The Engadget Interview: Chul Bae Lee, VP of LG’s mobile design lab at MWC 2013

The Engadget Interview Chul Bae Lee, VP of LG's mobile design lab at MWC 2013

We first met Chul Bae Lee -- VP of LG's mobile design lab -- in Seoul last fall and were lucky to spend a few minutes with him in the company's booth at MWC. LG's flagship Optimus G Pro made quite the splash in Barcelona but looks rather different from the Optimus G. We asked Mr. Lee to walk us through the design process behind the company's new superphone. He mentioned that LG offers two high-end product lines, one focused on premium design (Optimus G), the other on high-performance design (Optimus G Pro) and shared a diagram with us to illustrate this (after the break). The new handset puts an emphasis on ergonomics rather than style by featuring a comfortable and a friendly shape, with soft edges and round corners.

We discussed the extremely narrow display bezel, striking RGB notification ring around the home button, recessed camera lens and IR blaster (for the QRemote functionality). Mr. Lee explained that the placement of the buttons around the Optimus G Pro was carefully chosen to minimize interference with the power / lock key -- this includes the QNote button, which can be remapped to invoke other apps, and even double as a shutter key. We then talked about the new Optimus F series, which blends the design DNA of flagship devices with performance specs (like LTE) at a more affordable price, and the Optimus L II line, which offers unique designs for specific markets (single SIM in Europe, and dual-SIM in Latin America). Hi the break for our video interview and to check out the aforementioned design diagram.

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LG teases several new smartphones for MWC, is brought to you by the letters G, L, V and F

LG teases its MWC showing again the tagline is tags

LG isn't done making vague hints at what it's got in store for us in Barcelona next week. While we admittedly missed it on our first viewing, the latest trailer flies past several red initials and vague glimpses of four handsets. There's an L (style?), a G (greatness), one V (view, or Vu) and a new one, F, that apparently stands for freedom. In short, it looks like LG might be bringing quite a few phones to the show. The short video also places plenty of emphasis on tags, which we're guessing will involve some NFC tech -- possibly expanding on those "Tag On" stickers we saw announced at CES last month. We just wish the message was as loud and clear as the music in the teaser. You've been warned.

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