LG makes 3D portable with a tablet and a phone

Following in the footsteps of Nintendo’s 3DS, LG is looking to the third dimension with the unveiling of the Optimus 3D and Optimus Pad.

The LG Optimus 3D is the world’s first Android smartphone with a 4.3 inch glasses-free 3D screen, making 3D content available wherever you are. Aside for the dimensional display, LG is including a dual-lens 5 megapixel camera for 3D image and 720p 3D video capture, access to YouTube 3D, and the ability to view 3D content on a 3D TV over an HDMI 1.4 connection.

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The LG Optimus 3D, hopefully arriving in the next few months.

There’s also support for more media formats than you’ll probably need (H.264, DivX, MKV, WMV, AVI, MP4), Android 2.2 “Froyo” with an upgrade to 2.3 “Gingerbread” a few months later, and an expected April to June release date.

Meanwhile, LG is hoping to shake the tablet market up with a slate that features a 3D screen. Unlike the Optimus 3D handset, however, LG’s Optimus Pad requires glasses for you to see the three dimensional imagery.

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Yes, the LG Optimus Pad (above) is set to be among the first tablets in the world that sports a 3D capable screen. The 8.9 inch tablet will come with Google’s tablet version of Android – “Honeycomb” – and run on Nvidia’s high speed Tegra 2 chipset, recently launched in another LG handset, the Optimus 2X. No word yet on whether you’ll need active or passive 3D glasses, but given that LG is looking at shipping a bunch of passive 3D TVs this year, we can’t imagine the technology here will be that different.

March is the expected time for this model, hopefully giving LG plenty of time to compete against an Apple iPad refresh.

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