LG Optimus Black Contracts

Keen to put Apple´s boasting of having "the world´s thinnest smartphone" to bed once and for all LG has designed their own, even thinner handset. Admittedly, at 9.2mm the LG Optimus Black is only 0.1mm thinner than the iPhone 4 for most of its body, and has already lost the title to the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc which measures at a slinky 8.7mm.

But the thinness of the Optimus Black is not the phones only appeal as in many other areas LG is keen to steal the iPhone´s thunder. One such area is the 4" screen with the Optimus Black being the first phone to come with LG´s new NOVA display which provides 700 nits of brightness, making it far brighter than two of the brightest phones on the market (iPhone 4 and Samsung Galaxy S), while at the same time reducing power consumption by 50% compared to standard LCD screens. This is great news for people who surf the web a lot on their smartphones considering that a large number of websites feature battery intensive white backgrounds.

Despite being wafer thin the Optimus Black manages to pack in a great deal of hardware including a lithium ion 1500 mAh battery.  There are also two cameras with the Optimus Black featuring the first 2 megapixel front facing camera offering the highest quality video calling available. The 5 megapixel main camera also comes with HD video recording amongst other features.

While featuring 3G the Optimus Black also comes with Wi-Fi Direct. This allows Wi-Fi devices to communicate without the need for an intermediary hotspot, functioning in a similar manner to Bluetooth (also present). The Optimus Black also comes with microUSB and support for 32GB microSD.

The Optimus Black comes with Android 2.2 Froyo but is upgradeable to Android 2.3 Gingerbread. It also features LG´s new Optimus 2.0 interface which is making its debut on this handset. This comes with great Google support for Gmail, Google Talk, Google Maps, YouTube and Google Search with threaded viewing available for SMS messages. Social networks such as Facebook and Twitter are also integrated with the user interface providing you with quick and easy access.