The world of technology is changing at such a rapid pace. What was considered latest and fascinatingly advanced just an year ago is dull and outdated now. And nowhere is this rapid gallop of advancement more evident than in the field of mobile technology. All major mobile companies are racing to bring to the consumer the latest, the most advanced and the most awe-inspiring gadget, in a bid to outwin and outshine the competitors and win consumers’ loyalty.
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In such a race, on thing that is needed most is innovation. And what drives innovation? Bright and fresh ideas, of course, brilliant imagination and the skill of turning the impossible into possible. And to gather just such bright and fresh ideas from bright and fresh minds, LG Electronics recently organized the LG Smartphone IDEA Camp. The international campaign that kick-started from India on August 1, 2012 invited all consumers to present their ideas for unique apps, features, design, User Interface, concept and service that they would like to have in their smartphone. The consumers were told to submit their innovative and unique ideas at www.lg.com/in/smartphoneideacamp. A hefty award was also to be given to the winners.
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The response that such an invitation received from public can well be imagined. Around 3700 contestants submitted their ideas. The excitement of youth could well be gauged as they worked hard to put their creativity and passion to use and present to the jury a huge bank of innovative ideas. The Camp ended on 15th September. Thereafter, the jury of the Camp narrowed down the entries to top 40 ideas. Then in a Finale round that extended between 4th to 6th October, 2012 and was held in Le Meridian hotel, New Delhi,the top 40 participants competed against each other for the winning position. They participated in a unique innovation workshop that was called LG Inno Jump. Inno Jump is LG’s creative problem solving process aimed at finding ways to turn the innovative ideas into realities. In the Grand Finale, the top 8 selected group innovators presented their innovative ideas before an eminent jury comprising of Mr. Brian Kwon, Sr. VP Product Planning LGE Korea, Mr. Yong Joo Lee, President LGSI R&D. Based upon the decision of this eminent jury, one team was chosen the winner of the Camp and awarded the prize money of Rs. 350, 000. Further winners received Optimus 4X HD Smartphones and internship at LG R&D center at Bangalore. And they all had the promise from LG that their ideas would be considered and used in the future LG Smartphone line-up.
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The camp, that acted as the breeding ground of new innovations and ideas, culminated successfully on 9th October, 2012 when the winners were felicitated and received their awards.
Mr. Brian Kwon, Sr. VP Product Planning, LGE Korea, said “It is amazing to see the response, we saw some great ideas. While a large chunk of the entries were app- centric, concepts related to the screen size, security of phones and the data within were immensely popular too. The Smartphone Idea Camp further proved that innovation is not some entity that is specific to a body of professionals; everyone can be innovative. LG’s Smartphone Idea Camp is in line with the concept that, since consumers are the demand generators and best deciders of what they need, the camp provided them a platform to express the same. The Camp was LG’s honest attempt to reach out to the consumers, gain their insights and get inspired from their imagination and think creatively and paint a new landscape.”
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“India is at par with the global consumers when it comes to technological awareness, thanks to the growing consumerization of technology. In a country like India, where the youth constitutes a huge chunk of the population, one can only imagine the huge potential lying under the seams. The LG Smartphone Idea Camp was as successful as we had expected it to be, if not more. The sheer brilliance of the ideas received and insights gathered is incredible. The objective of this competition is to recognize the emerging talent in the design & technology category at the national level. The concept behind Smart phone idea camp is to promote ‘out of the box thinking’ and believe that sky is the limit when it comes to innovation. “, says Mr. Soon Kwon, MD, LG Electronics India.
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Good to see it finally being realized that ‘India is at par with the global consumers when it comes to technological awareness.’ Companies can no longer afford to treat India as second cousins, bringing their gadgets to use when they have already become outdated in developed nations. India is very clearly one of the largest mobile markets in the world. Her total mobile subscriber base is estimated at 930 million. And the popularity of smartphones is increasing immensely. According to a survey conducted by Nielsen Informate Mobile Insights, there are 27 million smartphone users in urban India, that is, a total of 9% of all mobile users in urban India use a smartphone. But this number is set to increase dramatically in near future. Industry analysts forecast the smartphone market in India to grow at a CAGR of 116.4 percent over the period of 2012-2015. So there’s no way phone companies can afford to pay any less attention to India now.
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Anyway, coming back to the LG Smartphone Idea Camp, it proved itself to be a two way success. It not only gave the youth a chance to present their suggestions, and innovative ideas, it would have also helped the company know better what the consumer wants, besides building for them a store of new and innovative ideas.
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However, this isn’t the first time that LG organized an event to welcome public’s creativity. In 2010 too, LG had organized a campaign called the Design Innovation. For it, LG Cube invited design students from esteemed institutes to let unleash their creativity and design totally unique devices for them. That campaign had also been received by as much enthusiasm as this year’s LG Smartphone iDEA Camp and proved itself a success..
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About LG Electronics India Pvt. Ltd.
LG Electronics India Pvt. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of LG Electronics, South Korea was established in January 1997 in India. It is one of the most formidable brands in consumer electronics, home appliances, IT hardware and mobile communications space. In India for a decade, LG has earned a premium brand positioning and is the acknowledged trendsetter for the industry.
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LGEIL’s manufacturing unit at Greater Noida is one of the most eco-friendly units among all LG manufacturing plants in the world. The second Greenfield facility is located at Ranjangaon; Pune has the capacity to manufacture GSM Phones, Colour Televisions, Air Conditioners, LCD TVs, Washing Machines, Refrigerators, Monitors and Optical Disc Drives.