According to a recent report in The Wall Street Journal, Chang Ma, LG’s Vice President for mobile-device marketing, has informed that his company intends releasing its Android-based tablet – Optimus – by the end of this year.

The disclosure by Ma implies that LG is set to joining the ever-growing tablet-computer crowd – with some other bigwig companies either already having announced their respective tablets-to-come or reportedly in the process of developing a tablet device. Among the host of tablet in the coming are: RIM’s “BlackPad”; Google’s Chrome-based tablet; Lenovo’s “LePAd;” and Asus’ “Eee Pad.”

Noting that the LG Optimus will offer substantial competition to the tablet-market-pioneer Apple iPad by being more useful, Ma added that the Optimus “is going to be surprisingly productive,” and declared: “Our tablet will be better than the iPad.”

Elaborating the advantage that the forthcoming LG Optimus will have over the iPad, Ma said that while the iPad chiefly focuses on content consumption, the Optimus will be a more of a productivity device equipped with numerous apps, including those that support document writing and video editing.

Lauding LG’s reported intentions of taking a direct shot at the Apple iPad with a tablet more conducive to productivity than the Apple device, The Reg said that that the basic ingredient that any iPad-killer hopeful needs to have is a clear differentiation from Apple’s “magical and revolutionary” device!