LG's new handsets to help worshippers

Dubai: LG Electronics, third largest mobile phone vendor, has launched two new handsets exclusively equipped with integrated features that are almost tailor-made to meet the needs of Muslims in the region.

"We've worked very hard to understand our customers and develop products based on their individual needs and have once again pushed the very limits of innovation with our Islamic feature phones," said H.S. Paik, President LG Electronics Gulf FZE.

"In an effort to offer a more personalised and upscale experience for our Muslim consumers, we developed and embedded these features in the GD335 and KP500N phone to provide a totally new concept in mobile telecommunications," he said.

The newly launched LG GD335 and LG KP500N have special features, including a Qiblah indicator that uses an in-built longitude and latitude orientation or city references that, when used in comparison to the magnetic north, indicates the direction of the Qiblah. The two phones also come complete with Adhan and Salah prayer time alarm functions as well as Quran software, the Hijri calendar and a Zakat calculator.

With Ramadan approaching, the features will be a welcome benefit during the month.

LG's shipments in second quarter of 2009 rose 6 per cent to 29.8 million units behind Nokia and Samsung.

According to research firm IDC's report, the worldwide mobile phone market remained weak in the second quarter despite some encouraging signs in smartphone shipments.

Mobile phone shipments fell 10.8 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter to 269.6 million units, IDC said, noting the figure was an improvement over the first quarter.

The research firm predicts the global handset market will decline 13 per cent in 2009 compared to last year.

The GD335 and KP500N retail at Dh599 and Dh899 respectively.

The phones are available at major outlets across the UAE.