LG Electronics (LG), a leader in consumer electronics and mobile communications, launched its latest HSDPA smartphone, LG-KS10, in Italy.

“At LG we continue to be a leader in the market for premium high-tech mobile phones by anticipating users’ needs and creating differentiated customer value” said Dr. Skott Ahn, CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. “Smartphone will meet the needs of growing number of mobile users who want more PC-like environment on their phones. This category has lots of growth potential in mobile phone market.”

LG’s smartphone is equipped with Symbian OS and provides a full web browsing experience on its 2.4-inch wide LCD screen. The phone allows users to access any website a regular computer can use, with the original page layout – not a stripped down version for mobile phones. Websites are easy to read as users can easily zoom in or out and the ability to save and retrieve favorites saves time.

In addition, smartphone comes with Google™ products and services pre-installed, creating a more dynamic user experience with features such as one-click access to Google Search, Gmail™ Mobile, and Google Maps™ Mobile.

LG’s HSDPA smartphone enables users to download multimedia files including videos and music five times faster than WCDMA phones. It is also equipped with a variety of multimedia functions including a 2 megapixel camera, video conferencing, Bluetooth, an MP3 player and external memory card slot.

Smartphone will be launched in additional European countries, Southeast Asia and Central Asia this year.

According to market research company Gartner Inc., smartphone shipments are expected to grow to 158 million units worldwide in 2007, compared to 81 million units in 2006.