LG was making some fun phones like the LG Wing back in the day. However, in 2021, the company decided to exit the smartphone business. Meanwhile, its South Korean counterpart, Samsung, has continued to dominate the smartphone business and is one of the top smartphone OEMs in the world. It appears that LG has put its trust in Samsung to build its first AI phone meant for the AI era.
According to industry sources (via KED Global), Samsung and LG Uplus (a South Korean mobile network operator owned by LG) have signed a deal for an AI smartphone project. The aim of this deal is to develop the first "real AI phone," which according to the report "goes beyond simply integrating AI assistant services into a smartphone."
Earlier this month, LG Uplus launched an AI-powered call assistant service called "ixi-O." To give you some context about this service, it can answer phone calls on behalf of the user, summarize key points, engage in messaging, and also analyze ongoing conversations to detect potential phishing threats.
Since LG is no longer in the smartphone business, the AI phone, reportedly called "Galaxy ixi-O" will be built by Samsung exclusively for LG. As the name of the phone suggests, the AI phone will have the powers of both Samsung"s suite of AI features under the "Galaxy AI" umbrella along with LG Uplus"s "ixi-O" AI capabilities.
One of the sources said, "We expect AI services provided by ixi-O to be revolutionary when integrated into Samsung"s Galaxy on-device AI phones." The "Galaxy ixi-O" phone will remain exclusive for Korea and the LG Uplus network. However, the report notes that Samsung could develop such AI phones in collaboration with other mobile carriers if they are interested.
If the "Galaxy ixi-O" phone comes to fruition, it will be sold under the "Galaxy" branding and will be based on a global Samsung Galaxy phone. However, the company may tweak the software based on the carrier"s specific requirements.