Qualcomm Snapdragon Debuts in Korea with LG’s Regular Phone Tweet

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon debuts in Korea with LG Electronics’ the Maxx (LG-LG9400) through LG Telecom, the smallest mobile carrier in the local market.

Different from other countries the 1 Ghz mobile processor was adopted on a regular phone, not a smartphone. Beginning last year with Toshiba’s TG01, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon is gaining momentum. The mobile processor has been selected by several new smartphones, such as the Nexus One and Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, and a smartbook such as HP’s AirLife 100.

For 2G CDMA operator, LG first selected QSD 8650 on the Maxx, formerly known Arena Maxx, while other smartphones, including LG’s GW820 in the U.S., use the QSD 8250 chip set.

The Maxx has a 3.5-inch touch-screen with a finger-touch mouse function and a 5-megapixel camera module. It supports HD video, DivX, mobile TV(T-DMB), GPS, and Wi-Fi connectivity. At the user interface, the Maxx adopts a 3D UI that is enhanced over its predecessor, the Arena.

LG also plans to introduce a Snapdragon-based smartphone for SK Telecom and KT customers soon.

Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics’ own platform, the bada-based Wave, is scheduled to first release in April in Europe, and is expected to appear in the local market in the first half of this year. The Wave has adopted Samsung’s own 1 Ghz mobile processor.

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