Telecom says it will launch its first Google Android handset, LG's GW620, for XT later this month, for $699 off contract.

The LG's hero feature is auto-face recognition, with promises to identify friends and automate the process of tagging a person's name to a pic, then uploading it to a social networking site.

Microsoft’s latest mobile phone operating system software (pictured above and below) will make its first appearance in New Zealand on an LG handset, scheduled for release through Vodafone by the end of this month.

The touchscreen, Windows Mobile 6.5-based LG GM 750 model ($699; below right) is available exclusively through Vodafone..

On Friday it was Motorola. Now LG has become the latest A-list phone maker to announce a model that will run on Google’s mobile operating system, Android.

LG offered few details of its Android handset, dubbed the LG-GW620, other than that it has a three-inch touchscreen and Qwerty keyboard. It also released an oblique picture (above).

Three makers of LCD flat panels have plead guilty to US Department of Justice charges of price fixing, and agreed to pay total of $US585 million ($NZ991 million) in fines.

Japan's Sharp, Korea's LG and Taiwan''s Chungwha filed their guilty plea in a San Francisco federal court today.

The three manufacturers admitted to a conspiracy to fix the price of certain twisted film transfer (TFT) panels between 2001 and 2006.

Apple's iPhone 3G (right) has topped NPD's retail sales chart in the world's biggest smartphone market for the first time.

The market tracker says among US adult consumers, Motorola's Razr has let the pack for 12 straight quarters since its 2004 launch.

But among adult retail buyers for Q3, the iPhone 3G is the new sales king. NPD's top 5: