LG shows off 3D phone, new tablet

BARCELONA, Spain--Jong-Seok Park, CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications, today announced his company's new Optimus 3D smartphone and Optimus Pad tablet at the Mobile World Congress show here. He had bold predictions for 2011: "The demand for the true tablet is about to take off," he said. "2011 will be the year LG becomes a key contender in smartphones."

The LG Optimus 3D Android phone is set to go on sale in May in Europe.

LG believes its Android-powered Optimus Pad will set a new standard size--smaller than an Apple iPad and larger than a Samsung Galaxy Tab.

LG expects its Optimus 3D to perform well outside just 3D video. It uses a Texas Instruments OMAP 4430 processor.

The Optimus Pad uses Android 3.0, aka Honeycomb, and an Nvidia Tegra 2 processor. It's set to arrive in April in Europe.

Daniel Hernandez, director of product marketing for LG in Europe, details the LG Optimus 3D and Pad.

The LG Optimus 3D has dual 5-megapixel cameras for capturing stereo video. The video can be shown on 3D TVs connected with HDMI 1.4 or with DLNA.

To dramatize the Optimus 3D, LG opted for that iconic home-video subject, baby's first steps.

Here, an Optimus 3D's display is enough to convince a client to order a luxury sedan. The image is, of course, simulated--don't expect 3D images to extend beyond the screen.

The Optimus 3D probably isn't in danger of elevating hopes too high that yoga practitioners will improve, but LG made the case that depth improves comprehension in physical learning.

LG boasts that its Optimus 2X has not just dual processing cores but also dual channels to memory to eliminate bottlenecks.

LG boasted that its Optimus 3D outdoes a large number of unnamed competing phones. It's not clear how well it will fare against rivals' future models arriving in late spring, when the Optimus 3D is scheduled to launch.

Through a deal with Google, LG gets an unspecified period of exclusive access and features on a 3D version of the YouTube video service.

LG took great pains to argue its 8.9-inch Optimus Pad is a better size than the Samsung Galaxy Tab's 7-inch display or the Apple iPad's 10.4-inch display. The Optimus Pad can be held with one hand, is convenient for typing with thumbs in a portrait orientation, and is not cramped for using all the fingers in a landscape orientation.

LG made the case that the Optimus Pad's 8.9-inch screen will set a new standard as a balance of portability and productivity.

Daniel Hernandez, director of product marketing for LG in Europe, tried but failed to demonstrate the LG Optimus Pad's video chat abilities. It worked fine in the rehearsals, of course. Perhaps the rehearsals omitted a few hundred journalists, many saturating the room with signals from MiFi devices to blog the event.