Snow, cold, dreary and politically inanimate… These could be words mistakenly used to describe Canada. I’d use others like safe, healthy and every now and then… full of free laptops! That’s right dear OhGizmo! readers: Toshiba Canada has partnered with us to give our Canadian readers a Satellite A660 3D laptop valued at $1,899.
The cool thing is the laptop in question is the higher end A660-0T4 with the following specs:
An Intel® Core™ i7-740QM processor, 6GB DDR3-1066MHZ ram, 640GB 5400RPM hdd, Blu-ray Disc™ Rewriteable and DVD SuperMulti drive, Harman Kardon built-in speakers, NVIDIA GeForce GTS 350M with 1GB GDDR3 memory, 15.6″ 16:9 HD TruBrite™ 120Hz 3D Ready TFT with LED backlight and NVIDIA® 3D Vision™ Kit with glasses and built-in internal laptop IR emitter
So how do you win this beauty? Well, we’re going to make you work a little more than usual for this one, so read on.
1) The contest is open to all Canadians 18 years of age and above (except residents of Quebec (sorry folks)).
2) It will run from Today, January 31st, until February 7th, 2011.
3) There are 5 ways to enter, or 5 different types of ballots if you’d prefer to see it that way. Which means that you can enter up to 5 times!
3D is the next big thing, whether we like it or not. I’m still not sold on the technology, but maybe Nintendo’s 3DS will be the thing that changes my mind. We’ve still got a bit of time to wait for that, so in the meantime, why not check out this 3D Giant Chalk from Crayola?
Sure, it’s not quite as interactive as a portable gaming system, but it is portable. Apparently you can take this stuff, draw on the sidewalk, then see the images pop out of the ground when you put on the special glasses. This one again proves just how spoiled the kids today are. Back in my day, you just drew on the sidewalk, and it didn’t do anything special. You had to use your imagination. $16 gets you 4 giant dual-colored sticks of the stuff and two pair of glasses.
They have no plans to put it into production at the moment, but at the ‘Future 3D Technology Demo’ section of their CES booth, Sony had this fully-working glasses-free 3D Blu-ray player on display. While 3D was still the prevalent theme of the show this year, there was actually quite a bit of glasses-free 3D technology on display. But I’m sorry to report that the 3D demos playing on this weren’t exactly mind-blowing, though I suspect it was the content to blame since it didn’t look like genuine 3D footage. Sony had other glasses-free 3D technology on display at their booth that looked quite impressive.
Sony held their official CES press conference today, and one of the things they announced was a new addition to their Bloggie camcorder line called the MHS-FS3, or more affectionately known as the Bloggie 3D. As you’ve probably guessed it’s basically a Bloggie blessed with the powers of capturing full 1080P video in 3D thanks to a set of two lenses, two image sensors and even two mics for recording glorious stereo sound. It’s also got a lenticular 2.4-inch LCD screen on the back for enjoying your 3D content without the need for those stylish shutter glasses, though it doesn’t have as high quality a 3D display as some of Sony’s higher-end 3D camcorders. So to be perfectly honest, the 3D effect wasn’t really that amazing I’m sad to report.
However, since it does capture genuine 3D footage when viewed on a full-sized 3D TV the effect should be as impressive as it is with Hollywood blockbusters. And when you get tired of capturing things in 3D after the first 15 minutes the Bloggie 3D can also capture footage in primitive 2D you lameo. It comes with 8GB of non-expandable internal storage, and is expected to be available in April for ~$250.
Have you ever thought it would be cool to have a statue made of yourself? Yeah, I’m not really one for big bronze statues either. I think the most I’d want is a small figure of myself. Apparently it’s not that hard to get one made. The people over at Sculpteo can whip one up in two weeks, using only a couple of photos.
All you need to do is upload a pair of face shots, one from the front and a profile. They’ll then create a figure based on what you’ve sent. Once this is done, you’ll receive a picture of the created figure which you can then approve. 10 days later you’ll have a figure on your doorstep. Figures start at $75 for a 2.7-inch, or you can upgrade to a 3.9-inch for $130.
