Imagine you had the ability to create your own 3D movie and then watch it on a portable screen. That’s what LG is offering with its new Optimus Pad tablet device which will be available through Rogers Wireless beginning May 17.
LG is hoping that bringing 3D capability into the quickly crowding mobile space will help the Optimus Pad differentiate itself from other tablets in the market.
At first look, the Google Android 3.0 Honeycomb-powered units exhibited before journalist in Toronto May 12 appeared pretty similar to other tablet devices out there. But once you flip over the Optimus Pad, you’ll see that it has two, rather than one just one, outward facing camera. The twin cameras can capture 3D pictures and video. The images can later be played back on TV or computer screens via HDMI connection.
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LG believes the 8.9-inch screen is the “sweetspot” when in comes to screen size.
Derek Krismanich, national training manager for LG Canada says it seat right between the 10-inch iPad screen and the 7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab screen. “It’s small enough to hold in one hand, but just the right size to view movies,” he said.
Under the hood, the Optimus Pad has several key features that make it an ideal travel companion for the business user as well, according to John Kennedy, director or strategy and business development at LG Canada. The front and back facing camera can also be used for videoconferencing.
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“With the Polaris Office app, users can view and work on their favourite Microsoft Office tools on the road,” he said. “It’s ideal to the executive who wants to travel light. You can load your presentation slide and just hook it up to a projector and flip away.
“You’re not going edit your stuff on a tablet you do that on a laptop or desktop,” he added
But if you have your documents or presentations polished and ready and you don’t want to lug around a laptop, a tablet is your gadget.
Here are the Optimus Pad specs:
- Android 3.0 Honeycomb operating system
- NVIDIA Tegra 2 Dual Core 1 Ghz processor
- 1280×768 WVGA resolution 8.9” touch screen
- 15.9 aspect ratio
- Two 3D cameras with full HD 1080p decoding
Like most tablets, the Optimus pad is ideal for Web browsing, gaming and watching video and movies. With the Optimus you get to play James Cameron as well and create your own Avatar-inspired 3D movie, then stream it to your 3D TV or YouTube 3D.
The Optimus Pad will be available in Canada starting May 17. It sells for $449 on a three-year contract with data package from Rogers Wireless. The unit can be had for $699 without a contract.
Nestor Arellano is a Senior Writer at ITBusiness.ca. Follow him on Twitter, read his blog, and join the IT Business Facebook Page.
