NTT DoCoMo has announced that the official launch date for the tablet is March 31. That is this coming Thursday. The tablet will be in most DoCoMo stores with the exception of those that are still not in service from the earthquake and tsunami. We already know the specs of the tablet with the screen measuring 8.9-inches and having a resolution of 1280 x 768.

The tablet also has a dual-core processor and runs Android 3.0. Other features include a 5MP rear camera and a 1.2MP front camera. The tablet measures 150mm x 242mm x 12.8mm and weighs about 620g. The tablet also has an integrated 3G modem for mobile connectivity.

[via Android Community]

The Acer will be the cheapest, at €349 ($493), followed by the ASUS Eee Pad – exact model unspecified, and the image is one of the Windows 7 Embedded versions – at €399 ($564). After that it’s the XOOM, at €699 ($987), and finally the Optimus Pad at a huge €849 ($1,199).

Interestingly, there’s also mention of both the HP Touchpad and its expected 7-inch follow-up, the HP Opal, on the retailer’s “coming soon” page. No pricing for either, and the fact Phone House is using the codenames doesn’t exactly fill us with confidence.

[via Android Community]

The tablet has a resolution of 1280 x 768 and will support 1080p video. Dual 5MP cameras allow for shooting photos and for video conferencing too. The camera will also shoot 3D images. We already knew all of those facts; the thing we don’t know is when it can be ordered.

LG has offered an answer for when you can order question, assuming you are in Japan and like NTT DOCOMO. Pre-orders on the NTT DOCOMO network will kick off on March 15. LG is mum on what the tablet will sell for, but it should be price competitive.

Via Android Community

Video after the cut

While we weren’t sure about 3D on a tablet-scale device before – especially without a glasses-free display – the slick user experience on the G-Slate is making us consider a change of heart. You need red/green glasses, but LG has finessed in added controls to switch between twin-view, 3D and 2D previews, and the process of getting content from the slate and onto a big-screen 3D TV is thankfully straightforward.

T-Mobile G-Slate hands-on:

The rest of the UI is standard Honeycomb, leaving only the light weight, sober but classic styling and more compact display in the G-Slate’s favor. So much will be dependent on pricing, and T-Mobile isn’t talking figures until the tablet launches later this year.

That makes for a more compact device, and a more hand-friendly one. In fact, the Optimus Pad is surprisingly easy to hold , though the highly glossy front panel makes for a fingerprint magnet; within seconds of swiping through Honeycomb’s homescreen panes there were noticeable streaks across the display.

Unlike the Optimus 3D, the Optimus Pad doesn’t have a glasses-free 3D display. While it can record 1080p Full HD 2D video or 720p HD 3D video, you can only watch it on the slate itself using 3D red/green glasses (you can preview the filming process in red/green, or trust the slate itself and look at a 2D view); alternatively there’s the same HDMI output and DLNA wireless streaming for pushing it over to an HDTV. Curiously, LG told us that, despite having the same cameras as the Optimus 3D, the Pad won’t actually shoot 3D stills.

LG Optimus Pad hands-on:

As a Google Experience device this is Honeycomb in its unmodified form, good for getting prompt updates but unlikely to help LG differentiate on the software side. Still, Android 3.0 runs reasonably smoothly – a few crashes notwithstanding – on the NVIDIA chipset. Whether LG can make a convincing sales argument about the 3D abilities, or whether it will be the more compact size that swings things for the Optimus Pad remains to be seen when the slate goes on sale, price tba, in Q2 2011.

There’s also 3G, WiFi and Bluetooth, along with GPS. The Optimus Pad runs Android 3.0 Honeycomb, Google’s tablet-centric build of the open-source OS, and LG has wisely left alone and not modified the UI or software.

We’ll be grabbing hands-on as soon as we can, and putting the Optimus Pad through its paces to see how it holds up against the Motorola XOOM and the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. LG says the Optimus Pad will launch in select markets from March 2011, pricing tba.

