San Francisco: LG Electronics went big in style on Tuesday with a flagship G3 smartphone aimed at turning heads away from market titans Apple and Samsung.
LG introduced G3 smartphones at simultaneous events in a half-dozen cities, saying they would hit US soil by September in deals with an array of telecom service carriers.
The successor to the LG G2 has a 5.5-inch (14 centimeter) display with screen quality four times that of standard high-definition resolution and extensive battery life.
Features crafted in to entice smartphone lovers includes ramped up camera capabilities that include advanced hardware; letting people take "selfies" with gestures, and laser-enhanced focusing.
"It makes selfies simple," head of LG Europe product marketing James Marshall said in a presentation streamed to a press event in San Francisco.
"Let`s face it, around the world we are obsessed with selfies."
"Selfies" refer to pictures people take of themselves using front-facing cameras in smartphones.
Along with touches such as curving the G3 to make it fit more naturally in a hand, LG overhauled the user interface to make it simpler.
Among improvements is the ability to unlock a G3 by "knocking," or using a series of finger taps, and a built-in virtual assistant of sorts referred to as Smart Notice.
Smart Notice offers suggestions based on factors such as user behavior and location.
For example, it will notice which apps aren`t used and offer to help remove them or pop up a shopping list memo when it notices that it has reached a preferred market.
LG also added a "kill switch" that allows G3 owners to lock, wipe clean, or permanently disable a lost or stolen smartphone.
"The smartest innovation in a fast evolving smartphone market is creating harmony between advanced technology and a simplified user experience," said LG Electronics mobile communications company chief Jong-seok Park.
"The LG G3 is the result of our effort to actualize that idea into a tangible product."
The G3 is South Korea-based LG`s latest champion in a smartphone arena dominated by Apple and Samsung.
G3 handsets are powered by Google`s free Android software.
LG was the fifth largest global smartphone vendor in early 2014 with a 4.4 market share, according to figures from research firm IDC.
Samsung was firms with 30 percent, to Apple`s 15.5 percent, followed by China`s Huawei (4.7 percent) Lenovo (4.6 percent), IDC said.