LG Electronics (LG) is taking on Apple in the lucrative mobile applications market with the launch of its own application store in beta format.
The LG Application Store will first be introduced in Asia and then expanded to 24 countries including Australia. The company expects to have up to 2000 applications on its site by the end of year with at least 100 programs available free of charge to LG handset users.
“As we’ve announced earlier, LG is planning to invest heavily in the smartphone market going forward, with 10 smartphones being introduced this year alone,” said Dr Skott Ahn, CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company.
“As the trend has shown, the appeal of smartphones is in the diversity and usefulness of the applications. Opening our own Application Store will allow us to offer the best content and applications for our devices so that LG phone owners will get the best possible ownership experience.”
All software will undergo rigorous quality testing before they are made available for download to ensure ‘bug-free’ operation.
“It’s important to understand that unlike other mobile phone manufacturers, LG’s Application Store is not intended to be a new or separate business model,” added Ahn.
“It’s an added-value service that comes with LG’s high-end phone and smartphone ownership. And unlike other mobile phone online stores, LG’s intention is not to censor the type of applications that are available to our customers but only to ensure that they meet the high standards for quality and compatibility.”
The LG Application Store’s is compatible with the smartphone GM730, which is launched at the end of July.
To access the LG Application Store, users can either visit www.lgapplication.com and download applications to a computer or they can directly access the shop from their LG-GM730 handset.
It is not known when the LG Application Store will leave the beta test stage.