LG Confirms 'Iron Man' Android Phone

Ah, the sweet taste of product-movie marketing tie-ins. LG today confirmed that the Ally will be its first Android smartphone, which movie-goers will get a big taste of on the big screen when they go to see "Iron Man 2" this weekend.Rather than actually announce a cool, new phone, LG announced the ridiculously overblown marketing campaign surrounding the device's launch. So goes the modern product-placement marketing schemes in today's major media, I suppose. (LG offered a promotional phone when the first "Iron Man" movie was released.) LG was incredibly tinny on details about its Iron Man tie-in. Here's what we know.

The LG Ally (which, yes, will be featured in "Iron Man 2") is an Android handset that has a sliding QWERTY keyboard and touch screen. As far as the hardware is concerned, that's pretty much it. LG is remaining pretty tight-lipped. No other specs or details were shared, which, in my opinion, is rather annoying. LG teases with the following blurb in today's press release:

The augmented reality application sounds pretty cool. There are a number of augmented reality applications available for Android devices. They can be neat to interact with, but in my experience are fairly deadly when it comes to battery life. Perhaps LG and Tony Stark have stuck an even smaller arc reactor inside the Ally?

Both "Iron Man 2" and the LG Ally are going to be featured at a huge blow-out event in New York City. We can only hope that LG will deign to share a few more details about its first Android handset at the event.

In the mean time, you can check out the teaser site here.