LG cooks up updated Chocolate phone

LG extended its Chocolate phone line-up this week, though the launch of the Chocolate Platinum was cast into shadow by yesterday's debut of the company's Shine handset. The Platinum offers features absent from earlier Chocolates, LG said.

The Platinum's official name is the KE800 and it doubles the on-board memory to 256MB. LG said it also incorporates an "upgraded" two megapixel camera with autofocus, an FM radio and support for Bluetooth wireless stereo headphones. The 176 x 220 display measures 2in and can show 262,144 colours.

The KE800 is a tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE device. The handset's 750mAh battery delivers two-and-a-half hours' talk time, LG claimed, and up to 270 hours on stand-by.

Earlier this year, LG showed off the K850, its iPhone-like handset co-designed by Italian fashion house Prada.