LG opened it’s friends website yesterday. If you are wondering what friends are, they are plug in accessories for LG’s new G5 flagship smart-phone.
You may be wondering why these friends are being mentioned on this webOS website. No, the G5 is not a new webOS phone & it’s not an LGwebOS TV. In the smart-phone area, LG remain wedded to Android.
In a way, this concept harks back to early Palm Visor devices which could have additional, ‘Springboard’ modules added. One such item was a phone module – Yes folks, this was the start of smart-phones.
Most modern smart-phones have gone with the slab formula. The G5 is a slab & these accessories can change that form. At the moment, the accessories include an advanced sound module from B&O and an enhanced camera plug-in. There is a also a VR headset, spherical robot, 360° camera, & Harman Kardon headphones.
So what’s our interest here? It’s a bit of a long-shot: The G5, as a flagship phone is powerful. One (not impossible) accessory could be a hardware keyboard. LuneOS runs on a base of Android drivers. A G5 plus keyboard & LuneOS could give us a modern, powerful, webOS phone. Think about it: Developing a nice keyboard accessory is far easier than a whole new phone.
So there’s a website to keep an eye on in the hope a keyboard appears. You could even sign up and BE the one who makes it, although apparently all accessory development has to be done in partnership (and therefore with the permission of) LG. There is some debate about how much developer interest they will get on these accessories. I guess it will depend on the terms and LG’s own commitment to this modular approach.
So what about that image? Does it look like the devices are badly pasted onto the models? What’s with the slightly creepy green cats (The LG ‘Play-cats’)? No, I don’t know either. You can discuss it here.
