LG Viewty takes centerstage at the LG booth

LG Viewty

(Credit: Nicole Lee/CNET Networks)

Here's another phone that we won't be seeing stateside any time soon. We mentioned the LG Viewty a few months ago, and our good friends over at CNET U.K. have done a pretty positive review of the it, marveling over its 5-megapixel camera as well as its ability to upload directly to YouTube. The LG Viewty took center stage at the LG booth here at CES, with a large rotating display and lots of units out for people to play with. So we were eager to give it a good look for ourselves, and we have to admit that it lives up to the hype. Not only is it a pretty sexy device, it comes loaded with the aforementioned 5-megapixel camera certified by Schneider-Kreuznach, including ISO 800 and SmartLight for low-light conditions, image stabilizer, 120fps video recording, manual and auto focus, and even DivX Video Playback. If we weren't told this was a cell phone, we probably would've mistaken it for a camera. When asked if the Viewty was going to be available in the U.S., LG reps simply shrugged and claimed ignorance. Technically, you could get the Viewty and use it here, since it is a triband phone, but we would miss out on a lot of the Internet capabilities, and reception would be somewhat gimped. Oh well--maybe someday we'll get something just as cool. The LG Vu perhaps?