After an initial leak last week, LG Electronics has confirmed the Optimus G Pro, a full HD smartphone that will be released within the first quarter of this year. The model has so far only been referred to by its development code name GK.

The Optimus G Pro is the follow-up to the Optimus G which made a debut last year as the first G series model.

Based on favorable customer reviews of the Optimus G an LG Electronics official has confirmed that rather than concentrating on new features “The Optimus G Pro will offer upgraded user experience and hardware, based on the previous model.”

Details of the updates are as follows: 1.7GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro chip, a longer lasting 3,000mAh battery and Jelly Bean OS. And the phone will retain features from the previous model, such as the 2GB of RAM, 13-megapixel camera, 32GB of built-in storage, a microSDXC slot and LTE.

The Optimus G set a new sales record for LG, which sold more than 1M units in the three months after release, helping LG creep back up to second place behind Samsung in the US Smart Phone market in the latter half of 2012.

Japan is the first country to have a confirmed release date of early April, with other markets likely to have to wait a little longer.

Maybe time to replace my Optimus LTE?