LG, AT&T Announce 1-GHz Projector Phone

Here's a whole bunch of firsts for the U.S.: LG today announced the Expo, a Windows Mobile 6.5-based smartphone with a built-in fingerprint sensor and optional pico-projector powered by a Qualcomm 1-GHz processor that I assume is their Snapdragon chipset, though LG doesn't say. 
Without the projector, the Expo is a reasonably sized slider smartphone at 4.5 inches by 2.24 inches by 0.65 inches. It has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a 5-megapixel camera, a 3.2-inch, 800-by-480 screen, Wi-Fi, HSDPA 7.2, and a giant honking 1500 mAh battery.
According to LG's Web site, the projector is an optional, add-on accessory that will be sold separately. It weighs 1.8 ounces and projects an image eight feet, according to a statement from AT&T. 

The phone will be available for $299.99 (minus a $100 mail-in rebate) with a new, two-year agreement. The projector attachment will be available "in the coming weeks" for $179.99, according to AT&T. 

The phone also has GPS, Bluetooth, an accelerometer, a proximity sensor, and an FM radio on board. 

The phone's manual explains that it runs LG's S-Class user interface, a creative hack of Windows Mobile 6.5 which heavily uses rotating wheels of icons. This will be the first LG S-Class phone in the US, along with the first Snapdragon phone sold be a US carrier and the first projector phone in the US. 

According to an official AT&T/LG data sheet, the phone will go on sale first through business channels, not consumer sales. Phonescoop.com pegs the release date as Dec. 7.

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