LG Dials Up DivX Phone February 11, 2008
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LG has taken the wraps off the Viewty mobile phone, which is being positioned as the first that can record video in the useful DivX format.
The Viewty [model KU990] is the first phone to be DivX-certified and according to LG, can capture the kind of quality video found on most camcorders. The phone can record 120fps, 640 x 480-pixel DivX video, which makes it very easy to transfer and watch on any number on DivX-capable devices, like PCs, DVD players and consoles.
"Users of the LG Viewty have come to expect innovation and quality," said Dr. Skott Ahn at LG. "The addition of DivX recording capability to the Viewty will open up the media experience and enable our users to do more with the videos they capture, from sharing that content online to playing it back beyond the phone on a wide variety of devices."
"Our goal is to make it easy for consumers to enjoy a high-quality video experience on any kind of device," said Kevin Hell, CEO at DivX. "The LG Viewty is a perfect example of this experience. It allows consumers to capture video on its 3-inch screen and then easily transfer that video to a computer or virtually any kind of consumer electronics device."
LG is pushing the Viewty as a professional-level camera phone with its 5MP camera, manual focus, and image stabiliser. It’s certainly not slinky though at 10.5 x 5.4 x 1.5cm and weighing in at 112g. In its defence it does have a great big 3in touchscreen though, making watching videos a less squinty affair.-Martin Lynch
Editor and Contributor | Martin Lynch
Contributor | Tamlin Magee
Comments
A "professional-level" camera phone? How many professional camera phone photographers are there?
As an owner I severely doubt anyone could give away the photos let alone make a "profession" out of them!
taken the wraps off?
i've had mine about five months i think...
It's 'taken the wraps off' the DivX cert today. As for a 'pro' cam phone. I can see pros wanting a camera that's always with them that'll at least hold a candle to a compact. There are times when any camera is better than no camera at all - and yes you can make money out of those types of 'news' pictures.
I have a viewty myself and the picture quality is superb (anyone who says different obviously cant take pictures or doesnt know how to use a flash) and the 120fps is a pretty cool feature. A lot of people say its no match for the iphone. I laugh at these people it has a 5mp camera (better that the measily iphone) and aint apple lol Have to admit the 100mb capacity is a bit of a shambles but a micro sd soon sorts the pants outa that!
I think that they need to sort out the scroll issue beofore adding DivX functionality. Get the basics right and the rest will follow. Having said that, you can get some very reasonable
LG viewty deals if you shop around.
Scroll issue? As far as i can see there is no scroll issue, many think that the wheel at the back is the only method of scrolling, in fact the screen can be scroll-dragged just like the iphone.
I still dont get it... I got my Viewty back in November and on the back case clearly has the DivX icon, as well as all adverts and reviews boasting about it's DivX certification, so this certainly isnt a new thing at all, nor something LG is 'adding' to the phone, because i've already contacted them about bug fixes, updated content etc and they have no official plans... Cant believe that considering their advertising campaigns and big success.
Dan, just cos you can possibly make money out of them (if noone with a half-decent camera is in the vicinity) doesn't make it a Professional item. If that's the criteria for "professional" then Anything capable of taking any kind of picture falls into this category.
Viewtys camera quality is questionable at best, and Ronan, unless I've suddenly forgotten how to use a flash between this camera phone and all my older camera phones, the fault does not lie with the user. There's different versions of DSP software on different handsets that may be influencing peoples experiences but no official word from LG.
Note the comma between 120fps and 640 x 480. It's not capable of both together, 320x240 @ 120fps max. OR 640 x 480 @ 30fps.
I'm seriously looking at the Viewty but just heard it doesnt work with Vista!! How do you download your pictures?