LG Lotus Blends Fashion, QWERTY Keys

Bringing some high-concept fashion to the recent boom in high-dollar smartphones, LG on Wednesday revealed the Lotus, a flowery, eye-catching clamshell phone destined for Sprint. Like the simultaneously debuting BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8820, the Lotus packs a QWERTY keyboard into a folding design, but also manages to do it with some of LG’s signature design sensibility.

Eschewing the usual rectangular profile of clamshell phones, the Lotus adopts a much fatter profile to give it a squarish look.  It also comes in two strikingly different color choices: standard satin black or a much more flamboyant textured purple with a floral pattern. Besides the QWERTY keyboard, other notable features include a 2.0-megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth music player with exterior controls, microSD slot that can handle cards up to 12GB, and Sprint’s all-new One Click user interface, which is supposed to make customization easier.

LG has partnered with fashion designer Christian Siriano to promote the new phone as a legitimate fashion accessory. Siriano designed a scarf with a pocket for the phone that he’ll debut at the New York City’s Fashion week on September 11.

The LG Lotus will arrive in Sprint stores in October  for $150 with a two-year contract.