At the last two annual Consumer Electronics Shows, hardware manufacturers demonstrated that they were determined to pipe the third dimension into the world s living rooms with an aggressive roll-out of 3-D televisions.
Now, that focus has begun to shift to handsets.
At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week, several hardware manufacturers are showing off interactive touchscreens capable of displaying 3-D effects that are visible without the aid of special eyewear.
LG has the Optimus 3D, a 4.3-inch sleek smartphone that offers the ability to watch 3-D videos from YouTube or other sources. The phone also lets people play a bevy of games in 3-D a dizzying effect that takes some getting used to.
LG also showed off its first tablet computer, the LG Optimus Pad, a lightweight device with an 8.9-inch screen that was easy to grip in one hand. (The device is also known as the G-Slate, and it will be released under that name by T-Mobile in the United States later this year.) Although the tablet itself, which is running Honeycomb, the version of Android created especially for tablets, cannot actually play 3-D video, it is able to capture 3-D content, with the help of a dual-core processor and an array of two 5-megapixel stereoscopic cameras embedded in the back of the tablet. There s also a 2-megapixel camera on the front for video chatting.
The LG Optimus Pad and the Optimus 3D are intended to work in tandem, with buyers using the tablet to record 3-D video, uploading it to YouTube and then viewing it on the Optimus 3D. Representatives for LG said pricing and availability were not yet known for either device.
Now, that focus has begun to shift to handsets.
At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week, several hardware manufacturers are showing off interactive touchscreens capable of displaying 3-D effects that are visible without the aid of special eyewear.
LG has the Optimus 3D, a 4.3-inch sleek smartphone that offers the ability to watch 3-D videos from YouTube or other sources. The phone also lets people play a bevy of games in 3-D a dizzying effect that takes some getting used to.
LG also showed off its first tablet computer, the LG Optimus Pad, a lightweight device with an 8.9-inch screen that was easy to grip in one hand. (The device is also known as the G-Slate, and it will be released under that name by T-Mobile in the United States later this year.) Although the tablet itself, which is running Honeycomb, the version of Android created especially for tablets, cannot actually play 3-D video, it is able to capture 3-D content, with the help of a dual-core processor and an array of two 5-megapixel stereoscopic cameras embedded in the back of the tablet. There s also a 2-megapixel camera on the front for video chatting.
The LG Optimus Pad and the Optimus 3D are intended to work in tandem, with buyers using the tablet to record 3-D video, uploading it to YouTube and then viewing it on the Optimus 3D. Representatives for LG said pricing and availability were not yet known for either device.
