The newly announced LG-GW620, the first Android-powered smartphone from the South Korean consumer electronics giant, is scheduled for a Q4 launch. It’ll pack in a 3-inch touchscreen, slide-out full QWERTY keypad, and new social features targeting Facebook and Twitter fans.

LG has officially announced its Android foray with a brand new device somewhat cryptically named LG-GW620. It’s the first-ever Android smartphone for LG, the company that’s been heavily relying thus far on the Windows Mobile platform in its phones. The LG-GW620 also signals a change in direction towards a two-tier smartphone strategy that will see LG utilizing both Android and Windows Mobile in future devices.

The company provided little detail beyond stating that the phone will feature a 3-inch touchscreen and the full QWERTY slide-out keyboard. Promo images shown in this article shed a little more light, revealing a mini USB port, volume up and down buttons, the sleep/wake button, and a round iPhone-like button positioned below the display, alongside the Home and Back buttons.

There is also a stylus, indicating that the phone will not exclusively rely on a finger-based input after all. The QWERTY keypad slides out on the left, providing heavy message users with spacious keys for the physical, tactile-based input.

Dr. Skott Ahn, president and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company, said that additional Android phones will follow in the years ahead, adding that the LG-GW620 will:

appeal to first-time smartphone customers by offering a new and different kind of user experience. Our objective is to provide a wide selection of smartphones to satisfy the diverse preferences of today’s consumers.

The LG phone will debut in select European markets in the fourth quarter of this year. The company is expected to post full specs ahead of the release. LG remained mum on whether it will bring the LG-GW620 to the U.S. market later this year. Last month, LG pledged to bring at least 13 new Windows Mobile smartphones by the end of 2010.

Read more at the LG press release

Christian’s Opinion

LG said in its press release that the LG-GW620 will benefit from Google-preloaded apps and services, highlighting a range of new social networking features as well. Common sense logic points to the Android 1.6 firmware that’s just around the corner. Also known as the Donut release, Android 1.6 will pack in a redesigned Android Market with app icons, longer descriptions, user reviews, and screenshots.

However, the social focus stressed in LG’s press release could as well indicate that the phone will run Android 2.0, code-named Eclair and due later this year, unless, of course, LG plans to provide social features via own apps built on top of Android. Android 2.0 is said to enable Facebook integration on the system level, fitting nicely into the LG-GW620’s social focus. In addition, the operating system will enable multi-touch gestures, advanced 3D graphics support necessary for console-quality games, universal search, text-to-speech, automated backups, faster performance, and a new camera app.