LG announces Optimus 3D Cube, ahead of MWC

We knew LG was planning on launching the successor to the Optimus 3D at MWC, thanks to some leaked images. There were rumours that the phone would be called the 3D MAX, upon launch. Thankfully, only the spy pictures turned out to be true, as LG has officially pulled the wraps off the Optimus 3D Cube, just a few days from MWC.

3D phones, take two!

As to why it’s called the Cube? We have no idea, honestly. The company has revealed further details about the phone and some that we can infer from the press images. For starters, the Cube will sport the same (may be tweaked) 4.3-inch, glassless 3D IPS display, but this time, the phone will be a lot slimmer and lighter than before. Measuring just 9.6mm in depth, it’s quite a bit lesser compared to 11.9mm of the Optimus 3D. It will also have a slightly larger battery, the CPU has been bumped up to 1.2GHz and we now get 16GB of onboard storage, instead of 8GB. Oh, and LG has also thrown in NFC for good measure. A new addition to the phone is the ability to edit 3D videos and photos, along with capturing them. The Cube’s pièce de résistance, however remains the dual-5MP cameras sitting comfortably in the back. Also from the picture, we can expect a white version to hit retail shelves as well, although this may be country specific.

LG says the Optimus Cube will first launch in South Korea on SK Telecom in March for 847,000 won (Rs.36,996), so about the same price they launched the first 3D phone. The kicker however, is that the phone will ship with Gingerbread (ouch!) and not ICS, unfortunately. The scariest bit is that there’s no word from LG about and ICS update in the press release and given their history of ‘forgetting’ to roll out timely updates, we’ll probably see Android 4.0 on the Cube around the time Jelly Bean is out.

Stay tuned for more details at MWC.