From the moment we first caught a glimpse of it to the day it was announced some nine months later, we always felt LG would have no trouble hawiking Cookies. Today the South Korean company confirmed our suspicions and announced that over 5 million of the devices have been sold. It’s a very impressive feat to sell five million devices, but LG Mobile Communications President and CEO Skott Ahn thinks the device also known as the KP500 has yet to fully reach its potential:

Achieving five million units in sales in only nine months is proof that we’re on track with our goal to make Cookie a phone that’s loved by everyone. Our strategy to provide a full touch screen phone at an affordable price has succeeded beyond our original expectations. If the current trend continues, we expect to see Cookie hit sales of 10 million by the end of this year.

So what does the class think about the Cookie reaching the 10 million sold mark; a realistic and achievable goal or insincere corporate bravado?

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LG’s popular GSM KP500 “Cookie” may be making its debut in the Asia Pacific region as the CDMA-toting KX500. Thus far, the GSM Cookie has been a huge success for LG — selling over 2 million handsets worldwide since its launch in October 2008 — and its extension into the CDMA market will only help to boost those sales figures. The CDMA2000 1x-compatible Cookie appears to be similar to the GSM version in terms of specifications with the same 3-inch touchscreen display, 3 megapixel camera, accelerometer, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR and FM radio. It’s also compatible with Verizon Wireless and Sprint networks of course, though there’s currently no word on the handset being carried by either. According to retailer ePrice, the KX500 will be available by the end of May with a $276 price point.

[Via Unwired View]

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We guessed it would come with a cute nickname and boy we were right. The entry-level LG KP500 has been given the codename LG Cookie. Yes, that’s right, you may now refer to this “Renoir-lite” phone as the LG Cookie. Silly name aside, the Cookie packs a lot of features into what promises to be an affordable handset. Just a quick review of the specs reminds us that the Cookie will have Quad-band GSM, GRPS/EDGE, 3″ touchscreen display, 3MP camera, accelerometer, BT 2.1 and an FM radio. The LG Cookie will also run the latest version of LG’s touchscreen Flash-based UI. A new and somewhat disappointing revelation is that video recording and playback on the Cookie will not be as robust as we had hoped. The Cookie will recorded video at 12 fps and only at QVGA resolution. Pretty pathetic for a 3MP camera. Additionally, the Cookie will not support DivX or XviD. You will have to be content with MPEG4 video at 240×400 and 24 fps. Also lame. If you can do without high quality multimedia, the LG Cookie does have one very big redeeming quality and that is its price point. According to the latest information, the Cookie is priced even lower than expected with an estimated price of only €170 ($228 US) and that is before subsidies. So my friends, it looks like the Cookie will indeed hit that sweet sub-$100 contract price when it officially launches later this month. Nice!

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That didn’t take long at all, did it? Yesterday we told you about LG’s pre-announcement of the entry-level touchscreen handset, the KP500. To recap that post in one sentence: The LG KP500 is positioned to be an affordable and well-equipped option for users looking to score a touchscreen handset without dropping big bucks. Here we are a day later, and more complete specs have been discovered along with a price point.

• Quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900), GPRS/EDGE connectivity
• 3-inch 240×400 pixel 262K color TFT touchscreen display
• 3 megapixel camera with 12 fps video recording
• Virtual on-screen QWERTY keyboard, handwriting recognition
• FM Radio with RDS
• Accelerometer-based screen rotation and motion-triggered gaming
• 46 MB of user memory
• microSD memory card slot
• Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, USB 2.0
• 900 mAh Li-Ion battery with 210 min talk and 330 hrs stand-by time
• Dimensions: 106.5 × 55.4 × 11.9 mm
• Weight: 89 g

The 262K color display, lack of WiFi and 3G and the mediocre camera might be turn-offs to some but let’s not forget we’re talking entry-level here. As for the price point, the KP500 will carry a pre-subsidized price point of $350. Just as the pre-announcement from LG led us to believe, this puppy will be well-positioned for a sub-$100 contract price when it begins to hit carriers this month.

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Looking remarkably like a Renoir Lite, LG has just announced its upcoming KP500 entry-level handset. Initial details are somewhat limited but we have to say, we like where LG is going with this. Sure, including a stylus in the first official press images probably isn’t going to do LG any favors but it’s the thought that counts, right? LG will be positioning the KP500 as a low-cost touchscreen handset and if the price point is in fact as low as the press release might indicate, it should drum up a fair amount of interest among consumers who aren’t willing to shell out hundreds of dollars for a handset with this form factor. At the same time, LG is definitely not skimping on features as the KP500 has plenty of functionality that will attract new blood:

• Quad-band GSM
• 3-inch touchscreen display
• 3 megapixel camera
• Active Flash UI – screen switching similar to the TouchFLO cube
• Accelerometer-based screen rotation and motion-triggered gaming
• Finger or stylus operation
• Available in black, brown, silver and gold

Pricing has yet to be covered but the KP500 will launch near the end of October in Europe and throughout the rest of the world shortly thereafter. Will this sleek entry-level touchscreen ever make it to US shores with a cute nickname? Only time will tell but our magic 8-ball is telling us “Signs point to yes”.

[Via Unwired View]

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