LG Cloud launches, guns after iCloud on mobile, PC, TV

LG has formally launched into the cloud space on Monday with a beta of LG Cloud. The service is intended as a non-exclusive way to quickly shuttle music, photos, and videos between the various devices in LG"s ecosystem, including PCs, smartphones, and TVs. By including the TV, it carries the uncommon advantage of exporting 3D content: a 3D video recorded on an Optimus 3D Max can be remotely shared to a TV that can play it back.

Its signature will be a real-time transcoding approach that can make content playable in an ideal format, particularly for bandwidth-sensitive mobile devices.

Anyone will have access to a free account with 2GB of space, although LG is providing a heavy incentive to buy into LG devices. These users will get 5GB for free, and the first six months will give them 50GB of space. LG is planning paid storage as an option, but has yet to settle on pricing. Most of its peers multiple yearly subscription rates.

The service is available as a free beta in South Korea and the US starting from May 1, with a wider launch mostly likely in the first half of 2013. Native clients are for now limited to Android 2.2 or newer phones, Windows XP, and Windows 7, although a web interface should let users manage storage on any device.

LG's introduction follows a trend of computer designers starting their own cloud services, started in earnest by Apple with 2011's iCloud. Samsung is rumored to be making its own S-Cloud service as a parallel to what Apple and LG have been developing. In all cases, the aim is to have various divisions' technology working in sync and give customers more reason to buy across the line rather than cherry pick from individual vendors.

Via electronista.com