Imax

New IMAX screen arrives in amazing behind-the-screens photos

The biggest silver screen in England has a new screen. The British Film Institute in London has given CNET UK a revealing glimpse behind the scenes as about 1,763 pounds of perforated vinyl measuring 85 feet wide and 65 feet high replaces the old screen, bringing "The Amazing Spider-Man" swinging into action this week.

Read more about the new screen's arrival, and check out more fascinating photos, over at CNET UK. … Read more

DirecTV 3D channel launching Sunday

They've been talking about it for long enough. On Sunday evening, Sony's 3D TV channel is finally going live.

3net will be available to DirecTV subscribers starting Sunday at 5 p.m. Pacific.

The emphasis at the start will be on original content, airing two shows right off the bat called "China Revealed" and "Forgotten Planet." 3net also promises "an unprecedented" stream of original 3D series, with a new one debuting every night.

The satellite provider is the first distribution deal for the 24/7 3D channel that is a partnership between … Read more

Hasbro bringing 3D to the iPhone

Those who once peered into their trusty View-Masters for 3D slideshows will soon get the chance to do the same with their iPhones.

Hasbro is set to pull the curtains on a new gadget today dubbed My3D and designed to bring 3D viewing to the iPhone and iPod Touch, according to the Associated Press. Resembling a classic View-Master from Fisher-Price, the My3D from rival toymaker Hasbro will hook onto Apple devices, promising 3D games, entertainment, and virtual travelogues.

Hasbro is targeting the $30 My3D for adults as well as kids and is working directly with Apple to develop the gadget, … Read more

Studio executives discuss potential of 3D

"Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?" --Harry M. Warner, Warner Bros., 1927

NEW YORK--That famously off-the-mark wisecrack, made when the Warner Bros. co-founder was confronted by the advent of talking pictures, was given an airing Friday at the 3D Experience Executive Forum here. Likened to current naysaying about 3D movies and TV, the quote was referenced by David Naranjo, director of product development for Mitsubishi Digital Electronics, along with several other ill-fated predictions in entertainment--as if to say: They'll eat those words!

Resisting 3D may be futile, but we still don't know to what … Read more

Inside NASA's high-stakes Hubble repair mission

AUSTIN, Texas--Deep, deep in the reaches of outerspace, there is a star factory. Astronomers have theorized about its appearance, though they've never had a realistic view of it.

Until now.

Last year, the space shuttle Atlantis launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida en route to a very special mission: NASA'S last-ditch attempt to repair the Hubble Space Telescope before it was too late to salvage humankind's greatest tool for peering at the mysteries in the farthest parts of the sky.

In the new film, "IMAX: Hubble 3D," viewers are treated to the riches … Read more

Solar spacecraft to record sun at Imax resolution

This is the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly. Together with the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager and the Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment, it will capture the sun at Imax resolution every 10 seconds. The instruments will travel together inside NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft.

After its expected February 9 launch on top of an Atlas V rocket, the SDO will capture images at almost four times the resolution of an HD TV, transmitting the results back to Earth at 130 megabits per second. Basically, this thing will be transmitting the equivalent of 500,000 MP3s per day, seven days a week. According to Dean Pesnell at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., the potential for new discoveries is giganormous.

"We'll be getting Imax-quality images every 10 seconds. We'll see every nuance of solar activity," Pesnell said.

Pesnell said that this speed opens an incredible potential for discovery, using 18th century photographer Eadweard Muybridge as an example:

But when Muybridge photographed horses using a new high-speed camera system, he discovered something surprising. Galloping horses spend part of the race completely airborne--all four feet are off the ground.

To achieve all this, the three instruments in the SDO have been designed to cover three vital aspects of our home star.… Read more

First dedicated 3D networks coming to TV

A new television network featuring 24-7 three-dimensional content will be coming to your home in 2011. The venture is backed by Discovery Communications, owners of the Discovery Channel and its family of networks, Sony, and Imax.

According to the companies, all three firms will hold equal share in the joint venture. The goal, the companies wrote in a joint release, is to drive "consumer adoption of 3D televisions" and become a "long term" leader in the 3D home marketplace. When it launches, the network will be available only in the United States, but the companies did … Read more

The 404 Podcast 491: Where we're all cast in new roles for 2010

We're back! Jeff and Wilson are joined in the studio today with "Kenri," and Justin chimes in from San Francisco via phone. It's back to our usual shenanigans again, and we recount our holiday break. Plus, we have an apology to make to James Cameron.

Jeff tells us about his near-death experience on the ski slopes. Listen to how a patch of ice almost did away with our favorite CNET emcee. Wilson recounts his Christmas vacation to visit his dear ole Ma. Finally, Justin tells us about how he's currently sunbathing in California, while we all freeze to death here in NYC.

With the exception of "Kenri," we all caught James Cameron's "Avatar," and boy was it mind-blowing! The film is just incredible to watch, and we're pleasantly surprised to see it bring in more than $1 billion at the box office worldwide. Wilson is not sure though that the movie is any good in 2D. The clips and trailers still look silly, so we're still recommending people catch it in IMAX 3D or Real3D. (Editors' note: please catch "Up in the Air." Two words: Vera Farmiga.)

Tomorrow is the first day of CNET's annual International CES coverage. There won't be a show tomorrow because we'll be en route to Las Vegas. We'll be hosting a live show Wednesday at 5 p.m., Thursday at 4 p.m., and Friday at 4 p.m. PST. We have some surprises up our sleeves, but honestly, we're just trying not to kill ourselves while partying it up in Vegas. If you're there, come by the CNET booth in the North Hall at the Convention Center.

EPISODE 491 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

KOR-fx, like music to my...chest

Although Rock Band comes pretty close to the "real thing," there's something missing: the vibrations that hit your heart when playing a real drum set.

Immerz, which until recently was a one-man company, created a device that lets you feel real-life sensations of a game, movie, or music. KOR-fx is made up of two plastic devices that lay on your chest and synchronize vibrations with received audio signals.

President and physicist Shahriar S. Afshar, calls it acousto-haptic technology, something he turned to after three years participating in privately funded research. The result of Afshar's experiment contradicted … Read more