Starting this month, the second terminal of the Black Label Series – LG Shine, will be available in Romania. After being launched on the European market in February 2007, the shiny LG slider has finally arrived in the Eastern Europe.

The phone has been presented during a 2 hours special event held by the Ogilvy Company. The event culminated with the sensational show of the "Man with 400 mirrors" – Kristalleon (Germany). After 30 minutes of glass singing and interacting with the audience, Kristalleon unveiled the new LG KE970 and the hands on session started.

LG Shine (aka KE970) introduces the "styled in metal" concept, but in truth it's not the first to feature a stainless steel casing (see Nokia 8800 series). Nevertheless, the innovative design stands out from the crowd and if you're looking for originality, this slim phone will make you "shine". Literally, because it features a mirror-like display which can reflect light when the phone is closed. Moreover, young ladies can even use it as a mirror when they're on the go, and with great success.

Another innovative concept regards the long multifunctional thumb-wheel located right under the display which helps you navigate through the menu. It gives a retro look to the handset, but I found it rather uncomfortable because when you slide up the phone you will unavoidably touch it. The keys have a nice RAZR-like look, soft to the touch which will surely appeal to most users.

LG included some of its best technologies in the handset such as: brightly colored 2.2 inch display, media player with multi-codec support (MP3, WAV, AAC+, AAC++), Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP compatibility, USB, EDGE connectivity (no 3G yet), 2 Megapixel camera (featuring Schneider-Kreuznach lenses and auto focus). Besides the 50MB memory embedded the device features a microSD slot card for memory expansion up to 2GB. The 750 mAh Li-Ion battery has an autonomy of 280 hours in standby mode and 3 hours in talk time.

LG's Shine will most probably top up its predecesor – Chocolate, in terms of design, sells and functionality (especially the 3G version). As LG officials stated, the phone targets "trendsetters", as in "people that initiate or popularize a specific trend". We all know who's doing that in Romania, so no comments on that one.

I'm not sure if the phone will be offered by any of the network operators present in Romania, but if that will be the case it will most likely be much cheaper than it is now. The phone price starts from 380 Euros, VAT included, but the shelf price is rather unknown for the moment. The phone made a good impression on the audience at the hands-on session, the only thing left to say is: "LET'S GET SHINY!" trendsetters.






Photo: Tudor Raiciu