Press Release:

SETTING A NEW STANDARD IN TABLETS, LG OPTIMUS PAD DEBUTS AT MWC

Designed for Both Work and Play, LG’s 8.9-inch Tablet is Convenient to Hold with One Hand; Features Android 3.0, Dual Core CPU, 3D Camera

Barcelona, February 14, 2011 – LG Electronics (LG) today unveiled the highly anticipated LG Optimus Pad at a press conference on opening day of Mobile World Congress 2011. With diverse multimedia and productivity features, the LG Optimus Pad features a unique 8.9-inch display for one-handed portability and uncompromising viewability, a departure from the trend toward tablets featuring 7- and 10-inch screens.

The LG Optimus Pad is powered by Google’s Android 3.0 platform and the NVIDIA Tegra 2 mobile processor. The world’s first tablet with a 3D camera, the LG Optimus Pad wraps users in an immersive multimedia environment with Full HD 1080p decoding.

“With a flood of tablets hitting the market, we felt strongly that the LG Optimus Pad needed to set a new standard for what a tablet should be,” said Dr. Jong-seok Park, President and CEO of LG Mobile Communications Company. “We think the LG Optimus Pad achieves the right blend of portability and viewability with no performance compromises.”

The LG Optimus Pad also represents the fruits of a close partnership between LG and visual computing leader NVIDIA. “The world of computing is shifting under our feet,” said Phil Carmack, Senior Vice President of NVIDIA’s mobile business. “Tablets are quickly taking their place as our most personal computer, providing previously unimagined capabilities and full mobility. The new LG Optimus Pad uses NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 to give consumers outstanding levels of power, speed and performance.”

Easy Portability, Ideal Viewability

Sized at 8.9-inch diagonally and 149.4-mm horizontally, the LG Optimus Pad offers a sensible solution to other tablets on the market that are either too large for comfortable portability or too small for ideal viewing. The conveniently-sized LG Optimus Pad fits comfortably in one hand, goes anywhere and slips easily into purses and slim briefcases. With 15:9 aspect ratio, the LG Optimus Pad allows users access to the full range of applications in Android Market and its 1280 x 768 WXGA resolution vividly displays multimedia content in full widescreen format.

Powerful, Fast and Versatile Platform

The LG Optimus Pad is powered by Android 3.0, Google’s latest platform optimized for tablets which supports larger display resolutions and applications specifically designed for tablets, including Google eBooks, Google Maps 5, and Google Talk. Android 3.0 also makes the LG Optimus Pad easy to use with a more intuitive PC-like interface. The LG Optimus Pad fully utilizes the 1 GHz Dual Core CPU of NVIDIA Tegra 2 to deliver lag-free web browsing and quick app start up. The superb graphics and multitasking capabilities of NVIDIA Tegra 2 enables the LG Optimus Pad to run multiple apps simultaneously and handle rich multimedia with ease.

Haven for Multimedia Enthusiasts

As the world’s first tablet equipped with a 3D camera, users can capture vivid images and video with the LG Optimus Pad for viewing on 3D TVs using HDMI or on the web via YouTube 3D. Business users will also appreciate the built-in videoconferencing feature. With 1080p Full HD decoding, movie enthusiasts can transfer high quality content to their TVs without any loss in picture quality. Serious and casual gamers alike will delight in the wide collection of console-quality games available through the Tegra Zone app that runs seamlessly on the LG Optimus Pad.

The LG Optimus Pad will begin shipping in local markets starting in March.

The LG Optimus 3D packs a 1GHz OMAP4 dual-core processor and, the company claims, four times the amount of video decoders than its rivals; that adds up to double the graphics performance of its nearest, unnamed competitor. Of course there’s also the 3D camera and 4.3-inch WVGA glasses-free 3D display, along with DLNA and HDMI support for outputting to external screens.

As for the Optimus Pad (the European version of T-Mobile’s LG G-Slate), that has an 8.9-inch 15:9 1280 x 768 display and Full HD decoding, together with NVIDIA’s 1GHz Tegra 2 dual-core CPU. It also packs a 3D camera, though you’ll need glasses to see it on the tablet itself, since the Optimus Pad doesn’t have a special screen like the Optimus 3D. We’ll be checking out both devices with LG tomorrow, so stay tuned for more on SlashGear.

Press Release:

LG UNVEILS PREMIUM LINE-UP AT MWC 2011

SEOUL–(Korea Newswire) February 13, 2011 — LG Electronics (LG) returns to Barcelona this year to introduce two new flagship devices at Mobile World Congress: the LG Optimus 3D, a stunning super-smartphone with unparalleled 3D performance, and the LG Optimus Pad, a true Android tablet optimized with Honeycomb OS designed to offer the full viewing experience of a tablet while still being easy to hold with one hand.

