LG Demos One-Way Video Calls

Cingular and LG first announced their new "video share" service—which lets you send live or recorded video from one handset to another—back in January during CES. We're still waiting for the service to get the green light, but LG reps were nonetheless showing off the feature here at CTIA.

Using a pair of modified LG CU500 handsets, an LG spokesman launched the video share app, began shooting video and then initiated a share with the second CU500. The video stream looked relatively decent—about on a par with the streaming video you'd see on, say, Sprint TV or Cingular Video—and the lag time wasn't bad, maybe a second-and-a-half or so. You can change the direction of the video share at any time, and you can chat over the speakerphone or send text messages while your video call is still in progress. Finally, the phone automatically records any video calls, and you can share recorded clips as well as live video.

The latest word is that Cingular's video share should go live by the end of the second quarter, which translates roughly to late June. You'll need the new LG CU500v to place video share calls, or you can take your existing CU500 to a Cingular store for a flash update. And what's the charge for video-share calls, you ask? No details yet, but stay tuned.