Mobile phone manufacturers are wooing customers with newer and slimmer phones. Keeping pace with competition, the Korean giant, LG is getting into the slim mobile phone act with its LG CU500, a global 3G clamshell. This is a quad-band GSM/EDGE and tri-band WCDMA phone.

Fully-featured, the CU500 is a complete multimedia device packaged in a stylish black clamshell. The CU500 is a reasonably thin and light handset, weighing only 105g (3.7oz) and measuring 19mm (.75") in thickness.

The LG CU500 runs on HSDPA high-speed broadband network, offering even faster rates than UMTS for streaming TV, radio, and online services. Integrating a rotating 1.3-megapixel camera that can rotate a full 180 degrees, the CU500 can capture photos up to 1280 x 960 px in high resolution for greater clarity. The display screen is 65k color TFT with 176x220 resolution.

An interesting feature about this phone is its built-in music player that has music dedicated keys on the front cover. The music buffs will really love this phone as they can listen to their favourite tunes as this phone has music that supports MP3, WMA, AAC, and AAC+ formats, and the external music app controls make playback convenient. Also convenient is the stereo Bluetooth support for enjoying music without the wires.

It also has a microSD memory card slot that can be used for storing photos, videos, and music.

The LG CU500 is a great Personal Organiser and is capable of multi-tasking. It provides valuable tools like Calendar with Scheduler, Alarm Clock, Notepad, Tasks, D-Day Counter, Calculator, Tip Calculator, World Clock, Stop Watch, Unit Converter, and Date Finder, USB mass storage mode, a full-duplex speakerphone, dual colour displays, and over-the-air software updates.

Messaging support for all of the major IM systems is included in the device, as is the typical support for SMS and MMS messages. Other features include a hands free speakerphone function, 72 voice polyphonic ringtones, and over the air (OTA) firmware updates. USB mass storage mode, a full-duplex speakerphone, dual color displays, and over-the-air software updates.