Touch and Feel: Phones Embrace Vibration

By Cho Jin-seo Staff ReporterSamsung Electronics and LG Electronics are engaged in a full-scale marketing war for their new ``haptic'' phones, which appeal not only to the ears and eyes, but also to the fingers. The new mobile phones have large touch-sensitive screens that are adequate for Internet browsing and multimedia playing. They also vibrate to the touch of the users to compensate for the absence of physical touch sensations on the smooth screen. Haptic, from a Greek word meaning touch, has been a keyword among mobile phone designers. LG Electronics was far ahead of Samsung in introducing the technology to phones. The company has sold a number of touch-vibrating phones such as Prada and Viewty. To catch up with LG, Samsung has launched a massive advertisement and promotion campaigns for its SCH-W420 series phones. The company is trying to differentiate its phone from LG's by saying it is a third-generation device. ``The first generation was ordinary mobile phones, and the second generation was touch-screen phones. The Haptic Phone is a third-generation phone that stimulates users' sensations,'' said Jang Dong-hoon, vice president of Samsung, in a press release. ``We will continue to show premium handsets that have innovative user interface.''Both Samsung's Haptic Phone and LG's Viewty Phone have similar functions. They gently vibrate in various patterns depending on users' commands. For example, the Samsung handset gives a click sensation when the user raises the volume of the speaker, as if it is a mechanical dial.
Models show ``Haptic'' phones from Samsung Electronics, above, and a silicon-skin phone from LG Electronics, below. Physical sensation has become an essential part of phone design this year.
/ Courtesy of Samsung Electronics,LG Electronics
LG began to develop the vibrating-screen phones in 2006, right after the phenomenal success of its Chocolate Phone, which raised the firm's status in the phone industry from a cheap imitator to a fancy brand.Kim Jin, then the chief of its mobile phone design center, had said in an interview with The Korea Times that haptic would be the next big trend in phone design whether it be a vibrating function or a soft, organic skin. Now the company says all of its phones over 500,000 won ($500) will have the touch-screen platform, and there will be over 10 types released this year.LG's spokesman said that the firm has no objection to Samsung's monopolizing the term ``Haptic'' for its phone. ``It's a generic term, but we did the same thing with the Chocolate,'' he said. LG somehow stole a small part of the spotlight on Samsung's Haptic Tuesday by releasing a new phone that has a soft silicon body. The firm said it will receive users' opinions for the nickname of the LG-SH240 series. indizio@koreatimes.co.kr