LG OPTIMUS NEXUS S

NEXUS S

There’s no doubt what LG is trying to emphasize with the announcement of the LG Optimus 2X smartphone. You see that 2X in the name? That’s because it boasts the impressive dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor (1GHz) to run its show. And what a show it is.

You may have seen this phone floating around the rumor mills as the LG Star, but the name has been abandoned for the Optimus 2X moniker instead. This is the first time that we’re seeing a smartphone with that impressive chip under the hood, after all.

So, what kind of power does that processor provide to this Android 2.2 smartphone? Well, not only will it output full 1080p video to your TV via its HDMI-out port, but it will also record full 1080p HD video via its 8MP primary camera. There’s also a 1.3MP camera on the front for your video calls too.

Running through the rest of the specs, you find 8GB memory, microSD expansion, and a 4-inch WVGA display. There’s only a 1500mAh battery in there, though, so it’ll be interesting to see what kind of life you get when you really start to push the limits on this beast of a slim phone.

That's right, it's official. Needless to say, that LG Star we recently got our paws on is very real, though it won't go by that name at retail -- just as LG's own release materials had suggested, this monster has picked up the Optimus 2X name as it morphs from a prototype into brutally fast, overpowered reality. At the phone's heart beats a dual-core Tegra 2 processor running at 1GHz, the first such configuration to be officially announced by any smartphone manufacturer (though we're expecting others any day now). In case you're wondering how such power might be used, well, for starters, you've got both full 1080p TV-out via HDMI and video capture through an 8 megapixel primary camera paired with a 1.3 megapixel cam up front for face-to-face calling.

A 4-inch WVGA display is along for the ride along with 8GB of on-board storage (expandable with up to 32GB of microSD) and a 1,500mAh battery -- no larger than most single-core smartphones these days, so it'll be interesting to see if the final retail units hold up through a day of typical use. Unfortunately, the Optimus 2X is launching out of the gate with Android 2.2, but LG's already committing to releasing Gingerbread updates "in due course." It hits first in LG's home market of Korea next month, followed by Europe and other Asian locales in the coming weeks; we're sure you can hardly wait, so why don't you check out some eye candy from our preview while you pass the time? Follow the break for the press release.