Smartphone war heats up

Pantech unveils new device; Galaxy Note 2 out on Wed.

By Kim Yoo-chul

The smartphone market is expected to further heat up here as major Korean handset producers are all set to sell highly-improved handsets ahead of the Apple iPhone 5’s local launch later this week or early next month.

On Monday, Pantech unveiled what it claims is the ``best smartphone’’ at its launch event in downtown Seoul. Samsung Electronics plans to introduce the Galaxy Note 2 on Wednesday and top local carriers SK and KT have begun taking pre-orders for the “phablets.”

The introduction of the Pantech Vega R3 that supports fourth-generation (4G) long-term evolution (LTE) technology comes a week after its biggest local rival, LG Electronics, released its best-ever smartphone, the Optimus G.