New LG U400 phone for turntable junkies

LG has woken up to the fact that everyone but them has a music-focused phone, announcing the U400 this week. But whilst its contemporaries (Sony Ericsson W850i, Nokia 3250) went for music generally, LG have focused this firmly at would-be-DJs .

You’ll notice the scrollwheel on the left, which acts in a similar way to that on an iPod. The menu is arranged in a circle, to optimise this. It also allows you to make silly scratching noises over any track you play on the inbuilt MP3 player, just one of the ‘proper DJ’ effects you can mess around with.

LG have partnered with DMC, who are best known for compiling music charts but also run the major DJ events, such as the World DJ Championships. They’ve provided several remixes from award-winning DJs which are preloaded as MP3 files and available as ringtones. Expect lots of LG promotion at the DJ tournaments this year, as this is going to be a big focus for them.

The phone also features a 2 megapixel camera, and a miniSD slot for expanding the memory. There are headphones provided, but the in-line remote can be disconnected from the headphones supplied so you can use your own, highly superior, ones (you being a DJ and all). It also features Stereo Bluetooth, which means you can stream music to wireless headphones or adapted speakers.

Obviously being exclusively on 3, it’s a 3G phone, so will allow you to make video calls, as well as use their own 3G music services, such as the 3 player. It will be available free on many contracts from the end of July.