3d

It's not all about singing robots in Tokyo this year. The annual CEATEC tech expo is loaded with the makings of your gadget-geek future.

In the past, in order to take a stereoscopic 3D photo, photogs had to fashion their own hacked shooting rigs of conjoined cameras wired into a central shutter. But even with all that, 3D shots taken with those setups still can't be seen with the naked eye. Fujifilm's Real 3D system, which is available in the U.S. today, includes a camera, digital frame, and print center that creates 3D images you can see without those flimsy glasses.

This is the week of the Internationale Funkausstellung (er, International Consumer Electronics Show) in Berlin, which is pretty much just what it sounds like. It's one whopping, European CES. The trouble with IFA for us on the State-side, though, is that a lot of companies forget one key thing: the magical Internet can cross water. Because of that, a lot of "new product announcements" are "things we have already seen," so it takes a little more effort (and flexing what's left of my undergrad German skillz) to figure out what's worth paying attention to.

Over the last two days, the IFA press preview has kicked up some real goodies -- even before the show floor opens to the public today. IFA '09 has already shown us a real taste of how our home theaters will look in the next half-decade, laptops on serious diets, and a couple cool new toys.

For the nervous new freshmen heading to college this fall (and some bitter 25 year olds looking to travel back in time) a new website, DesignYourDorm offers the chance to make design decisions ahead of time in a 3-D replica of the room they’ve been dealt.

Not just content with making a splash on the big screen, content providers are also set on bringing 3-D programming into the home as well. Sky TV plans to launch a dedicated 3-D channel in the UK next year.

The station will offer a smattering of sports, movies, and entertainment-related content, all piped through to the living room via a set-top box. This seems to lineup with Panasonic's plans to have 3-D movies in the home by 2010 as well.

Think you have a snazzy business card? Perhaps one with a cool graphic or one-of-a-kind shape? Well, think again. No matter how impressive, it's unlikely to beat this augmented reality card from ActionScript developer James Alliban for coolness.

Lose this remote control you’ve got a serious problem. In two short weeks, a group of German scientists will unveil the iPoint 3D, which allows users to communicate with a 3-D display through simple finger gestures. The technology doesn’t require a data glove, 3-D glasses or any contact with the screen. On the down side it doesn’t negate the need to actually lift your arm.

3-D started its comeback at CES about two years ago when Samsung first showed capable rear projection TVs. At the time, 3D was just for video games, with only the vague promise that movies would be coming. On Wednesday in Vegas, Panasonic announced plans to push for technical standards that could show up in TVs and Blu-ray discs and players in less than two years.

Two days before the Consumer Electronics Show officially starts, the first products debuted at CES Unveiled on Tuesday evening. Many of the tables at the Venetian conference center in Vegas looked best-suited to an obscure trade fair, with information about USB and HDMI specifications, for example. But a few innovative--or just plain quirky -- products emerged. Click to see the highlights.

Just a week after the NFL screened a live game in 3D to an invite-only audience, the NBA announced that it will broadcast its All Star Game to public theaters. The February 14 game will reach up to 160 screens in 80 locations around the US, including Atlanta, Chicago, Cincinnati, Detroit, LA, New York, San Francisco and Seattle.

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Entertainment & Gaming, Sean Captain, 3d, basketball, nba