Tegra 3-powered LG Optimus Vu: available globally this September

After launching the phone back in March in their native Korea, LG is ready to bring the phablet stylings of the Optimus Vu: to new regions around the globe. The phone landed in Japan this month and will make its way to select markets in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America in September. The global launch comes with a bump in processing power through the switch to NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 platform while retaining other hardware elements including the device’s 5-inch screen with 4:3 display ratio.

Rumors also have the Optimus Vu: launching in the US on Verizon at some point in the near future, but no official announcements have been made on the matter at this time. Check out the press release below for the details as we have them now. Specifics should be coming closer to the actual retail availability of the phone.

LG ANNOUNCES GLOBAL AVAILABILITY OF OPTIMUS VU: 
Largest LG Smartphone to Be Launched in Europe, Asia, Middle East/Africa and Latin America

SEOUL, Aug. 20, 2012 - On the heels of its successful debut in Korea and Japan, the Optimus Vu: will make its global debut starting in select markets in Europe, Asia, Middle East/Africa and Latin America starting in September. With the world’s first 5-inch 4:3 aspect ratio display, the Optimus Vu: blurs the line between traditional tablets and smartphones for a truly unique smart device experience.

Since its March debut in Korea, the Optimus Vu: has sold over 500,000 units, demonstrating public acceptance of its form-factor. The reception the device received in Korea prompted LG to launch the Optimus Vu: in Japan this month, where it has also been received positively by Japanese consumers.

For the global roll-out, the Optimus Vu: will be equipped with NVIDIA? Tegra? 3 mobile processor, the super 4-PLUS-1™ quad-core with 5th battery-saver core, that offers a superb balance of performance and power requirements. 4 cores are used for high performance tasks such as games and multitasking. For voice call, email, music and video playback, only 5th battery-saver core is enabled and it consumes very less power.

When paired with the high-resolution 5-inch, 4:3 ratio IPS display, the Optimus Vu: becomes something special - a device that’s both pocketable and spacious. The Optimus Vu: will come with an upgraded version of QuickMemo™ and Notebook, two features which make great use of the large display real estate.

"The different form factor makes Optimus Vu: unique even in the 5-inch smartphone category which we expect will catch on once they become more widely available," said Dr. Jong-seok Park, president and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company.

Key Specifications:

• Operating System Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
• Network 3G
• Display 5.0-inch 4:3 ratio XGA IPS with 768 x 1024 pixels
• Memory 32GB
• Cameras 8.0MP rear / 1.3MP front
• Size 139.6 x 90.4 x 8.5mm
• Weight 168g