LG has unveiled the Optimus Pad LTE, its first 4G-enabled tablet. The device will have an 8.9-inch screen and measures only 9.3mm thick.

At the Consumer Electronics Show last week, we began to wonder if LG had abandoned the tablet market. After all, it’s been more than six months since its first and last tablet, which was marketed through T-Mobile as the G-Slate last year, which is a lifetime in the fast-paced mobile industry. It looks like the company was merely waiting. LG today unveiled the Optimus Pad LTE, its first 4G LTE-enabled tablet.

Like the G-Slate (review), the new Optimus Pad will have an 8.9-inch screen, but this model will be a lot thinner and lighter at only 9.34mm thick and about 497 grams (1.09 lbs), which is slightly thicker than an iPhone 4S, and fairly light for a tablet, though the Galaxy Tab 8.9 (review) weighs slightly under a pound.

Under the hood, the Optimus Pad LTE runs Google’s Android 3.2 (Honeycomb) operating system, with no announced upgrade plan to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) yet. It also has a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm processor, 1280×768 pixel IPS LCD screen (wide angle viewing), 8MP rear camera, 2MP front camera, 32GB of internal storage, and a Micro SD card slot. Software for editing pictures and videos is also being included.

Though no US distribution has been announced, LG will have to target an LTE-capable wireless carrier, which means either AT&T or Verizon, though Sprint is rumored to be launching its own LTE network sometime before summer.

Nothing about the Optimus Pad LTE seems particularly standout, but most tablets seem to blend together lately. We’re excited that LG has dumped the silly anaglyphic 3D video recording mode that was on the G-Slate, which forced you to wear red and blue glasses to see your 3D videos–you know, like a movie in the 1950s.

We’ll have more on the Optimus Pad LTE once a release date has been announced.

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By Jeffrey Van Camp