CES: LG unveils Optimus Black with Wi-Fi Direct support

At the CES show in Las Vegas, LG launched the Optimus Black, one of the slimmest phones the company has ever produced at 9.2mm, which includes support for the Wi-Fi Direct data transfer system.

The Optimus Black uses LG's Nova screen technology which, at 700 nits, is the brightest screen on the market but also cuts power consumption by around 50 per cent.

The handset will also be able to use Wi-Fi Direct when it is launched later this year. The system is designed as a partial replacement for Bluetooth by allowing faster and more accurate data transfer.

LG is also committed to LTE, Skott Ahn, the firm's chief technology officer, told press at the show, and has built its own chipset to demonstrate its support for the mobile standard.

The company will also release a glasses-free 3D display for mobile phones later this year. The system uses a series of slits in front of a 4.3in display to redirect the images received by each retina.

3D is to figure heavily in the company's plans for the year, Ahn said. The company will release 31 new televisions this year, over half being internet-enabled and the top five capable of 3D display.

LG is bundling four sets of 3D glasses with the TVs, and will sell additional glasses for under $20 (£12.95), The firm has also promised a 3D projector for the home entertainment market.

The company will also reveal details of another new smartphone and tablet after CES officially opens on 6 January.

At the pre-CES press event, LG also showed off what it claims is the world's first dual-core smartphone, the Optimus 2X, originally unveiled in December.

The new handset uses a dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor that gives up to 1GHz of processing power and runs Android 2.2, but has sufficient specifications to handle the forthcoming 2.3 release.

The handset also has an HDMI port, a 4in WVGA screen and is Digital Living Network Alliance-compliant, allowing it to be used as a console with compatible televisions and other consumer electronics devices.

"It's a cinema in your pocket," Ahn said. "In 2011 we've got some really great smartphones coming."

The Optimus 2X will be released in Korea this month and then rolled out in Europe and Asia.