LG announces G Pad 8.3 tablet to tackle Galaxy Note and iPad mini

Ahead of next week's IFA tech show, LG has officially unveiled its rumoured G Pad 8.3 tablet, which it hopes will rival similarly-sized options from Apple and Samsung.

As the name suggests, the new G Pad has an 8.3-inch screen, which packs a Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1200. LG claims it as the first full HD tablet in its size category.

The device bares an extremely strong resemblance to the company's recent G2 smartphone, with a slimline, minimalist design.

Internally, the G Pad 8.3 comes loaded with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean (no 4.3 out of the box), there's 16GB of storage and a 1.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor and 2GB RAM.

The company is also promising a new app called QPair which will enable users to manage calls and messages by pairing up with a smartphone.

Stiff competition

LG has said it will launch the device in the US and Europe in the fourth quarter of the year, but is yet to confirm pricing. Perhaps we'll find out more from the show floor at IFA in Berlin.

Just as it is in the smartphone world, LG is up against stiff competition to break the Apple and Samsung stranglehold in the 8-inch category.

Apple is rumoured to be launching a second-gen iPad mini before the year is out, while Samsung's Galaxy Note 8.0 is a highly-rated option.