TOKYO (Reuters) - Nintendo Co said on Friday it plans to launch its 3DS LL handheld game console on July 28, with a 4.88-inch display and a 4.18-inch touch panel, both nearly double the size of the current DS model.

Nintendo, which is fighting increasing competition from games on mobile devices such as Apple Inc's iPhones and iPads, set an asking price of 18,900 yen ($240)for the new handheld. ($1 = 80.2750 Japanese yen)

(Reporting by Mayumi Negishi; Editing by Michael Watson)