LG is the latest big name �signing’ for Arsenal Football Club. The new partnership sees the Korean electronics giant become the Official Supplier of Mobile Phones for one of the world’s leading clubs, both on and off the field.

LG and Arsenal come together during one of the Club’s most successful eras, with an estimated 30 million fans worldwide, of which over 2 million are located in the United Kingdom. Honours from the last ten years include three Premiership titles, winning the FA Cup four times and, of course, reaching the UEFA Champions League Final this year in Paris.

Kicking-off from 1st August, this exciting partnership also coincides with Arsenal’s move into its new 60,000 capacity Emirates Stadium from the start of the 2006/07 season, where the LG brand will be seen via LED digital perimeter boards and advertising broadcast via the network of 450 High Definition LCD screens displayed throughout the stadium. Arsenal is currently one of only two Premiership football clubs to have this revolutionary form of perimeter advertising – which is so responsive it can be changed almost as quickly as the action on the pitch. LG is putting together a full marketing campaign to support the partnership including advertising and promotional activities.

The three year partnership will also see LG and Arsenal work together to give fans the opportunity to get closer to their heroes and enhance their enjoyment of following the team by running various matchday promotions. LG will have access to its own hospitality box, match day tickets and exclusive signed shirts – which can all be used in promotional activities. LG will also set up reciprocal links to the Club’s official website Arsenal.com, which generates over 2 million monthly unique users.

Access to Emirates Stadium on non-match days is also an integral part of the agreement with the venue to be used for LG-led events and promotions.

Managing Director of Arsenal FC, Keith Edelman, said: “We’re delighted to welcome on board such a global brand as LG Electronics in what is an exciting time for the Club. Arsenal is entering a new era with our move to Emirates Stadium, and more than ever we are in a position to offer premium benefits to blue-chip brands. We very much look forward to developing this new partnership.”

Brian Na, President of LG Electronics within the UK, said: “We are very excited to be working with one of the most successful and respected clubs in English football. We hope that this is a long and fruitful partnership that will continue to raise our brand awareness in the UK.”

LG Electronics (LG) launched the world’s first 3G UMTS(WCDMA) TDMB(Terrestrial Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) handset in Europe. The company provided 400 of its LG-V9000 handsets to BLM (Bavarian Regulatory Authority for Commercial Broadcasting) at the ‘TDMB World Cup Trial Service Conference’, held at the Literatur Haus in Munich, Germany. The LG-V9000 is the only model which meets BLM’s technology requirements for mobile TV phone. It will be used by members of the World Cup Committee and international media during the World Cup trial service, allowing them to watch digital broadcasts of World Cup matches while on the move.

Mr. James Kim, President & CEO of LG Electronics Europe, said, “Customers will experience UMTS(WCDMA) TDMB technology firsthand with the LG-V9000. This phone can provide the highest-quality World Cup video footage to our European customers, compared to other TDMB products. This model is a testament to LG’s creativity and state-of-the-art technology, which is driven by the pursuit of providing fun and convenience to customers in their everyday lives.”

At the conference, LG also showcased its latest TDMB products including handsets, laptop computers, PDA, and car terminals, in front of industry VIPs. LG’s demonstration showed how TDMB technology in real life. Attending the event were senior executives from BLM, Debitel, MFD, T-Systems, and WorldDAB, as well as the Korean Minister of Information and Communications and researchers from top electronics and telecommunications research institutes in Korea.

The LG-V9000 supports GSM (2G), GPRS (2.5G), UMTS(WCDMA) (3G) and TDMB as well, providing the most advanced TV viewing features. With its 2.2-inch wide-swing LCD, users can watch TV programs for up to three hours straight and even record one-hour programs the phone’s large memory capacity. Using LG’s internally developed DMB chip, the V9000 provides a perfect picture on a high-resolution screen and has a 3D surround sound system.

LG also launched the LG-U900, the world’s first commercially available UMTS(WCDMA) DVB-H phone through Hutchison in April, 2006. With its success, LG has earned a reputation as the leader in mobile TV technology, developing handsets compatible with all mobile TV standards.

Korean electronics vendor LG Electronics today took the wraps off its first ‘design’ handset to be launched in the UK – the Chocolate phone.

The device follows in the footsteps of design phones pioneered by the likes of Nokia and Motorola, with the recently announced “L’amour” series and RAZR respectively.

The Chocolate is also the first of LGE’s Black Label portfolio of devices, aimed at high end users “who value style as much as high end technology.” The device retails from upwards of ВЈ269.

The phone packs an MP3/AAC music player, a 1.3 megapixel camera and 128MB of on board memory, but the design itself is being pushed as the main selling point. It claims to have an almost ‘invisible’ LCD display, which only comes to life when in use, as well as touch sensitive buttons on the face of the unit, rather than a typical keypad.

The Korean firm said that the CDMA version of the device, which has been available in Korea since November, has already shifted 400,000 units. Chang Ma, vice president of the mobile marketing support team at LGE, told that the device has also become the best selling contract phone at the Carphone Warehouse, where it has been retailed since May 1.

But Ma could not deny that handset vendors, including LGE, had had a tough time selling high end devices in recent months.

Operating loss at the Korean vendor’s handset division plummeted to Won31bn (ВЈ17.9m) in the first quarter, compared to a profit of Won67bn in the previous year. Sales were almost flat at Won1.8tn, although domestic shipments were up to Won316bn in the first quarter on a figure of Won258bn last year. This shift was largely due to the popularity of the Black Label series in the domestic market.

“We expect the device to be successful in the UK,” said Ma, “but it is hard to tell. It’s the first time we are selling a device on the open market, usually we only sell via carriers. This is about testing the water,” he said.