At the beginning of this week LG unveiled its Optimus Vu, ending Samsung’s monopoly on a smartphone/ tablet hybrid in the Galaxy Note. Now the other Korean tech company has announced that it will be launching a new design identity, dubbed LStyle, at the 2012 Mobile World Congress (MWC).

According to the company, the core essence of L-Style involves a “timeless design” as well as  finer details that further differentiates its mobile phones from the competition. L-Style’s design philosophy will be comprised of five aesthetic elements: a modern square style design for a comfortable grip; floating mass technology for a slimmer look; seamless layout for a more intuitive arrangement of keys; a harmonised design contrast by employing metallic accents; and a sensuous slim shape that naturally draws a user’s attention.

All this sounds too much of PR-speak to us, so we’ll rather wait for the the first three smartphones feature the L-Style design, to be unveiled at this year’s MWC. The LG Optimus L3 will boast a 3.2" display and runs Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). It will be the first device to be launched in Europe this March. LG’s Optimus L3 will be followed by two more aspiring smartphones in the first half of the year. Both of these devices, the Optimus L5 which sports a 4" touchscreen and Optimus L7 featuring a 4.3" display, will be running Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich).

The Korean firm said that more info on market availability as well as additional hardware specifications for all three models will be announced at a later date. No local release info is available yet.  

“Design is consistently the top or second most important factor for customers when choosing a mobile phone,” said Dr. Jong-seok Park, president and CEO of LG mobile communications company. “With smartphones, we sometimes took a more functional approach to design but with L-Style we’re going back to our roots as a company focused on how our products fit into the lifestyle of our customers.”

 

In other related mobile news, Vodacom and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion recently announced the local launch of the new BlackBerry Bold 9790 and BlackBerry Curve 9380 smartphones, whilst Samsung expanded its Android-powered smartphone Galaxy with the Galaxy Ace 2 and Galaxy mini 2.