LG’s G7 ThinQ will be the first to sport a dedicated Google Assistant button
PHONE MAKER LG’s awfully-named G7 ThinQ flagship will feature a dedicated Google Assistant button, according to rumours.
CNET has the scoop, having heard from ‘people familiar with the smartphone’ that the LG G7 ThinQ will sport a dedicated hardware button specifically for Google’s digital assistant, following in the footsteps of Samsung and its dedicated Bixby key.
This Google Assistant button will sit on the left side of the phone, CNET notes, while the power button will be found on the right.
If the rumours are legit, the LG G7 ThinkQ will be the first smartphone to feature a dedicated button for Google Assistant. However, it remains to be seen how the feature will be received, with the report noting that users won’t be able to remap the button for launching other apps. The G7 Think will support custom LG commands, though, like those seen on the V30S.
News of this feature arrives just weeks before the LG G7 ThinQ makes its official debut, with LG confirming earlier this month that an unveiling will to take place on 2 May at an event in New York.
«Now is the time when manufacturers have to pay close attention to what customers actually need and want for their smartphones,» remarked Hwang Jeong-hwan, president of LG, at the time.
«With the LG G7 ThinQ, LG is continuing to deliver on its promise to enhance core technologies to meet customers real-life needs by incorporating AI technologies that are more than features, they are part of the user experience.»
As well as its baked-in AI smarts and Assistant button, the LG G7 ThinkQ will be the latest Android phone to sport an iPhone X-style notch, following in the footsteps of Huawei’s P20 and the upcoming OnePlus 6. The handset, codenamed ‘Neo’, was spied at this year’s MWC ( above), confirming that a cutout will sit at the top of its 6in OLED screen.
Ynet, which spied the handset at the Barcelona tech show, also last month revealed that the G7 ThinQ will feature two 16MP cameras on its rear, an 8MP front-facing camera, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 processor, a 3,000mAh battery, 4GB RAM and 64GB built-in storage.
A second version of the device will also be made available that will offer 128GB storage and 6GB RAM.
According to earlier rumours, LG’s decided not to show off its latest flagship at MWC as it instead decided to rebuild the smartphone from scratch .
Reports claimed that LG Electronics vice chairman and CEO Jo Seong-jin ordered the company’s engineers to halt work on the existing G7 hardware and instead start building it from the ground up, with speculation claiming that the firm wasn’t able to find a strong selling point for the upcoming handset. µ
