14 DAY TRIAL // Apparently LG doesn't like Australian carriers, as the Korean handset manufacturer has recently announced that world's first dual-core Android smartphone, the LG Optimus 2X will be available this month exclusively at the Harvey Norman stores.
The device can be purchased for $649 off-contract and with no chance of subsidies until the Optimus 2X will be picked by one of the Australian carriers.
“Harvey Norman is excited to be working with LG to bring this great new device to the Australian market,” Harvey Norman GM for computers and communication, Ben McIntosh said.
Given the latest achievement of the company that has just been awarded a Guinness Book certification for the Optimus 2X, LG's decision to sell the device unlocked via a major chain of stores seems to be rather a marketing move than a simple misunderstanding with the local carriers.
LG Optimus 2X has been listed last week in Guinness Book of Worlds Records for being the first dual core mobile phone in the world:
“The first mobile phone to use a dual core processor is the LG Optimus 2x, which was first made available to the public nationwide in South Korea on 25 January 2011,” reads the certificate.
However, as Harvey Norman's exclusivity is time limited, customers who prefer to purchase a subsidized smartphone can wait until the end of the month when LG probably releases the Optimus 2X as an open market device via Australian carriers and authorized sellers.
The Optimus 2X is powered by a dual-core 1GHz ARM Cortex-A9 Tegra 2 processor, complemented by a ULP GeForce GPU (graphics processing unit).
The smartphone runs Android 2.2, which is upgradable to Gingerbread, although no specific date has been disclosed yet.
It comes with a 4-inch capacitive touchscreen, a superior 8-megapixel rear photo snapper, as well as 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera and 8GB of internal memory.