I’m actually testing the service, and I’ll give you guys an update when I receive my 3D avatar. Now I just have to go find a couple of good pictures!
ViewSonic is the latest company to cave into 3D peer pressure with their new 3DV5 pocket camcorder. It features side-by-side 5MP sensors to capture 720P video or stills in full 3D, and using what I assume is a lenticular 2.4-inch LCD display (like what the 3DS will use) you can see your 3D content right on the camera without the need for 3D glasses. But for the full 3D effect the 3DV5 is compatible with NVIDIA’s Vision shutter glasses system for viewing on your PC, or you can pipe them through the 3D TV I’m sure very few of us have.
But if you’re completely lacking in any proper 3D shutter glasses technology, the 3DV5 also comes bundled with ArcSoft software that will convert your videos or stills to the old-timey 3D red/cyan glasses format of yesteryear, which is a more cost-effective solution. Surprisingly the 3DV5 is available now for just $180 which actually makes it cheaper than the 2-hour Flip UltraHD I wrote about earlier, though since it only comes with 10MB of built-in memory compared to the Flip’s 8GB, it’s kind of understandable. So you’ll also need to factor in the cost of an SD/SDHC memory card before you can ever really use it.
Using an old theatrical stage magic technique invented in the 1860′s by magician John Henry Pepper (Pepper’s Ghost) this Palm Top Theater accessory for your iPhone or iPod Touch lets you enjoy 3D content without the need for any kind of glasses. Well, kind of. You see it’s kind of a pseudo-3D effect that involves layering 3 different layers of video or animations using half-silvered mirrors at 45 degree angles. Without the accessory on your idevice the video being played back just looks like 3 separate animations stacked on top of each other. But when viewing it from the proper angle through the i3DG, the videos end up overlaid on each other, giving the illusion of depth.
The i3DG was invented by a media artist named Jitsuro Mase, and while you can’t actually buy one, if you happen to be in town for the Rotterdam Film Festival early next year you will have the chance to check it out in person.
There will probably be more details on this once Hasbro officially unveils it today, but starting next Spring the toy maker will be selling this $30 ‘unneccessory’ (unnecessary accessory) for the iPhone and iPod Touch that will let users enjoy 3D content while looking through it like a pair of binoculars. The idevice slides into the bottom of the viewer and I assume it uses a split-screen methodology with each side providing a slightly different view to produce the 3D effect, since I doubt this $30 contraption includes a polarizer.
The My3D was apparently developed with help from Apple and besides being able to enjoy 3D movie trailers and other video content, you better believe it will be the catalyst for an avalanche of 3D apps like games, storybooks and even travel guides. So in essence we’re looking at the 21st century version of the Viewmaster.
Oakley has joined the long list of companies that have announced a tie-in with the upcoming TRON: Legacy sequel with their “TRON” Limited Edition 3D Gascan eyewear. They sport some nifty TRON-inspired graphics on the frame, but here’s the real reason you might want to shun the 3D specs handed out at your local theater and opt for dropping $150 on these instead:
To engineer Oakley 3D eyewear, Oakley combined its industry-leading frame innovations with lens technologies that maximize the 3D experience by offering unprecedented levels of clarity and visual fidelity. “TRON” Limited Edition 3D Gascan features HDO-3D™, a collection of proprietary lens innovations that have achieved the first optically correct 3D eyewear on Earth. Oakley 3D lenses virtually eliminate the ghosting or “crosstalk” between images that reach each eye from one moment to the next, a potential problem with inferior 3D eyewear.
A second key difference between Oakley 3D eyewear and conventional designs is the lens curvature. Greater curvature around the eyes provides a wider field of view, but without highly precise optics, even a mild curve can cause visual distortion. Oakley technology maintains optical clarity so the wearer can enjoy a wide field of sharp vision. The curvature of Oakley 3D lenses has the added benefit of minimizing distracting glare.
The glasses will be available in November, well ahead of the film’s December 17 release date, giving you plenty of time to break them in beforehand.
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