LG has just announced what seems to be the first affordable touchscreen handset: LG KP500. Coming shortly after the 8 Megapixel KC910, the new KP500 is a cheaper copy of it, created to enable more consumers to enjoy the benefits of touchscreen technology.

The exact retail price of LG KP500 has not been made public yet, but it should be announced just before the phone's release, sometime at the end of October. What's clear so far is that, as LG puts it, the KP500 will have an “affordable introduction price never offered before.”

Not all the features of LG KP500 have been unveiled, so we only know that the phone will feature a 3-inch TFT touchscreen display with handwriting recognition, a full QWERTY (virtual) keyboard, auto rotating sensor and motion sensor games. LG also says that quad-band GSM connectivity is present, but there's no sign of 3G, and this will probably make the KP500 a “bad choice” for lots of mobile users. But you can't expect an affordable handset to have it all.

“The feedback we receive from consumers around the world indicate that there's more people who wish to try the latest touch screen phones,” says President and Chief Executive Officer of LG Electronics Mobile Communications, Skott Ahn. “We want to reach out to this group and LG KP500 is our answer to deliver a high quality full touch screen phone that is easy to use and much easier to afford. Within reach of many consumers, we hope that more people will experience the joy of using the latest touch screen technology with LG KP500.” 

"We optimized the user interface,” adds Mr. Ahn, “to keep the tactile operations smooth and simple, which is necessary when you're opening up a new technology to a wide group of people."

LG already has a long history in releasing nice touchscreen phones (starting with the Viewty, reviewed by Softpedia here), so the new KP500 will probably not disappoint. We'll find out more about the handset next month, when it hits the market in four color versions: black, brown, silver and gold.