LG Optimus 3D Max hands-on

LG Optimus 3D Max hands-on

LG started this whole 3D craze a year ago at Mobile World Congress, and now the Korean manufacturer is stepping things up a bit with the Optimus 3D Max. On one hand, it's very much the same experience. A 4.3-inch display, Android 2.3, and a pair of 5MP cameras that get the 3D ball rolling.

Look, this part's simple: If you weren't sold on 3D displays a year ago, the Optimus 3D Max probably isn't going to change your mind now. It's very much the same experience. But LG has thrown real-time editing of 3D (and 2D) videos into the mix. The camera shutter button and 2D/3D toggle have been merged. Very cool stuff.

But it's software tweaks that really make the difference here. In addition to the video editing, the 3D Max has the ability to convert standard 2D applications to 3D applications. Something like Angry Birds, for example works, and actually it's almost a better experience than dedicated 3D games because it's not quite as in-your-face. Google Earth in 3D? Very cool.

Another interesting upgrade is real-time range-finding. Because the space between the dual-cameras is a fixed distance, some simple triangulation can be done, and the phone can tell you the distance to a given object in real time. Or, it can give you the distance between two objects. Dunno how much we'd use that in our daily lives, but it's cool to see.

We've got some more hands-on goodness after the break.

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Olivia Wilde
Megan Fox