Will Motorola's Atrix and LG's Optimus 2x usher in a new smartphone era?

CAN two smartphones break Apple’s spell in 2011 in the way that iPad rivals couldn’t?

Motorola's Atrix docks into a netbook case and provides the computing power.

IN 2010, a lot of journalists and bloggers wasted a lot of hot air on the phrase "iPad killer".

The touchscreen is Apple’s device. They didn’t invent it, but they succeeded in convincing the fans it was a must-have and in doing so, fused the format and the brand together forever.

Any rival manufacturers that mention “iPad” in the same breath as their device – and at CES 2011, they all did - have already lost half the battle.

Only RIM’s Playbook is an acceptable entry, because it has the character and integrity that allows itself to be called an alternative, rather than a rival.

It’s served them well in the mobile phone market too, as opposed to Android smartphones, which despite some significant success – think Samsung’s Galaxy S – have plagued their users, who fill entire forums with complaints about with annoying lag times, endless app updates and tardy OS updates.

Now, in 2011, while everybody waits to see which of the dozens of contenders can “kill” the iPad (until the iPad 2 comes out in April), two companies may actually launch iPhone killers.

One of them – LG – will launch theirs here by March, while the other – Motorola – has promised theirs to Australians with no definitive launch date.

Both the LG Optimus 2x and Motorola Atrix are the world’s first phones to carry dual core 1GHz processors and LG's general manager for mobile communications in Australia Nathan Dunn said that alone was a turning point in the smartphone market that could not be underestimated.

Mr Dunn said if you’ve resisted upgrading your smartphone for the past year or two, you’ve done well.

Dual core is different.

“I think it's been interesting to watch both iPad and iPhone launch and note that people were actually willing to take up the new technology,” he said.

“Apple got a hell of a lot of momentum from that strong brand of theirs alone, but they didn't necessarily launch the best product.

“What we're seeing now in the mobile sphere is, we've got a lot of vendors out there that are actually developing much better products than what Apple are building.”

Motorola’s Atrix was undoubtably the surprise star of CES 2011, with its ability to dock into a lightweight keyboard, monitor and speakers and effectively become a useable netbook with full web browsing capabilities.

The strength of LG’s entry – the Optimus 2x – lay in its complete disintegration of lag times and ability to share games and 1080p quality content on bigger screens via HDMI.

The Atrix can also be docked into a hub that shares its content courtesy of three USB ports and a HDMI port.

Both are the first smartphones in the world to carry dual core processors and both have taken different approaches to improving battery life.

While LG focused on better touchscreen technology, introducing a product called Nova that it says reduces battery load by 50 per cent, Motorola worked on building a better battery.

Mr Dunn said 2011 was undoubtably the year tablets stole the thunder from smartphones.

LG decided to take a breath and think about how smartphones could win back the wow factor.

“We saw a lot of 1GHz processors in 2010, now it's all about dual core bringing that speed to more activities,” he said.

“We spent the last 12-18 months developing our smartphone strategy and the biggest push from the market, from the consumers is that they want to be able to access things really quickly.

“They don't like this lag thing and they don't like the minimal battery life that comes with smartphones.

“We could have been in the market on the back of everyone else, but we've taken our time to develop it to a point where we are confident we have the product the market wants.”

Peter Farquhar was at CES 2011 as a guest of LG