LG Gelato/ LG Optimus Net LS685 Android Gingerbread NFC phone rumor

The LG Gelato LS685 Gingerbread NFC phone has been found in a leaked roadmap for LG’s phone line up for 2011. We announced it last week as the LG Optimus Net NFC phone, which is the name Sprint will be marketing the NFC phone under. We now have a couple of new interesting details about the LS685 LG Gelato / LG Optimus Net. Firstly, images like the one above are cropping up showing Sprint logos on the front and rumors suggest that the LG Gelato / LG Optimus Net could launch as soon as this month. However, that may not be the NFC version and as you can see in LG’s press release below as they are somewhat vague about where LG Gelato / LG Optimus Net NFC phones would be released. Word on the street is that the US may get its hands on the NFC version in Q4 so it may not be a case of never, but if not when?

LG Gelato / LG Optimus Net and full LG 2011 roadmap leaked

LG has not been doing so well against its arch nemesis Samsung this year, and so it is a little surprising that when we see the leaked roadmap for the rest of 2011, we see a severe lack of superphones. Most models appear to be mid-low range and there really isn’t anything to is likely to rival rumored phones that are due to launch or even to give the Samsung Galaxy S II a run for its money. The LG Gelato / LG Optimus Net is the only NFC phone on the leaked document which casts doubt on LG producing any stiff competition in the NFC phone market. The leaked list contained the LG Gelato / LG Optimus Net and the following upcoming phones.

• LG Prada K2 - An Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) smartphone with a 4.3-inch NOVA display, 16GB of storage, and support for 21Mbps+ networks.
• LG Univa – An Android 2.3 device that is equipped with an 800MHz processor and a 3.5-inch HVGA display.
• LG Fantasy - A Windows Phone Mango-powered device that could make its debut in the fourth quarter of this year. Renders of the phone suggest that it will offer a large display, but other hardware specs are currently not available.
• LG Victor – A mid-range Android Gingerbread device with a 3.8-inch OLED WVGA display, a 5-megapixel camera and a 1GHz processor.
• LG Gelato / LG Optimus Net - A device that may land on Sprint with the model number LS685, a version of the Gelato will reportedly offers support for near-field communications (NFC). It’s equipped with  a 3.2-inch HVGA display, a 3-megapixel camera and an 800MHz processor.

NFC version of the LG Gelato / LG Optimus Net

If you have been following the recent spate of Nokia NFC phones, you will have noticed that they come with secure elements or support for third party Secure elements, such as SIM cards or NFC-enabled microSD cards. When LG announced the LG Gelato / LG Optimus Net, the details about the NFC components were vague at best. However, it appears that LG does intend to support NFC payments which either means the phone will work with an exterior NFC card like the Huawei Sonic does or will have an in-built secure element. Rumors a T-Mobile GSM version may also be on the cards, but there is little evidence to back this rumor up, so we advise you treat it as nothing more than a vague rumor at this point. If you are in the market for an LG Gelato / LG Optimus Net it appears you may be waiting until the 4th quarter of this year.