LG Electronics on Monday released the five-inch smartphone Optimus Vu on the local market, which was unveiled first during the Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona last week.

The company said that the Long Term Evolution device comes with a 5-inch, 4:3 aspect display ratio, which is rare among phones, but widely adopted by PCs, e-Book readers and Apple’s iPad for readability.

Another distinctive feature is the “quick memo” button that enables users to take notes with a capacitive stylus or finger in any mode of the phone, including while making a phone call or Web browsing.

The new handset, running on Google’s Gingerbread operating system, is 8.5 millimeters thick and weighs 168 grams.

With Samsung’s 5.3-inch smartphone, the Galaxy Note, gaining popularity globally, LG has also joined in on the recent trend in the mobile industry toward oversized phones or undersized tablets.

“Optimus Vu is the best smartphone for brainstorming as users can share ideas immediately. With innovative products, we will lead the LTE market,” said LG’s mobile chief Park Jong-seok.

From Monday telecom carriers SK Telecom and LG Uplus started selling the phone, which is priced at 999,900 won ($894).

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)