Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) said earlier this year LG (SEO: 066570) was committing to developing 50 new Windows Mobile phones by the end of 2012 and both companies — Microsoft and LG — were increasing their investment in Windows Mobile by five-fold. But that isn’t stopping the South Korea handset maker from hedging its bets and also investing in another mobile operating system—Google’s Android. Release.

LG said today that it will launch a smartphone using Android in the fourth quarter, starting in the European markets, according to the WSJ. The first Android phone is being called the LG-GW620, and is designed for first-time smartphone owners with a 3-inch full touchscreen and slide out Qwerty keyboard. Skott Ahn, LG’s Electronics Mobile president and CEO in a statement: “This Android phone is just one of many smartphone models we plan to introduce worldwide in the years ahead.”

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