Checking out LG's Pen Touch TV (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

LG's Pen Touch TV, which previewed in May, is now on the market.

A 50-inch model, the LG 50PZ850, costs $2999, while a 60-inch version, the LG 60PZ850, is going for $3999.

I'm not sure if it's a gimmick or The Next Big Thing, but as a dedicated couch potato, I'm not sure I'd every get close enough to the screen to draw.

I can see my children loving it, but at $2999 to $3999 - sorry, kids - my wallet's staying in my pocket.

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MAY 12, 2011: This morning I got a preview of LG's Pen Touch plasma TV (not scheduled for release until later this year), which can be used with one pen, or up to six at once.

You can draw onscreen or sort or resize videos (using two pens at once in a similar fashion to the way you’d use two fingers with a tablet or touchscreen phone; see the NBR am-cam clip above).

There’s also amazingly accurate handwriting recognition, which can be used, for example, to handwrite a web address. It’s hard to see any real-life application, but it was technically impressive. A handwritten  "National Business Review" translated perfectly into text.

As a bonus, the Pen Touch – with a PC attached – can run any app written for the Surface (Microsoft’s coffee table-like touchscreen, loved by Vegas hotels but never released in NZ). Check out the global map app in the clip below.

My immediate thought was that no living room TV could survive kids stabbing it with pens for long. But this plasma TV has tough glass, able to withstand 20kg of pressure - and the LG rep pictured above literally gave it a thump to prove it.

As is de rigueur for any new TV these days, LG has support popular internet services like YouTube and Facebook (via an optional wi-fi dongle) and some fat, friendly onscreen icons and customised apps.   

And for those with older sets, there’s an Apple TV style wi-fi box called the LG Smart Upgrader that adds internet connectivity. The indicative price for its August launch was an uncompetitive $499 (Apple TV is $170). At the Auckland demo, none of the wireless internet as working for any of the TVs, tablets or accessories - which was, at least, a realistic simulation of how the sometimes temperamental wi-fi behaves in the average home.

LG also previewed a tablet running on Android 3.0 (aka Honeycomb). It’s point of difference: a 3D video camera (no 3D glasses were on hand for the tablet, so I’m not sure about the quality). So far, there’s no indication of a release date, or carrier support. Yup, it's yet another consumer electronics company with dozens of products, its Android tablet tablet vaguely positioned on its to-do list, and seemingly little sway with phone companies. The laser-focussed Apple must love it.