SEOUL: LG Electronics launched on Tuesday its new flagship smartphone which will have to compete against a flurry of new products from rivals Apple and Samsung who currently dominate the global market.
The South Korean electronics giant said the new gadget. called Optimus G, would hit domestic stores next week before sales begin in Japan in October and other countries including US in November.
The launch comes days after Apple unveiled the much-anticipated iPhone 5 which garnered more than two million orders in just 24 hours.
Once having claimed the world's third-largest handset maker, LG slid to the world's No. 5 mobile phone maker during the three months ending in June as China-based ZTE Corp. gained ground in low-end smartphones.
LG has added new video-related features to the Optimus G, such as multitasking while playing videos.
Samsung Electronics, which has sold more than 20 million of its Galaxy S III smartphone launched in late May, is set to introduce the newest version of its popular oversized Galaxy Note smartphone in the market soon.
"It's inevitable for these flagship products to compete head-to-head ... but we are expecting very significant and surprising figures for this product," Park Jong-Seok, head of LG's mobile unit, told reporters.
He refused to elaborate on the sales target.
The new phone, powered by Google's Android software is equipped with a new quad-core processor made by Qualcomm that helps run applications about 40 percent faster than existing quad-core processors.
About 13.2 centimetres (5.2 inches) long, 6.9 centimetres wide and featuring a 4.7-inch touchscreen, Optimus G allows users to zoom in on moving video images and takes photos by recognising voice words like "cheese" or "smile."
It can also simultaneously display overlapped images of two applications, for instance allowing users to exchange chat messages or search the Internet while watching a video played in the background.
"Smartphone users spend a growing amount of time watching videos, so this can be a really helpful feature," Chang Ma, vice president of marketing in LG's mobile unit, said.
The new gadget also automatically adjusts bell sounds based on noise level around users to help prevent missed calls, he added.
The world's number two flat-screen TV producer and the fifth biggest phone maker, LG has struggled for years in the rapidly-growing smartphone market.
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