Makers collaborate on 3-D, touch-screen products
by Jonathan Takiff, Philadelphia Daily News Daily News ColumnistTHE GIZMOS: Touch-screen PCs and 3-D TVs.
COOL COPY CATS: While competition is king in the consumer electronics industry, cooperation is also part of the game. Rivals often work jointly to establish standards for new technology. And, quite often , a significant slew of companies "spontaneously" jump on a bandwagon in sync.
A couple of hot buttons:
THE IN-YOUR-FACE TREND: The 2009 Japanese Electronics Show CEATEC, held earlier this month outside Tokyo, went down as "the 3-D Show." Quite likely, the same will be said about the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, with even more 3-D news likely to drop there. Five major CE companies – Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Sharp, Sony and Toshiba – previewed 3-D TVs (only Mitsubishi now sells them, along with Korea`s Samsung) that require special LCD shutter glasses to enjoy depth-defying visuals from 3-D encoded movies (spinning on next-generation Blu-ray players), video games (initially from PCs) and sports events (on pending, 3-D cable and satellite TV channels). Panasonic showed a prototype 50-inch plasma model that will be priced in the "middle" of its line, come fall 2010. The company also introduced 3-D shutter glasses that sit lower on the nose if you wear specs. The company aims to make 3-D screens that don`t require glasses at all.Sony demonstrated LCD-based 3-D Bravia screens likewise coming next fall. The brand also showed a professional video camera that miraculously captures stereoscopic images with a single lens. Consumer 3-D camcorders can`t be far behind.
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