Last year LG was one of the world’s first manufacturers to produce a smartphone with an autostereoscopic (glasses-free) 3D display in the form of the Optimus 3D. However, this powerhouse was not quite the best seller that it had anticipated and no other major company followed in its footsteps as a result.
LG has not taken this to heart and has dusted off 3D displays for the 2012 season, as PocketNow is reporting that a follow-up to the Optimus 3D is going to be launched at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) next month.
The smartphone in question currently has the codename of the LG CX2, but sources are reporting a number of interesting features which are apparently going to be onboard.
It will share the same 4.3 inch display size as the Optimus 3D but, by using its NOVA technology, it will be much brighter, making for a more pleasant viewing experience on the CX2.
A 1.2GHz dual core processor will do all the hard work of rendering stereoscopic images and you will have a relatively small allocation of 8GB of onboard storage at your disposal.
Like the Optimus 3D, there will be a pair of five megapixel cameras strapped on the back of the LG CX2, which will allow it to take 3D photos and record 3D video clips which you can enjoy on the phone itself or on a 3DTV, if you happen to have one at home.
LG is only going to use Android 2.3 for the CX2 when it is released, but hopefully it will be preparing Android 4.0 for the phone in the form of an update shortly afterwards.
3D technology is still something of a rarity on portable products, particularly in the mobile phone market. Nintendo’s 3DS handheld console was initially marketed on its depth-emulating glasses-free display capabilities, but after poor sales it changed its tune and started harping on about the fact that you can actually turn the 3D off if it tires your eyes or gives you a headache.
The Optimus 3D gave its users the option to disable the stereoscopic elements and it seems likely that the LG CX2 will also come with this feature, since you can never really tell how you are going to respond to the effects on a physical level, until you have actually had the chance to play around with a 3D device for a while.
It is interesting that the CX2 seems not to be targeted as a flagship smartphone for LG in 2012, because, although its technology is certainly powerful, it does not quite rank amongst the high end handsets also expected to make their debuts at MWC.
LG’s own X3 smartphone is rumoured to be one of the first quad core models to appear, which makes the dual core chip of the CX2 look a little outdated. However, if 3D becomes more affordable, then mainstream appeal and sales success might follow soon after in short order.
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