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LG support site details a very pokey Android 11 update plan
Some phones have a timeline as late as Q4 2021
So far, the only notable LG devices we've seen updated to Android 11 are the V60 and the Velvet (in South Korea, anyway). According to a support page on LG's German site, a few more phones will get the big software bump ... just don't expect them to be especially timely. Why would you, at this point?
So the Surface Duo didn't quite pan out to be the perfect dual-screen phone, but there are alternatives — even if they aren't quite as physically elegant. The LG G8X is a flagship Android phone with a detachable second screen, and now you can get it unlocked for just $499.99. That's $450 lower than the original MSRP, though the phone has sold for closer to 0-700 lately.
Every smartphone manufacturer wants to get in on the ground floor of the latest trends, and in 2019 the name of the game is “folding.” After teasing flexible technology at trade shows for years, we're finally seeing the arrival of big-screen phones that bend down the middle for easy storage. But other companies are turning to more old-school tech to accomplish a similar feat, like LG and its dual-screen hardware. After getting started with the V50, LG's back with its follow-up: the G8X with Dual Screen case.
Google is always hard at work on adding ARCore support to new devices. This time around, those include the brand-new Note10 and 10+, but other than that, a bigger shift has occurred on the company's AR front – that is, if you count marketing and naming schemes as big shifts. The catchy ARCore Play Store listing makes way for the cumbersome phrase "Google Play Service for AR." The change has already been visible for a while, but the company only introduced the new name in the app's changelog last week, along with announcing support for 60fps rendering on capable devices.
Enhanced gaming has been one of the most consistently promoted features of LG phones that support its Dual Screen hardware. Until now, the only gaming-centric improvement available for these devices has been the ability to use the second display as a dedicated gamepad. Now we're finally seeing games introduce some bespoke functionality for that second panel, with the release of a dual-screen edition of Pirates of the Caribbean: Tides of War.
LG's smartphone division is not in a good place. It hasn't been in a good place for the last five years, frankly, but 2019 has felt especially rough on Korea's number-two electronics giant. For the first time in a long time, most tech publications really don't even bother mentioning LG phones in the same breath as Samsung's. OnePlus, Google, Huawei, and even domestic Chinese manufacturers like Vivo and Oppo now command far more attention for their products and announcements. LG is increasingly an afterthought.
The IFA 2019 trade show in Berlin is just around the corner, and we now know a little more about what to expect from LG. The South Korean OEM looks set to launch an updated version of the LG G8 from earlier in the year alongside the dual-screen V60 it teased last week. Renders of the LG G8X, as it will reportedly be marketed, are now circulating courtesy of leaker Steve H.McFly, better known as @OnLeaks.