NEW YORK-LG InfoComm U.S.A. Inc. expects its two new tri-mode phones to appear on shelves at Verizon Wireless Inc. stores in December, bringing to 10 the total of new handsets the San Diego-based company will have brought to the U.S. market this year.
The LG-VX2000, now in mass production, has a large liquid crystal display screen and interchangeable color faceplates that do not expose the inner workings of the phone when removed, said Dan Gralak, vice president of sales.
Not getting by on looks alone, the VX2000 is, among other attributes, equipped with a two-way speaker and an Openwave 4.1 micro-browser.
The new LG-VX4400 clamshell phone provides a 65K-color display on its interior screen. Its exterior display, which shows caller identification information, cycles through 10 colors, and the user can select settings to assign a color to events like missed calls or incoming short messages. “We think this is unique, that we are first,” Gralak said.
The VX4400 supports BREW, provides Pop3 e-mail functionality, permits up to 1.5 Megabytes of downloadable Flash memory and has an internal Universal Serial Bus.
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Both new handsets are gpsOne-enabled so they support E911. They are bilingual in English and Spanish and permit voice dialing. The VX2000 allows memo recordings of up to two minutes, while the maximum for the VX4400 is four minutes.
LG InfoComm has not yet published a retail price sheet for its two newest models, Gralak said. However, he noted that LG’s Model 5350, co-branded and sold through Sprint PCS since mid-September, sells for $200 with a $50 rebate. The LG VX10 BREW phone, co-branded with Verizon and sold since mid-October, sells for $100.
LG InfoComm, which owns a majority stake in telecom operator LG Telecom of South Korea, expects to introduce another 10 handset models to the U.S. marketplace next year, Gralak said. A phone with a camera integrated into it should become available early in 2003.
“We already offer GSM phones in Europe and China, and we are looking to expand our GSM line into the United States during the second half of next year,” he said. “We also are planning to expand our carrier customer base beyond Sprint and Verizon.”
LG InfoComm expects to have sold 7 million handsets in the United States by the end of 2002, a 33-percent increase over last year, said Melissa Elkins, public relations manager.