In an attempt to compete in the emerging “phablet” market, LG has announced an international availability timeframe for its Optimus Vu smartphone/tablet hybrid. While there is no set-in-stone date, the Optimus Vu is assumed to hit the retail shelves sometime in late Q3 while international the LG Optimus Vu release date will definitely be in September. International markets include Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. The Optimus Vu is already available in South Korea, which was announced in February at the Mobile World Congress.

Today Samsung also announced the release of its phablet, the Samsung Galaxy Note II. This smartphone/tablet hybrid is cloaked in mystery as nobody really knows what to expect from it. Samsung released a video to advertise the event at which the phablet will be announced, but the video barely acknowledges the fact that there is anything to hold a conference for.

There are no known specs on what the Americanized gadget will feature, though it’s safe to base them off the ones intended for the Korean market. It boasts 4G LTE connectivity, a 5 inch 768×1024 HD display, 32GB of storage, 1GB of RAM, an 8 megapixel camera, and a 1.5GHz dual-core processor.

The United States, and the rest of the world for that matter, doesn’t have to worry about sluggish dual-core processing anymore as the international launch will feature NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 quad-core processor.

Stay tuned to BostInno for the latest on the American LG Optimus Vu release date as well as price and further specs. But in the meantime, we want to know what you think of “phablets.” Do you like them? Do you prefer keeping your tech gadgets separate? Are you a LG Optimus Vu disciple or do you prefer the smartphone/tablet that you already have? We want to hear what you think so feel free to post and suggestions, reviews, or critiques below.