LG to release full HD smartphone in S Korea

LG Electronics Inc. says its new smartphone with a full high-definition screen will go on sale in South Korea this week and hit shelves in Japan in April.

LG said Monday the Optimus G Pro smartphone features a 5.5-inch screen that packs over 2 million pixels, or twice as many as smartphones with HD screens.

The South Korean company, Sony Corp., HTC Corp. and other phone manufacturers are trying to make high-resolution screens a key feature in their new smartphones this year.

Full HD screens are more common in televisions but smartphone makers began to embrace them this year amid cutthroat competition.

LG said its new Android-powered phone sports other upgrades including a camera that can shoot full HD videos and photographs.