LG’s 3D Conversion Engine Will Turn Your 2D Games into 3D

LG’s Optimus 3D is a nice enough phone, but just about every reviewer who’s had hands on time with it — including myself — has lamented the fact that the beyond taking 3D photos, the 3D display wasn’t good for much due to a critical lack of applications. LG’s addressing that shortcoming and is due to announce a 2D to 3D conversion engine for Android games.

Akihabara News details the official release prior to the IFA show. The official release of the 3D conversion engine will occur with the first maintenance release for the Optimus 3D, which means we’ll be stuck waiting for Optus, the official exclusive carrier for the phone to set it loose down under. It’s a post-conversion process, but it seems to rely on some kind of checklist for games; while developers apparently won’t have to do anything to turn their 2D games three dimensional, the 3D conversion engine will check against a list of known working games before turning on the special effects.

3D gaming is still something of a niche in the wider market — just look at Nintendo’s rather rapid 3DS price cut — and I’ve got to admit that I can’t view 3D games (or content) for all that long without getting queasy. What do you think? Would the prospect of 3D as easy as flicking a toggle switch entice you to the Optimus 3D?

The green credentials of the common refrigerator

Another set of refrigerator energy-efficiency standards, set to take effect in 2014, will shave another 25 percent off typical power consumption.

That is according to an analysis being cited by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). What’s even more impressive, mind you, is the fact that there already has been an impressive string of energy-efficiency improvements over the past three decades. A new refrigerator in 2014 will use about one-fifth the electricity as one that came out in the mid-1970s. At the same time, the typical capacity has increased by about 20 percent, according to data published by theAppliance Standards Awareness Project.

Noted David Goldstein, energy program co-director at the NRDC:

“These new standards are the coolest yet, because they show that innovation can keep driving improvements even after decades of progress. New fridges do an even better job of keeping our food fresh and providing consumer amenity, yet they use only one-fifth the electricity they used to – and that means less pollution from power plants.”

The new 2014 standards will translate into an electricity savings of $215 to $270 per year, according to the Appliance Standards Awareness Project. Over a period of the next 30 years, that sort of savings would be enough energy to handle the electricity needs of one-fifth of all U.S. households, according to the DOE. The potential savings in carbon dioxide emissions would be 344 million metric tons over 30 years, or the equivalent emissions of 67 million cars.

President Ronald Reagan signed the original federal refrigerator energy-efficiency laws into law in 1986.

Samsung announces LTE Galaxy Tab 8.9, LTE Galaxy S II

Is Samsung serious about LTE? It sure seems so, judging by its announcement of the LTE-ready Galaxy Tab 8.9 and Galaxy Tab S II LTE. The pair were announced ahead of their official reveal at IFA this week, and bring with them a handful of changes from their non-LTE counterparts. In particular, both devices are getting the bump up to 1.5 GHZ chips. The upgraded Galaxy S II is also geting the improved 4.5-inch Super AMOLED Plus display.

There is no word on price or availability, but there’s speculation that Verizon will get the LTE-enabled Galaxy S II rather than the regular S II that the other three major carriers are getting. Considering that Verizon passed on the non-LTE version, the move would certainly make sense.

Panasonic’s Lumix ‘X’ Lenses: More Expensive With Less Features

Panasonic has launched a pair of new non-Leica-designed lenses for its Micro Four
Thirds range of cameras. The emphasis is on making these new lenses small and light,
and to this end Panasonic has removed somewhat essential features.

Speaking to the British Journal of Photography, Panasonic’s UK Lumix boss Barney
Sykes said that “Leica has very strict standards when making lenses. This would not
have conformed to Leica’s standard.”

The two lenses are power-zoom models (you zoom in and out by pressing two buttons
instead of twisting a dial), like you’d find on compact cameras. Also replaced by buttons
is the manual focus ring. There’s a 14-42mm ƒ3.5-5.6 and a 25-175 ƒ4-5.6 model.
The 14-42 in particular is tiny when the zooming center is retracted — barely larger
than the tiny 20mm pancake.

The lenses are the firs tin Panasonic’s new “X” line, which denotes high-end optics,
and are supposedly of better quality than the current lenses.

Sykes says that the lenses use “digital technology to get the same quality” as the lenses
designed in collaboration with Leica. This, presumably, means that there’s a lot of correction
going on in-camera. We’ll be able to test this when we get our hands on one by comparing
the in-camera JPG files with the RAW files processed in Lightroom. If the camera is making
corrections, then the unprocessed RAW file should show the naked image.

The 45-175 will cost $450 and be available in September. The 14-45mm will cost $400 in November.

Apple working on a TV set for 2012?

The latest Apple TV rumor may seem like a rerun, but this one has been updated.

Is Apple working on a TV set based on iOS?

The newest iteration of the longstanding rumor is that Apple will get in to the business of selling TVs by building a digital TV based on iOS. That's according to multiple Silicon Valley sources cited by Venture Beat. Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster told Venture Beat that he predicted Apple would produce a TV set by the end of 2012 or early 2013.

Munster, who has long been trumpeting the possibility of an Apple-made TV set, first floated the notion in 2009 that Apple would take a bite out of the TV market in 2011 by introducing its first television. Munster wrote in June that Apple's recently announced iCloud infrastructure makes it all the more plausible.

The rumor mill gathered steam again earlier this week when the concept garnered a brief note in a Wall Street Journal report on the challenges faced by Tim Cook, the man named to replace Steve Jobs as Apple's CEO:

 An immediate challenge for Mr. Cook will be to advance Apple's plans in what is expected to be a key market for growth: digital video. Apple is working on new technology to deliver video to televisions, and has been discussing whether to try to launch a subscription TV service, according to people familiar with the matter.

An Apple job listing in February added fuel to the fire by advertising for someone to work on "new power management designs and technologies" for use on various Apple products, including a "TV."

One of the critical aspects is the idea of Apple offering a subscription service for content. The device would presumably replace and offer more content that the $99 Apple TV set-top box, which already offers access to several third-party apps, such as NBA, MLB, and Netflix.

Recent reports have also claimed that Apple was on the verge of unveiling such a subscription service for video content. However, competitors like Amazon have already beaten Apple to the punch with their own streaming services, though they offer a smaller catalog of content than what Apple could potentially provide.

Apple rival Google entered the TV space late last year with combination of set-top boxes and TV sets that include its Google TV software. Google's strategy has been to blend in with TV content provided through a cable operator and let users execute Web searches while watching programming.

Source : cnet