LG Announces World's Slimmest (Android) Phone

LG just finished its press conference here in Las Vegas and one of its announcements is what the company claims to be the world's slimmest Android phone – or actually slimmest mobile device of any kind with a 4-inch display – with a thickness of just 9.2 mm.

LG's calling it the Optimus Black, and it boasts a NOVA display, which the company boasts reduces power consumption by 50 percent during general indoor use compared to a conventional LCD. Furthermore, LG said that  AMOLED consumes twice as much power as NOVA to display a full white screen, the most frequently used color scheme for web browsing.

The impressive part is the form factor, with its 9.2 mm profile that tapers down to 6 mm. It's fairly light too, weighing 109g.

"We are excited to introduce this stylish new Android smartphone and expect the LG Optimus Black to play a key role in the mobile market," said Dr. Jong-seok Park, President and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. "LG Optimus Black reflects our core strengths of advanced technology, in both display and design, offering the world's brightest screen and the world's slimmest design in an attractive and smart package."

LG Optimus Black also introduces the world's first Wi-Fi Direct for quick and high-quality data transfer between mobile devices and adopts the world's first 2MP front-facing camera.

The only weakness is that it will be shipping with Android 2.2 Froyo, though the company claims that the hardware will be fully able to handle Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

The LG Optimus Black will be rolled out globally in the first half of 2011.

Marcus Yam is a technology evangelist for Intel Corporation, the latest in a long line of tech-focused roles spanning a more than 20-year career in the industry. As Executive Editor, News on Tom's Guide and Tom's Hardware, Marcus was responsible for shaping the sites' news output, and he also spent a period as Editor of Outdoors & Sports at Digital Trends.