Following a questionable marketing campaign in which it compared Apple to Hitler, (and subsequently apologized), LeTV, a Chinese company better known for its video streaming services, has arrived in the US to highlight its move into the smartphone arena with "Le Superphone".
LeTV started in 2004 as an online streaming company and, after its IPO in 2010, went on to launch a Smart TV in 2012. Currently, the video arm of its business gets 300 million video views a day and last year the company announced it was working on an electric car. But before we get to see a "Le Supercar" on the road, we will get the chance to put a Le Superphone in our pockets.
LeTV wasn't forthcoming on the rather important spec of screen size, (altough three different sizes will be on offer), but says the Android handset is the first mobile phone to use the reversible USB Type-C connector, the same connector used on Apple’s new Macbook. The dual-SIM phone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor and packs 4 GB of RAM, a 21-megapixel camera, and a 3,000 mAh battery. This version of the phone will be released in China this month, and might change a bit before it hits US soil later this year.
One of the ways Letv sees the phone standing out from its competition is with its (almost) bezel-less display, which the company claims has a more dynamic color range than competitor phones and offers adjustable color profiles.
Letv is also opening two offices in the US, one in Silicon Valley and the other in LA. The reason behind the two offices is to have one near the top tech talent, and the other near entertainment in order to continue to grow its content library. Those offices join the company’s current headquarters in Beijing.
"Expanding to the U.S. is a natural progression of our business as we continue to aggressively pursue new services and markets," said Letv Founder and CEO Jia Yueting, adding in a less offensive swipe at Apple, "we believe that our open, vertically integrated ecosystem is the future of Internet experiences in the connected age and a stark contrast from closed systems that limit consumer choices and industry innovation."
Details for Le Superphone, including its release date in the US, and still being finalized. The phone is expected to be released later this year.
