CES 2012: LG Wows with 55-inch OLED TV, 4G Android Phone, and Smart(er) TVs

LG announced at the Consumer Electronics Show 2012 in Las Vegas a new 4G smartphone running on Verizon’s network, as well as a sleeve of thin smart TVs, with 3D compatibility and Google TV on board.

The LG Spectrum will be available exclusively on Verizon from January 19 for $200 with a two-year contract. The phone has a 4.5-inch high-resolution (1280 by 720 pixels – 329 pixels per inch) display, and runs on a 1.5GHz dual-core processor with 4G LTE connectivity.

The Spectrum runs on Android 2.3 (4.0 upgrade promised in second half of 2012) and will have support for the Netflix Android app. There’s an 8-megapixel camera on the back and a 1.3-megapixel video chat camera at the front. The back camera can also capture 1080p HD video that can be edited on the device with the built-in SmartMovie HD app.

LG’s latest 4G smartphone comes with a 16GB microSD card preinstalled and the ESPN’s ScoreCenter app has an exclusive feature to the Spectrum: HD video feeds regardless of whether you are on WiFi or 4G.

Thin and Smart 3D TVs

LG also introduced its new line-up of smart large-screen 3D TVs at CES 2012. LG has two types of smart TVs: one running NetCast, LG’s own Smart TV platform (on 60 percent of LG TVs) with more than 1,200 apps, and one Google’s TV OS. LG’s Google TV is also equipped with 3D technology, so any 2D TV program or movie can be viewed in 3D via the built-in 2D to 3D conversion engine.

The sets start from 55-inch, up to 84-inch diagonal, and pricing and availability are yet unannounced. In these displays, LG managed to reduce the bezel to as little as 1mm in order to improve the 3D effect, but you will still need LG’s Cinema 3D glasses.

The new 3D OLED TVs from LG won’t need expensive 3D glasses though. LG’s 3D OLED TV is equipped with the Film Patterned Retarder technology, which permits use of any FPR-type 3D glasses that are less expensive and lighter than active shutter 3D glasses.

PCWorld’s Patrick Miller was at the LG press conference and had a look at the 55-inch OLED display from LG.

For more blogs, stories, photos, and video from the nation's largest consumer electronics show, check out PCWorld's complete coverage of CES 2012.

This story, "CES 2012: LG Wows with 55-inch OLED TV, 4G Android Phone, and Smart(er) TVs" was originally published by PCWorld.