LG, Motorola to do battle with Android devices

As Android continues to gather momentum across a broad spectrum of the devices space, handset vendors reveal their high hopes for the platform.

Korean vendor LG Electronics, which currently holds third position in the global handset vendor rankings, said that more than half of its smartphones to be released in 2010 will be based on Android. LG will unveil about 20 smartphones based on operating systems including Android, Windows Mobile and Linux this year.

The company aims to shift a total of 140 million units in 2010 – a 20 per cent increase year on year – in a bid to become one of the top two mobile device manufacturers by 2012. The company plans to do this with a strong push into the Korean and North American markets where it wants to be recognised as a provider of customised smartphones.

In 2009 LG established a smartphone-focused business division and boosted its smartphone R&D workforce by 30 per cent. “Hopes are especially high for Android phones, which, with their user-friendly and open-access OS, are expected to make up more than half of all LG’s new smartphone releases. In the first half of 2010, LG will focus on producing easy-to-use smartphones aimed squarely at first-time owners before moving into premium handsets with cutting-edge designs later in the year,” the company said.

But LG may face competition from a resurgent Motorola in its home market, with the US firm on Monday unveiling the first smartphone in Korea to be powered by Android version 2.0.

The MotoRoi is offered in partnership with SK Telecom and boasts a full touch screen with a 3.7” high definition WVGA (480X854) display, wifi, an eight megapixel camera with Xenon flash and a 720p HD camcorder, HDMI capabilities, 8GB of storage and a UI that offers five different virtual input methods including a 3X4 keypad, full QWERTY, half QWERTY, hand writing and writing pad.

The device also features the expected bundle of Google services pre installed, including Google Maps, Gmail, YouTube, and Google Talk.