World's first quad-core smartphones to be launched at MWC this Feb

This year's World Mobile Congress (WMC), which kicks off in Barcelona, Spain, on Feb. 27, will feature the world's first smartphones that run on quad-core processors.

LG Electronics and Taiwan's HTC plan to unveil their Optimus X3 and Endeavor, respectively, equipped with a quad-core instead of dual-core CPU, offering more than twice the processing speed of existing smartphones.

Also of note will be Samsung Electronics' Galaxy Note 10.1, a tablet PC featuring a 10.1-inch screen, which the company believes will highlight its differences from California-based Apple.

Samsung is hoping to repeat the success it achieved with its Galaxy Note, which saw sales of more than two million units in just three months after its release last year.

"It is true that our tablet PCs have not sold as well as Apple's iPad," said a Samsung Electronics executive. "But the Galaxy Note 10.1 is quite different from the iPad in terms of both function and price."

The MWC is one of the two biggest events of the year for manufacturers to showcase the latest IT products along with the Consumer Electronics Show, which takes place in Las Vegas, Nevada, every January.

If the CES focuses on home appliances, the MWC is the premier forum for mobile phone manufactures and other communications service providers, but Apple does not take part in it. Around 1,470 companies are participating in this year's event.

The Galaxy Note 10.1 is expected to cost more than W1 million (US$1=W1,123). Unlike the company's previous tablet PC, the Galaxy Tab, which more closely mirrored the iPad in terms of price and functions, the latest gadget uses a stylus that enables the user to draw intricate pictures and take notes.

The trade show will also see many other new products unveiled that increasingly blur the boundary between smartphones and tablet PCs. One of the standouts will be LG Electronics' Optimus View, which features a large 5.3-inch screen yet weighs just 168 g and is only 8.5 mm thick.