Telecom Lead Asia: LG Electronics has unveiled a new
version of its Optimus smartphone with greater memory and a more powerful
battery.
The phone offers as much memory as a notebook computer,
allowing consumers to use several applications simultaneously.
A new battery gives 40 percent more running time on a
single charge than the Optimus LTE 1 released last October.
LG did not share timetable for overseas sales of the LTE
phone, which uses a faster mobile network that is available mainly in South
Korea, Japan, the United States and parts of Europe.
A revised model of the Optimus LTE 2 could be released
first in North America,” said Park Jong-Seok, president of the mobile
communications division.
The new smartphone has a 4.7-inch (12 centimetre) liquid
crystal display and a single application processor chip, giving its camera a
faster shutter speed.
LG has sold one million LTE phones at home since the
first model was launched. The Optimus LTE 2 will be priced at 935,000 won
($803) in the local market.
LG competes with Apple and Samsung.
“We will focus on quality and continue to release
premium phones,” Park added.
Samsung Electronics unveiled its Galaxy S3 smartphone in
London on May 3 but has not yet started selling in South Korea.
LG made a net profit of 242.5 billion won ($213.5
million) in the first quarter thanks to improvement in its flat-screen TV and
handset operations.
Data from South Korea’s three telecom companies showed
that smartphones account for more than half of all South Korea’s mobile phones.
The number of smartphone subscribers hit 26.77 million
late last week, 50.9 percent of the total 52.55 million mobile phone users.
