ET Review: LG Optimus 3D P920 with eye-popping visuals

For some people, 3D is just a gimmick that is worth little more than the odd look. It definitely has no place on a mobile phones. LG, however, thinks differently. The new Optimus 3D is not really the first 3D phone - the Spice M-67 offered 3D without glasses almost a year ago -but it certainly is the most muscular handheld device we have seen offering 3D. It is bulky (11.9mm thick) and at a hefty 168 grams, is not the lightest phone in town. Although built mainly of plastic, it feels solid to hold.

The front is dominated by the large 4.3 inch display with four touch keys for menu, home, back and search. On the left side are HDMI and micro USB ports and on the right is the volume rocker and a key which many might assume is a camera key, but is actually the key that lets in the 3D magic. A 3.5 mm audio jack and the screen/power on-off button are on the top of the phone. On the back is the dual 5.0-megapixel camera module with a single LED flash.

Share Will LG experience a backlash for locking the G-Slate bootloader?

Oh, LG, I want to love you but I can't. Just when we think you may make it in the smartphone world, you go and do this. You make good latest mobile phones, not great phones; you raise the bar, but only so much; and now you're locking bootloaders? Let's do the math: that's two tiny steps forward and a mile jog in the opposite direction of other Android OEMs.

When it comes to smartphones – or mobile tablets – specifications are only half the story. A dual-core processor, 1GB RAM, awesome camera and high resolution display only account for a portion of a customers' love for their Android phone. Without development support, a lot of tinkering users may be left mostly unsatisfied down the road. The initial excitement can quickly run out after several bugs – likely due to an OEM's custom software, which can easily be solved with a custom ROM – surface.

LG Prada K2 makes a quick appearance on video

Last month we were treated to our first peek at the LG Prada K2 in the form of a leaked render, which was nice at the time, but you know what's better than an image? Video. And that's precisely what the folks at Pocketnow got their hands on today. The clip is a tad blurry and rather short, but it does offer up another look at an unannounced smartphone, and that's good enough for us. You can check out the full video below.

Nokia, still a market leader

According to the latest quarterly report issued by research firm IDC (International Data Corporation), the global mobile phone market grew by 11.3% year over year, as in second quarter of 2011 were delivered, worldwide, 365.4 million units – compared with 328.4 million units shipped in the second quarter of 2010.

But the figures were below predictions of the company, aimed at an increase of 13.3% for Q2 – lower than the growth of 16.8% recorded in 2011.