“I`m confident that this year, LG will emerge as a leader in the next generation of smartphone and tablet devices,” said Dr. Jong-seok Park, president and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. “What you see here today is just the beginning — we will continue to innovate with products that address consumer needs and deliver benefits that live up to our `Life`s Good` commitment.”

Aiming to aggressively take a leadership position in the smartphone market in 2011, LG has been earnestly bolstering its premium smartphone line-up, evident by its strong showing at CES last month. There, the company introduced the world`s first dual-core smartphone (LG Optimus 2X), one of the world`s slimmest and brightest smartphones (LG Optimus Black) and the company`s first phone compatible with 4G LTE networks (LG Revolution(TM)). LG products debuting at MWC 2011 build upon this spirit of innovation. Key devices include:

LG Optimus 3D

The LG Optimus 3D packs exceptional features with performance in mind, including an advanced dual-core, dual-channel and dual-memory architecture. Equipped with a 1GHz OMAP4 dual-core processor and four times more video decoders than competing designs, the LG Optimus 3D doubles the graphics performance of its nearest competitor allowing users to enjoy superb performance while web surfing, running applications and enjoying multimedia content. In addition, the LG Optimus 3D provides the world`s first full 3D experience covering the full spectrum from recording to viewing and sharing 3D content. It features a dual-lens camera that enables users to capture any moment in true 3D which can then be viewed immediately on the 4.3-inch WVGA glasses-free display. Multiple connectivity options including HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) and DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) also make it easy for users to transfer their recorded content to other devices.

LG Optimus Pad

The LG Optimus Pad sets a new standard for tablets by utilizing an 8.9-inch display in a form factor that`s comfortable to use one-handed. With a 15:9 aspect ratio and Full HD 1080p decoding, the LG Optimus Pad offers users an immersive multimedia environment on a 1280 x 768 WXGA resolution widescreen display. The new device sports Honeycomb, Google`s latest platform optimized for tablet devices with an optimized and intuitive PC-like interface for running tablet software. LG`s tablet runs on a 1GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core processor for unmatched performance and power management. In addition, the LG Optimus Pad is the world`s first tablet with a built-in 3D camera, enabling users to capture vivid image and video content to be viewed on a high definition 3D TV or shared on the web via YouTube 3D.

LG Optimus 2X

The world`s first smartphone with a dual-core processor, the LG Optimus 2X was developed in partnership with graphics processor powerhouse, NVIDIA. The dual-core Tegra 2 system-on-a-chip found in the LG Optimus 2X runs at a clock speed of 1GHz and boasts low power consumption and high performance for playing video and audio. Not only does the LG Optimus 2X mean more powerful multimedia features, the Tegra 2 processor makes for faster, smoother web browsing and multitasks with virtually no screen lag. The LG Optimus 2X offers 1080p HD video playback and recording with HDMI mirroring that expands content on external displays to Full HD quality. The LG Optimus 2X can connect wirelessly to any DLNA-compatible digital device such as HD TVs for a console-like gaming experience, taking full advantage of the phone‟s HDMI mirroring, accelerometer and gyro sensor.

LG Optimus Black

One of the world`s slimmest and lightest Android smartphones, LG Optimus Black is already a hit, having recorded more than two million pre-orders in 20 countries since its introduction at CES. At MWC, a range of special-edition LG Optimus Black handsets will be unveiled featuring designs courtesy of the Keith Haring Foundation. Besides its incredibly slim body, the LG Optimus Black features a 4-inch NOVA display for optimal brightness and readability under any lighting conditions. The crystal-clear display also provides a more natural web browsing experience by displaying truer whites while simultaneously cutting energy consumption by 50 percent compared to conventional LCDs. In addition, the LG Optimus Black includes a collection of smart features designed to improve the user experience, such as Gesture UI, Wi-Fi Direct and a 2MP front-facing camera.

For more information, visit the LG stand at 8B178 in Hall 8, Fira de Barcelona or go to the online newsroom at www.lgnewsroom.com/MWC2011.