LG launches App Store for dumb phones and weird countries

LG’s application store just launched and Thomas Ricker’s headline for Engadget sums up the news quite well: “LG’s Application Store launches in places you don’t live for devices you don’t care about”.

It’s for feature phones and smartphone, but surprisingly not Android phones, and support for Western Europe (UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain) isn’t even coming until next year. America … where’s that?

Full press release after the jump if you dare to read it. Make sure you’re on Riddilin though, because there’s no other way to parse this text.

WITH A NEW APPLICATIONS STORE, LG OPENS UP TO BOTH FEATURE PHONE AND SMARTPHONES

SEOUL, July 1, 2010 – LG Electronics (LG) today announced the opening of an all-new LG Application Store, with more than twice as many apps targeting users of both feature phones and smartphones in 33 countries.

Having comprehensively updated its Application Store, LG is now ready to offer customers a wide range of fun and useful apps including exciting games like The SIMS 3, Asphalt 4 and popular applications from SPB Series, for its mid- to high-end feature phones and smartphones. Android applications will be also available at LG’s store later this year.

“Today, more and more people want mobile devices that make their lives easier and more exciting through the right combination of applications. To meet this growing demand, we’ve put a great deal of effort into strengthening our application offerings for all types of phone owners,” said Dr. Skott Ahn, President and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. “By studying customer insights and collaborating with top-level companies, LG is working to produce some of the best applications on the market, and a truly singular mobile experience for our customers.”

Following the revamp, the LG Application Store will offer more than 3,000 applications from its cleanly designed, easy-to-use new site. Approximately half of the applications will be devoted to feature phones, a significant number in a market that has, to date, been overwhelmingly focused on smartphones.

According to research by Strategy Analytics, a market research company, over 90 percent of feature phone owners in the US and UK are interested in downloading and installing applications such as SNS (Social Networking Service), IM (Instant Messenger), VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), and navigation and mapping. Having taken the lead in mid- and high-end feature phones that are adopting many of the trappings of smartphones, LG, through its new, improved Application Store, is offering consumers more ways than ever to use their feature phones in creative and dynamic ways.

Along with a range of applications for Windows OS phones that are already on sale, the new LG Application Store will also extend its line-up of applications for Android-powered smartphones at the end of this year. With demand for Android-powered phones set to surge worldwide, the LG Application Store is well placed to enhance consumer’s mobile experience, offering greater value and genuine benefits to owners of LG’s Android smartphones.

The all new LG Application Store opens today in 23 markets. LG aims to increase the number of applications in the LG Application Store to 4,000 by the end of this year and to expand the service to 33 countries including the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain and Iran. To experience the new LG Application Store, visit http://www.lgapplication.com.

About The Author

Stefan Constantinescu

Stefan Constantinescu (@WhatTheBit on Twitter) has loved technology since as far back as he can remember. It started with computers, but in the past few years his passion has turned to mobile devices. As a mobile phone enthusiast who lives and breathes devices that connect to the internet, he knows he is not alone with this radical fascination of all things wireless. He is strongly opinionated and enjoys a good debate so leave comments in his posts and he’ll get back to you! Stefan began blogging as a hobby in the fall of 2006 and joined IntoMobile in the summer of 2007. Later he got a job at Nokia in March 2008, but as of June 2009 he has rejoined the IntoMobile team. He is currently based out of Helsinki, Finland.

dave

You didn't mean Ritalin, did you? Spell-check isn't that hard to find.
John

So no comment on the article, just on the one typo? People like you are dicks…
Bob

I think the author also meant even instead of event. Anyways no one cares about apple outside of the united states. Anything with the apple brand on it and americans buy it. Just like all the americans watch jersey shore and all the americans shop at hollister and american eagle and ambercrombie. Americans dont know how to think. They just jump on the band wagon. There are so many better products out there.
Stefan Constantinescu

generalizations and stereotypes as a means of understanding culture for the win!
Stefan Constantinescu

thanks Dave. corrected the word in question, which was spelled correctly by the way. it was just the wrong word.
Tom

I feel like LG is taking a bold step forward even if it's a stupid step. I agree completely, it's absurd that the company would blatantly not include any of these major countries for support. However, feature phones and messaging phones have lacked any app store. I love the Android Market, it offers tons of apps that I want and enjoy using. But for users who have feature phones or messaging phones rather than smartphones, they're left out of the app store scene. I know plenty of people that would love an app store for their phone that is similar to the Android Market or Apple's App Store. They're so easy to use. Other phone companies, or at least carriers, should consider creating easy to use, open to developer app stores.
Jack Niu

Similar to apple’s store