According to new rumors, LG will equip its upcoming G7 ThinQ device with a hardware button that has the sole function of calling Google Assistant. This could not be reprogrammed. The South Korean manufacturer wants to present the smartphone on 2 May.
The information comes from Cnet, which relies on sources with knowledge of the device. They say that the button is on the left side of the phone; the on-off switch would be on the other side. The fingerprint scanner remains on the back of the device, which was already visible on previously leaked renders. The possible addition of the button fits the strategy of LG, which recommends the device with ‘ai-functionalities’.
It would not be the first time that an Android smartphone gets a separate hardware button for a virtual assistant, Samsung did this earlier with its Galaxy S8 phone. That button gave access to Samsung’s own Bixby assistant, while the LG button calls Googles Assistant. Samsung finally lets users turn off the button. According to the Cnet sources, the LG button is also not reprogrammable by default.
LG recently announced that it will announce the G7 ThinQ on May 2 in New York. This makes it possible to operate the camera via Assistant with voice commands. The camera also automatically selects the most suitable mode, depending on what the user focuses on it. According to previous rumors, the device gets a 6 “screen with a resolution of 1440×3120 pixels and runs on a Snapdragon 845-soc from Qualcomm.On the primary camera would be a 16-megapixel model with an f / 1.6 lens.
