The original LG KP500 Cookie was produced as a bit of an afterthought – a scaled down handset designed to make touchscreen phones available to people on more of a budget. What LG had not expected was that the Cookie would go on to be one of their most popular and successful handsets, selling well over 10 million units. Now realising that there is actually a huge demand for affordable touchscreens like the Cookie, LG has announced that during 2010 there will be many more handsets to be released into what will now be the Cookie Range.
The first two handsets to be added to the line-up are the GS500 Cookie Plus and GS290. The Cookie Plus is an upgraded version of the original Cookie with added 3G and some other benefits, while the GS290 is a completely new device drawing on the concept of the original KP500 Cookie. At present LG has not released any information regarding the GS290 but it is likely it will follow the same principals as the Cookie and is rumoured to operate on a sliding design suggesting that it may come with a QWERTY keyboard – although this is just speculation at present. You can read some more LG GS290 Reviews to get a better feel for this phone or find out what LG GS290 Deals are available if you already like the sound of it.
Appearance and Screen Quality
While the Cookie Plus follows a very similar design to the KP500 Cookie it comes with a more rounded and curvilinear feel to it that makes it much more appealing to the eye and hand. Aside from that it follows the same design, with a similar sized screen above the same three functional buttons found on the KP500.
The screen is the same 3″ TFT display found on the KP500, with 256k colours and 240 x 400 screen resolution. Although the screen is very much the same, the interface has been touched up with a much cartoonier feel to it, no doubt taking ‘inspiration’ from Samsung‘s Cartoon UI. The resistive technology used for the screen’s touch sensitivity allows for features such as handwriting recognition and the use of a stylus.
Media and Entertainment
The Cookie Plus comes with the same fantastic entertainment features that were to be found on the original Cookie including great music and video playback, quick access to online content like YouTube and the same 3.2 megapixel camera with video recording. Just like the KP500, the Cookie Plus can use microSD cards to hold up to 16GB of media content whether it be music, videos or pictures. The Cookie Plus also has a stereo FM radio with RDS so you can listen to the latest music as it is released.
One added benefit of the updated Cookie is that it comes with much better social networking integration. Services such as Facebook and MySpace have now been woven into the interface and with the Cookie Plus you can receive live updates straight to the homescreen. You can also link people in your contacts list to their respective social network profiles to have their statuses or tweets displayed along with their details in your phonebook.
Connectivity
The Cookie Plus is still a GSM phone like the KP500, but one of the new additions that particularly singles out the Cookie Plus is the inclusion of 3G support (HSDPA 7.2Mbps). Although LG should be commended for bringing 3G technology to the Cookie line, the new Cookie Plus could have greatly benefited from Wi-Fi support, which is sadly still not present. There is still support for GPRS and EDGE, as well as USB and Bluetooth with A2DP.
The Cookie Plus still uses the Flash UI found on the KP500 but, as mentioned earlier, with a much cartoonier feel. The interface makes use of LG’s Live Square, where your contacts can turn into animated characters that walk around your screen and become more animated the more you interact with those people. With large adaptable widgets you can choose icons to display on the homescreen for quick access to your favourite services like the camera or Facebook.
Email and Messaging
The Cookie Plus comes with the same great support for SMS, MMS and email as the original KP500 Cookie. There has been a greater emphasis on merging the messaging capabilities of the Cookie with social networking features, and this is greatly helped by the decision to include 3G.
The Cookie Plus is great for sending MMS messages in particular, thanks to the inclusion of a new feature called ‘Editable Screenshot’. This allows you to take pictures of a web page, edit them if you wish, and then send them to friends through MMS. So if you find something amusing while browsing the web, you can snap a picture of it and send it on to a friend, after making your own modifications of course.
Summary
After the unexpected success of the KP500 Cookie it is no surprise that LG has decided to extend the handset into a whole range of phones. While there are many more Cookie phones to look forward to in 2010, including the (possibly)-sliding GS290, the Cookie Plus is very similar to the existing Cookie KP500. There are some obvious improvements like 3G support and an updated interface with proper social networking integration, but other areas that could have been improved as well like the camera and perhaps the inclusion of Wi-Fi. The Cookie Plus has a more agreeable feel to it and the upgrades do enhance the user experience but for anyone owning the existing KP500 Cookie it may be worthwhile waiting to see what other handsets join the range as the Cookie Plus may be too similar to the original to warrant purchasing. You can find out what LG GS500 Cookie Plus Deals are available or read some more LG GS500 Cookie Plus Reviews if you like the sound of this phone.
Comments:
