Mighty Gadget Blog: The latest technology news & reviews in the UK

3D is now obviously what every major tech gadget producer is aiming at with everything now coming in 3D. As a user I’m still not totally convinced but I’ve only watched the odd football match in 3D and not got my eyes on a decent 3D movie or game yet. LG recently launched the LG R590 3D laptop in Korea and it’s expected to hit our shores soon.

Powered with Intel’s Core i7 processor and 1GB of NVIDIA graphics goodness this 15.6” laptop ops for the polarising 3D effect and comes bundled with a fetching pair of the cheaper polarised frames. The 3D effect comes from the TriDef software we saw on Lenovo’s recently released IdeaPad Y560d 3D laptop, it converts the 2D images on the go into a 3D image, that when fired through a polarised screen into your Joe 90s the image “comes to life”. The laptop is also capable of HD quality sound and has the option for a Blu-Ray drive.

We have no details on the exact date of release or price but LG have also gone on to say they’re planning a plethora of 3D gadgets, including monitors for PC gaming and even 200” projectors with 3D capabilities.

It wasn’t long ago that Chinese Computer firm Lenovo announced its IdeaPad Y560d, it’s first 3D laptop. Well it’s on sale in the States now. 3D technology is a bit of a blur to me sometimes with active, passive technology etc and now it appears there’s another way that this laptop achieves it. Read on for more.

To start with the basic specs which compared to most laptops aren’t that “basic”. Windows 7 Home Premium, powered with that fantastic Core i7-720QM processor and 4GB of RAM should be able to keep the laptop running smoothly, surely running any 3D content types on it’s 15.6” Full HD will be more strain than your average images. It also packs a 500GB HDD.

Now the 3D bit. It uses what’s known as TriDef 3D. A mixture of polarised glasses like your normal 3D stuff. A layer of special coating on the screen and then a 3D software generator that renders standard content into a 3D affair. This means rather than it being true 3D the combination of the three give it what Lenovo say a “life-like 3D experience.” So basically your standard 2D photo snaps could be made to look 3D by the laptop. Sadly 3D inputs, such as 3D Blu-Ray will not be compatible, but the software will give a good go at your movies to make them look 3D too. How good this looks I don’t know.

Available in the States now at $1499 or £990 in English monies, we don’t have an official UK date or price yet.

Last Friday saw the release of Sony’s first 3DTV the Bravia HX803. We spoke about it a few months back as one to watch, well now its here, ready for the World Cup and has been backed by an advert campaign shown during the World Cup matches ( if you haven’t seen it click here)

For a quick re-cap, HX803 is available in two screen sizes, 40” and 46” and packs Full 1080p HD with LED backlighting for great contrast ratios. They also include Sony’s Motionflow 200Hz Pro technology for super smooth images, Freeview HD, Bravia Internet Video and DLNA support for streaming. They also come packed with plenty of HDMI sockets too, 4 in all. The screen itself uses active shutter technology to give you better quality 3D images with special(expensive) LCD shutter glasses.

So although content to watch isn’t so readily available, Sony is adding some options for you to get your hands on some 3D viewing. The BDV-E370 is a 3D  Blu-Ray player which comes bundled with “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" Also the PS3 has recently updated to allow 3D games playback and when the NEX-3 and 5 cameras we spoke about last month come out they have the ability to take a high resolution panoramic shot that when shown on a 3D TV such as this, the image will appear in 3D.

Available now the screens start at a whopping £1799.

If you’re looking at some future-proofing tech for the 3D revolution, but don’t fancy forking out a fortune for a new TV maybe a projector is what you should be looking at. Normally only a select breed go down the projector path but this one shows that you can have the ability to access 3D technology of the future without destroying your bank balance.

Obviously you’ll need a large enough, “spare” wall to view the images, but the ViewSonic PJD6531w(catchy!!) projector can show images at 720p(ok it’s not 1080p but read on). It has a 3000 Lumens lamp for super bright images and has a fantastic 120Hz refresh rate. Couple that with a HDMI socket it’s capable of everything you throw at it, even 3D. This will be obtained via a firmware update sometime in the future, in time for the roll-out of Sky 3D and 3D Blu-Ray.

Out This month the ViewSonic PJD6531w will only cost a measly £649.99

Originally the LG LD950 3DTV was scheduled to be released in August but now it has been brought forward allowing consumers to get a chance to snap up some 3D tech at a cheaper price(due to it being a passive 3DTV). For anyone who didn’t know this TV was originally scheduled for release, then withdrawn from LGs product line only to re-emerge again.

With the recent Sky 3D pub showings of the football recently on LGs LD920(the commercial model for LG to show off its tech) has now been upgraded to the LD950 model number as it will now have HDMI 1.4. This was needed due to the fact future 3D sources like Blu-Ray players will use this new HDMI 1.4 as its standard so the TVs needed an update so they could then be on open sale(hence the delay/re-branding).

Now this new model should be available in May time and will come out alongside the monstrous LG LX9900(the first 3DTV available with Active technology). Now for those not in the know its all to do with the type of glasses you wear and the science involved to view the image, Active being better than Passive for the image quality but Passive specs are a lot cheaper to produce. Price details are still not available.

The 3D revolution is now in full swing with companies such as Sony future-proofing and readying its new AV tech ready for our 3D future. We’ve seen the up-coming Bravia TV’s that Sony are coming our way, well now we have some Blu-Ray players to match them.

The BDP-S470 and BDP-S570 will both be 3D compatible the first requiring a future software update and the latter will be compatible straight out the box. Both will achieve this with Active Shutter 3D technology delivering full 1080P HD quality 3D images to your peepers.

Also designed much like its new line of Bravia TVs, these black beauties will be internet enabled. The S470, the obvious entry-level one, will connect via ethernet or can go Wi-Fi with the help of a Sony wireless dongle. The S-570 will do this all by itself. Once connected they can hook up to the Bravia Internet Video service we’ve spoke of before, allowing catch-up TV playback like BBC iPlayer, YouTube  or stream from LoveFilm’s new service. Both can play media from USB but S-570 is DLNA compatible for home network streaming.

Both are arriving sometime this month the BDP-S470 is currently on the US Sony store for $199.99 and the S570 for $249.99.

Taiwanese giants Asus have recently announced this monstrous new 27” monitor with 3D support. Asus seem to be embracing the new future of 3D tech already with a 3D supported laptop out on the market and it seems to continue here with this super monitor.

Design wise it’s not the best looking monitor in the world but Asus can please aesthetically if they want. Quality is the name of the game here though, 27” screen with NVIDIA 3D vision support, will also be available in a smaller 23”(MG236 and VG236H) and 23.6”(PG246)(but why would you want that when you can get 27?). It has dual link DVI allows for full 1080p HD quality images at a staggering 60fps so when you slap on your 3D specs, the image is smooth and jerk free.

Due out later in the year, we don’t have any price available as of yet so keep your eye out for that. It is believed however that the smaller model will be available before the gargantuan one.

MSI seem to be going full steam ahead bringing out top spec PC’s and laptops recently and they don’t seem like stopping. Next month is the CeBit expo in Germany and it is expected that MSI will be showing off a few numbers but one in particular catching the eye is its All-in-One system.

Although specs are a bit vague at the moment MSI  have said "The combination of a 24” 120Hz 1080p LED panel and 3D shutter glasses brings the kind of 3D video experience into your home that you would normally only expect from a modern 3D movie theater." We are expecting the latest Intel Core i3/5/7 processors, ATi GPUs and the screen will display at 120Hz adopting the Active Shutter 3D system. This means when its firing 3D, each eye will see the image at 60Hz each, allowing a much clearer smoother 3D image. More info expected at CeBit.

We saw t’other day the mid/top-range gaming laptop MSI offered the GE600. At CeBit we’re expecting to see the GT660. Again we’ll be looking at Intel Quad-Core processing, GeForce GTX285 GPU and the possiblity of up to 12GB RAM and brand new USB 3.0 ports aplenty.