LG to unveil 'G3 Stylus'

LG Electronics said Wednesday that it would unveil its new smartphone, the G3 Stylus, within the third quarter of the year in an effort to retain its bullish position within the industry.

The move comes after local brokerages revised up their estimates for the sale of LG smartphones to more than 60 million units this year, citing the steady popularity of LG's latest G3-branded smartphones in key target markets such as the United States and China, said LG officials and market analysts.

Recently, the company offered a preview of the product in a lengthy promotional video.

An industry source who is familiar with the matter said the launch of the Stylus was not yet official but would happen by the end of the third quarter, with slightly reduced features.

"The Stylus will be the pen-pushing model with a screen size of about 5.5 inches," he said. "Overall specifications will be slightly downgraded compared with the G3, with a different battery size and screen resolution."

The source, however, fell short of divulging detailed specifications.

Simply put, the Stylus is a budget smartphone.

Attention is shifting to the question of whether the upcoming new LG mobile will steal the limelight in the already-heated competition for smartphones, as its bitter cross-town rival Samsung Electronics confirmed earlier Korea Times reports that the Galaxy Note 4 phablet would be released Sep. 3 in Berlin, Beijing and New York.

The Galaxy Note 4 is also a pen-pushing model with a 5.7-inch screen and more high-end features, such as water resistance and a fingerprint scanner to unlock the device.