San Francisco — In an attempt to keep its audience up-to-date with novel innovation, Google owned popular video sharing site YouTube is collaborating with LG Electronics today by announcing a partnership that offers a unique 3D mobile experience to users, which will now let users to capture 3D images and video on mobile devices and upload the video directly to the Internet with LG’s new Optimus 3D smartphone — but without the need for pesky glasses.
LG’s Optimus 3D, the forthcoming Android-powered premium smartphones is going to be one of the first truly convenient 3D video cameras, which will not only empower users to capture and view 3D videos without the need of annoying glasses, but also to upload and share them instantly with others via YouTube.
However, sharing that 3D content was always a tough task without an online portal to store your 3D videos of cats. Fortunately, LG and YouTube have just announced that the world’s largest online video company is going 3D.
“The Optimus 3D is LG’s newest flagship smartphone. It is our answer to two major annoying issues of the current 3D experience — limited mobility and specialized glasses,” said Dr. Jong-seok Park, President and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company.
That said, 3D is the future that the emerging market is pushing towards, and both LG and YouTube clearly want to be as far ahead of the pack as possible in making 3D everywhere a reality, with other smartphone makers undoubtedly ogling the tri-dimensional 3D possibilities with as much of a third eye as they can muster.
What really worth a 3D capable mobile device has if you cannot enjoy 3D contents on the go? This is basically what LG and YouTube thought, and both companies, promising to “deliver the full 3D experience to mobile devices” and a “new era of true 3D mobile experiences”, LG and YouTube are certainly hoping you will go ogle their “major step forward”.
This new alliance is part of a broader push into 3D entertainment by LG and the world’s largest online video community. YouTube and LG collaborated to bring more 3D videos to the masses in a way that makes it simple and easy for consumers.
“3D technology has traditionally been reserved for the major Hollywood movie studios,” said Francsico Varela, Head of YouTube Platform Partnerships. “With the new LG Optimus 3D anyone anywhere in the world can shoot 3D videos, upload them to YouTube and share them with their friends. We are excited to see the creative videos our community captures and shares with this new technology.”
Powered by a unique “Tri-Dual” Configuration — dual-core, synchronous dual-channel and dual-memory, LG’s advanced Optimus 3D will be unveiled at the 2011 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and will be the first mobile device capable of providing the YouTube 3D experience. The Android-powered Optimus 3D will be available globally starting in Europe early in the second quarter of 2011.
Furthermore, LG armed the Optimus 3D with a 1GHz OMAP4 dual-core processor from Texas Instruments, which is operated by Google’s Android mobile operating system, features a dual-channel memory to ensure users have enough power to work on 3D video on the handset with a dual-lens camera for 3D image and video capture. That video can be directly uploaded to YouTube via a dedicated YouTube 3D video application, said Nanako Kato, an LG spokeswoman.
The Optimus 3D comes with a 4.3-inch touchscreen also lets users view 3D images and video without using glasses. It also has an HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) connector and supports the DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) which allows content to be pushed around a home from tablet to DLNA TV or PC.
The glasses-free 3D screen on the Optimus 3D was made with an applied parallax barrier technology, which puts a series of slits on the front of the LCD screen that block light in a way that ensures a user’s left and right eye see different images, thereby creating the illusion of depth for the 3D image.
“Our partnership with YouTube will ensure that our customers can easily generate and access ample 3D content,” said LG Mobile CEO.
By working with LG, YouTube is actively pushing mobile 3D content into the public mindset. YouTube started providing a place for 3D video in July 2009 at the YouTube 3D Gallery, and even sells special 3D glasses on the site. The partnership with LG takes 3D video mobile by making it readily uploadable and easy to share.
The Android based mobile will be available globally starting in Europe early in the second quarter of 2011.
Amazingly, about 2 million retail pre-orders have already been placed for the Optimus in Black since CES last month, when it was first revealed, says LG.
While there is still a long way to go for 3D technology — let alone mobile 3D — this partnership is a good initiative for taking the idea to the people. Hopefully 2D phones will still be able to view 3D videos though, otherwise there is still not much point.