The last slate produced by South Korean tech giant LG, the Optimus Pad (pictured left), failed to make a dent in the mid-2011 tablet rush. Apple’s iPad continues to reign supreme – but LG’s Korean neighbor, Samsung, is slowly chipping away at the increasingly crowded tablet market. With the successful LG-made Nexus 4 handset, and now the Snapdragon 800-powered G2 phablet, LG may be attempting a tablet comeback.
A Greek technology blog, TechBlog.gr, provided the latest leak. The LG G Pad is rumored to sport an 8.3-inch display with full HD – supposedly 1920 x 1200 pixels. Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8.0, which also features an 8.3-inch display, offers substantially less resolution – 1280 x 800 pixels. The Asus Transformer Pad Infinity and new Nexus 7, however, already match the rumored G Pad’s pixel count.
Sources also claimed that the upcoming LG G Pad would be extremely thin and lightweight with a very small side bezel – allegedly small enough that the 8.3-inch device can be placed in a user’s back pocket.
TrustedReviews said that the G Pad “could have an aluminum rear panel with the whole front panel made from reinforced glass, probably Corning Gorilla Glass.
The G Pad is reported to include an unspecified quad-core processor with 2GB of RAM. It will also be constructed with aluminum, likely an attempt to release the G Pad as a premium alternative to a field of plasticky Android tablets.
LG dropped the Optimus branding earlier this month, releasing the flagship G2 smartphone as the first member of a premium “G” series. LG has also filed patent requests for G Watch, G Band, G Hub, G Glass, and G Link. The G Pad could become the next member of the G series if it is unveiled at the IFA conference in Berlin next month.
Market analysis firm HIS iSuppli reported earlier today that Apple shipped 17 million tablets in Q2 2013 – capturing an impressive 69.6 percent of the global market share. Samsung was in second place, with 2.3 million tablets shipped and 9.2 percent of the market. LG wasn’t in the top five.