Well lookie here, LG just announced a followup to its LH2300 Touch Web phone. This one's for the twisty-fold clamshell fans -- a design which makes it look positively Japanese superphone-like. In fact, we're pretty sure it's just the Casio W53CA with LG branding and new Hello UI for Korean consumption. Interesting given that Korea certainly isn't lacking in mega-spec'd phones. Anyway, given the Exilim underpinnings it's no surprise to find a 5.1 megapixel CMOS sensor, 28-mm lens, color correction, 9-point auto focus, and built-in anti-shake technology bunged into the backside. The LCD measures 2.8-inches (down from the LH2300's 3-inch LCD) yet still manages the same 800 x 480 pixel resolution for DMB television and landscape or portrait web browsing. Inside the little 18.9-mm thin handset you'll find 4GB NAND / 1GB SDRAM and microSD expansion for all your snaps and VGA / 30fps video. Coming to a 3G, CDMA network near you in April... just long as you live in South Korea or Japan.

Looks like those that call Down Under home have been blessed with yet another option in the smartphone department, as HTC has apparently launched the P3600i in your neck of the woods. Deemed an "HTC P3600 with a faster CPU and more ROM," this Windows Mobile 6 device looks to be an Asia-Pacific exclusive for now, and touts quad-band GSM, 802.11g, a two-megapixel camera, Bluetooth 2.0, 160MB of internal memory, a miniSD expansion slot, and UMTS / HSDPA to boot. Best of all, it's available right now on 3.

[Via UnwiredView]

Despite Cingular's claim of being "the network with the least dropped calls," PC Mag's Sascha Segan finds that T-Mobile's version of the BlackBerry 8700 smartphone, the 8700g, actually outperforms its 8700c cousin in terms of call quality. Other improvements upon the Cingular model are T-Mobile's addition of two key software features: the OZ semi-universal IM client (no Gtalk, and AIM users are restricted to their small mobile buddy group) as well as the first implementation of the Yahoo!/RIM partnership we heard about last month, in the form of a handy Y! Mail icon pre-loaded in the launcher. Besides these small differences, however, Sascha finds the 8700g to perform almost exactly the same as the 8700c -- that is, very well. Email and texting are a pleasure, attachment support is good for all but PDF files, and the crisp screen delivers web pages cleanly (albeit at EDGE speeds), making this seem like the new go-to device for the Mob's business clientele.