War G’ after the Brad Pitt zombie movie ‘World War Z’, with people pushing others to the ground in their scrum to get a free phone.
BBC reports that there were 100 vouchers for LG’s new G2s inside the helium balloons. Some of those scrambling for a free handset had to be hospitalised, and LG has since announced it would cover any medical costs. One local TV station called the scene ‘World War G’ after the Brad Pitt zombie movie ‘World War Z’, with people pushing others to the ground in their desperation to get a free phone.
LG said in a statement that it would cancel all further planned promotional events. But why would one risk arm and limb for a smartphone? The G2 is undoubtedly LG’s most ambitious smartphone yet and its most serious attempt at toppling its Android rivals.
It is the first smartphone handset to come without side buttons. The concept came from research which revealed that the larger smartphones became, the harder it was for users to access side keys, the company said.
The G2, which will run an Android operating system, is also notable for its 5.2 inch full HD display, with a wider screen than equivalent devices because of the extra space afforded by removing buttons from the side.
Equipped with powerful specs, this G2 makes the Korean mobile company’s previous flagship, the Optimus G look like a Boy Scout experiment. Not only does the new G2 sport a 13-megapixel camera like its main rival, the Samsung Galaxy S4, it also runs Android 4.2.2 and has a vivid 1080p HD display. Uncommonly, and not completely comfortably, its volume rocker and power buttons are located on the phone’s back.
In addition, the G2 is the first globally available handset to have Qualcomm’s lightning-quick Snapdragon 800 processor for all models and providers, not just a select few. LG’s G2 packs in a trove of choice hardware, including the aforementioned quad-core Snapdragon 800 CPU clocked at 2.26GHz with 4G LTE Advanced.
The G2 is a speed demon Menus fly by with almost blinding swiftness while apps and home screens opened and closed in the blink of an eye. Yet, fancy quad-core Snapdragon silicon isn’t the LG G2’s only distinguishing feature. Backing up the phone’s muscular processor are 2GB of RAM and a dedicated allotment of memory specifically meant for handling graphics chores (called GRAM).
This is the first phone that has such a feature, an observation LG reps are eager to point out, and one that gets mobile games fans drooling over the G2’s potential for mobile gaming.
It comes with a 13 megapixel camera and has Hi-Fi playback which LG claims can reproduce “studio-quality sound, far superior to a CD.” The phone answers calls automatically when placed to the user’s ear. LG is the third best-selling smartphone producer in the world, behind Samsung and Apple, according to market research.
The South Korean company will be hoping the new design can help it catch up with these giants of the smartphone market. Despite shipping a record 12.1 million handsets over the period its results were let down by weak television sales. Analysts have said it would take a hit smartphone device to boost the company’s profit and G2 device might just be it.