3d

SAN FRANCISCO--Google wants its Native Client technology to be a little more native.

Google Native Client, still highly experimental, lets browsers run program modules natively on an x86 processor for higher performance than with Web programming technologies such as JavaScript or Flash that involve more software layers to process and execute the code. But to use it, there's a significant barrier: people must install a browser plug-in.

However, Google wants to make the technology more broadly accessible in browsers through new technology coming to HTML, the standard used to build Web pages, and at the Google I/O developer conference … Read more

The two main issues I had with the Nvidia 3D Vision Kit, a pair of 3D glasses that give games the illusion of depth, was its steep $200 price and its adverse effect on the playability of games. LG Display plans to address at least one of those problems with its upcoming 3D display.

On Wednesday, LG announced that it had taken the technology that would normally be embedded in a pair of 3D glasses and installed it in a Full HD 23-inch 3D LCD panel. That's the Cliff Notes version of what the company did. It would take a scientist to explain how exactly they did this, and I'm still waiting to be certified. And for LG to explain it to me.

With conventional 3D LCDs, like the Samsung SyncMaster 2233RZ, when wearing the 3D glasses, each eye sees the same image from a different perspective.

The 3D glasses shut off one lens and then alternate shutting off lenses consistently, very quickly. It's like holding your finger between your eyes and alternately blinking each eye. This gives the illusion that you are seeing a third image that's an amalgamation of each eye's individual image.

With the new LG display, "3D" glasses will still be required, but according to the company, the glasses won't be as expensive as the $200 Nvidia 3D Vision Kit, since much of the technology required is in the panel, instead of the glasses. It's expected that this setup will deliver a similar 3D effect.… Read more

Real-Draw Pro will look familiar to people who have used similar programs in the past. With suitable tools for creating digital drawings, Real-Draw Pro attempts to set itself apart from the pack with a few added options, but may be over the heads of novices.

This download looks more complex than Paintbrush, but less confusing than more professional programs like CorelDRAW. People familiar with either of those programs will instantly feel at home with Real-Draw, thanks to its traditional interface. The center of the screen is dominated by the drawing space, while the left side holds all the drawing tools, … Read more

Snake Galaxy puts a new spin on classic "snake" games--a game-type that's been around almost as long as personal computers, and which has become near-ubiquitous on mobile devices. The core gameplay is what you'd expect: you control a snake that grows as it eats, and the snake dies when it finally runs into its own tail. But the Snake Galaxy interface adds some fun and innovative twists: instead of a 2D game board, you travel around spherical, 3D "planets," and the snake travels towards wherever you touch your finger--which will probably have you switching … Read more

The Blu-ray Disc Association has started looking to officially integrate 3D technology with the Blu-ray standard, according to a report by Video Business. While Blu-ray already trumps standard DVD in image quality, many consumers don't feel the improvement is large enough to justify the extra cost; 3D would presumably be another reason to ditch DVDs for Blu-ray Discs.

3D isn't completely new to Blu-ray, with recent titles like "My Bloody Valentine 3D" packing in the old-style red and blue glasses in the box. However, the 3D effects obtained with the older red/blue (anaglyph) glasses pale … Read more

Forget analog gauges; the instrument cluster of the future will be a 3D dynamic display configurable by the user. Computer graphics company Nvidia is has developed a chip designed specifically for the automotive market. This chip holds system software and graphics processing capabilities to show 3D instruments on an LCD. Partner Iconmobile, which did earlier work on Audi's A1 concept car, designed an interface for the chip that combines car information with navigation and entertainment. The Iconmobile interface serves as a demonstration and is not slated for a production car.

With the Fusion Hybrid, Ford is showing off the … Read more

Star of The Gagdet 411's "The Money Shot" Web show, Liz Money, joins us in the studio today to talk about the gadgets she's currently obsessed with. Liz is in town from New Orleans (see Nawlins) and was nice enough to stop by the 404 studio for some good, clean fun.

That wholesome fun ends when we get into a story about a recent Trojan outbreak in the office that, while seemingly benign, spread like wildfire. Liz helps gets the message across: it's always best to use antivirus protection.

Next it's on to Ron Howard's new film "Angels & Demons". We chat about how the book will probably still be better than the movie, but that it's pretty much guaranteed to be better than "The DaVinci Code."

Finally, we quickly touch on the fate of Duke Nukem Forever, a game stuck in the development process for just over an entire decade. Then we get Jeff's quick take on SlingPlayer Mobile for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

With a new 40-nanometer manufacturing process behind it, AMD announced the ATI Radeon HD 4770 3D graphics chip this morning. Available now on 3D cards starting at $109 (before a $10 online rebate), the Radeon HD 4770 is the first 3D chip built on the 40-nanometer process, which allows for faster, more power-efficient hardware than AMD's previous 55nm chips.

The various enthusiast review sites found the 512MB Radeon HD 4770 fast enough to play most current games at lower resolutions and image quality settings. Think 1,680 x 1,050 or lower and with little-to-no anti-aliasing. The Radeon HD … Read more

Even at the cutting edge of cloud computing, Web-based applications can be frustrating to write and to use.

Spreadsheets can't sort data well, there are lags between mouse clicks and the program's response, graphics look Mickey Mouse rather than lavish. But Google, among the most aggressive cloud computing advocates, is trying to address some of those shortcomings.

The company has released experimental but still very much real software that brings in some of the power of the PC, where people often use Web applications. Google Native Client--first released in 2008 but updated with a new version Thursday--is a browser plug-in for securely running computationally intense software downloaded from a Web site. And on Tuesday, Google released O3D, a plug-in that lets Web-based applications tap into a computer's graphics chip, too.

The projects are rough around the edges, to say the least. Native Client--NaCl for short--is more security research project than usable programming foundation right now, and O3D exists in part to try to accelerate the arrival of some future, not necessarily compatible, standard for building 3D abilities into Web applications.

But both fundamentally challenge the idea that Web apps necessarily are stripped-down, feeble counterparts to the software that runs natively on a personal computer, and they come from a company that has engineering skill, a yen for moving activity to the Internet, and search-ad profits that can fund projects that don't immediately or directly make money.

"There are things you can do in desktop apps that you can't do in Web apps. We're working very hard to close that gap, so anything you can do in a desktop application you can do safely and securely from a Web application," said Linus Upson, a Google engineering director. … Read more