LG, SkyLife tie up to conquer 3-D

LG Electronics and KT SkyLife announced a tie-up involving 3-D content on Wednesday, declaring the two will commercialize the service by the first half of next year.

LG Electronics, the world’s second-biggest flat-screen television maker, said that it would feature 3-D content developed by the digital satellite broadcaster on the company’s 3-D TVs.

As an initial step, the electronics manufacturer will begin offering some of SkyLife’s 3-D contents on its Cinema 3-D TVs beginning next month, according to LG officials.

“Starting with 2011, we’re planning to target the 3-D market, which has yet to be unveiled,” said Lee Mong-ryong, SkyLife’s chief executive.

Last year, SkyLife had a total of 81 episodes of 3-D content, broadcast the World Cup in 3-D and established a 24-hour 3-D channel. It also plans to launch a 3-D pay-per-view service in July.

The two firms will also work together to combine technologies and services in creating a new smart TV platform, and cooperate in cloud computing and home network technologies.

“Due to the strengthening of 3-D and smart TV contents, the two firms’ cooperation efforts will have a big impact on industrial development,” said Kwon Hee-won, executive vice president of LG’s home entertainment unit.

They will provide a 3-D TV application which is loaded with SkyLife’s 100 different items of premium 3-D content on LG’s TV.

SkyLife also plans to introduce a multi-room service ― allowing people to view the content on more than one TV through wireless connections ― as well as the N-Screen function to view content on other devices by early next year.

The companies are targeting 1 million subscribers for the home cloud service within the next three years. The service includes a real-time home monitoring system and a feature which enables people to enjoy multimedia content such as movies and music without using a DVD player.

“We expect to offer a differentiated experience in the upcoming next-generation services such as N-Screen, cloud and home networking by putting together LG Electronics’ skills and SkyLife’s services,” said Kwon.

By Cho Ji-hyun (sharon@heraldcorp.com)