LG's Shine mobile makes its UK debut

Buoyed by the huge success of its Chocolate mobile, LG has lifted the lid on its second Black Label phone - the Shine, which made its UK debut at Leicester Square at lunchtime today.

The KE970 Shine has already proved a smash in Korea where 180,000 handsets have been sold since its launch there in November.

The key selling point of the 13.8mm thin phone appears to be its 2.2 inch mirrored widescreen display which turns see through when you pop open the slider. Accessing the various features looks easy to thanks to a multifunction centre key that enables you to scroll through the options and then select the ones you want.

The Shine's interface is nowhere near as advanced as the Apple iPhone's multi-touch interface certainly, but it still looks slick, quick and very usable. The Shine's keys - if you care - are blue backlit rather than red.

Key features of the phone are a two-megapixel camera, digital audio player and internet connectivity. Full specs below.

Camera / video camera

2-megapixel camera, certified by Schneider-Kreuznach
9 multi-frame shot mode
4 in-camera effects (colour, monochrome, sepia, negative)
2.2-inch widescreen QVGA, TFT LCD
Endless video storage using high capacity microSD cards
PC sync download function
MPEG4, H.263 video recording and playback

Digital audio player

Multi-codec support including MP3, MPEG4, WAV, 3GP, AAC, AAC , AAC
50MB of built-in user memory, extra capacity via microSD cards
10 equaliser effects (General, 3D, Concert, Jazz, Pop, Rock, Dance, Live, Bass, Country)
Real spectrum

Connectivity