MAKATI CITY -- LG Electronics Philippines is jumping into the interactive screen-ready phone segment by launching what it believes is the cheapest touch-screen phone in the country, the LG KP500 Cookie.

The company is tapping the growing demand for touch-screen phones in the Philippines, especially after the launch of the Apple iPhone 3G, as well as competing products from brands like Sony Ericsson, Nokia, HTC and Samsung.

But instead of of going head-on with other brands, LG is aiming for the lower bracket segment of basic phone users who want to move from keypad typing to touch screen typing.

The LG KP500, which has its own web browser, does not have 3G capabilities. Instead, it can access the Internet through EDGE network, which offers speeds closer to third-generation networks.

Nevertheless, the KP500 costs only P11,900, or about half the price of most touch-screen handsets.

LG Electronics Philippines Senior Manager for Mobile Communications Jon Santico said the goal of LG is to cater to a segment of the market that wants touch sensitive phones, minus the bells and whistles found in most phones in the same category.

Price is also a factor as many consumers do not want to spend more on a device that will not be fully utilized.

"There is a market for cheap touch screen phones but not for 3G. However, we may introduce touch screen phones that have 3G capabilities soon," the executive added.

As its main feature, the touch-screen of the Cookie, which LG calls the Active Flash UI (user interface) uses the mobile phone version Adobe Flash Lite, a scaled-down application used in most Flash-based websites.