Multiple visions for future of 3D

Based on crowds at IFA, consumer electronics may yet be what saves the world economy, writes DEREK SCALLYin Berlin

FOR THE third consecutive year, the riddle that is 3D television teased visitors to Berlin’s IFA, the world’s largest consumer electronics show that celebrated its 50th edition this week.

After selling us DVDs, then widescreen, then HD, will Sony and its rivals soon have us watching Anne Doyle bringing us the evening news in three dimensions?

There were no concrete answers in Berlin from the manufacturers, while the real action was among several pretenders to the iPad tablet crown who threw down the gauntlet to Apple – opening a battle over tablet computing that is likely to be decided in the coming year.

With 1,423 exhibitors from 74 countries, up a fifth on last year, the IFA is an important barometer of the economic situation. Judging by record crowds passing through the city fairground at the Funkturm radio tower – a mini-Eiffel tower if you squint your eyes – consumer electronics may yet be what rescues the world economy.

German chancellor Angela Merkel used her opening speech to say as much, praising electronics companies for making long-term investment needed to develop new technologies.

“The finance markets are important but they cannot alone be the driver of economic development,” she said. “The real economy has to stand up for itself more and represent their interests more effectively. You can’t develop certain things if you can’t hold your breath for a long time.”

Visitors are getting used to 3D television with nearly every major manufacturer now on board, using their collective force of will to insist that the technology will be anything but flat with customers.

IFA visitors still puzzled over 3D TV’s two Achilles heels: glasses that cause headaches in many users after a few minutes’ use and a distinct lack of three dimensional content.

Toshiba, one of the last 3D laggards, finally jumped on board this year with HD-3D televisions boasting screens up to 55 inches, a 200 Hz refresh rate and active shutter 3D glasses.

Not everyone is convinced though. German high-end manufacturer Loewe is playing 3D wait-and-see. “It’s certainly very fascinating to see 3D on a TV screen,” said company spokesman Dr Roland Raithel, “but we think that it won’t be done with the necessary glasses.”

Price is still a major issue: Germans spend on average €680 on a flatscreen television while the new 3D televisions are three times more expensive. Then there is the glaring problem of 3D content – or lack thereof.

Acknowledging that there are only so many times you can watch Avatar, television companies are hurrying to provide a solution. The first to do so may be Sky Germany, the newly launched local version of the Murdoch pay-TV subsidiary, promising a fully-3D channel by the end of the year. The big question of this year’s IFA is whether 3D might be overtaken by new hybrid television/internet services that are approaching fast.

Like many rivals, Toshiba’s new televisions are all Wi-Fi connected to allow viewers to tap into YouTube and – a new development – the new BBC iPlayer.

The buzz acronym of the IFA was the new European television standard HbbTV allowing visitors to access additional, exclusive internet content complementary to the television programme they are watching.

Television executives around the world hope the new technology will prop up their advertising budgets and stave off the haemorrhaging of younger audiences to the web.

The big surprise came from Sony, with its low-key demo of its new web TV service – a collaboration with Google – that will allow you to use your television to access your own, locally stored video content as well as YouTube, Picasa and non-Google services like Twitter and Wikipedia.

The service launches later this year in the US and may yet give Sony a much-needed win over Steve Jobs and his retooled, relaunched Apple TV.

Sony boss Howard Stringer was in Berlin to present the cloud-based, disastrously named Qriocity (pronounced “curiosity”) online music and video store running through the Sony products such as Bravia televisions and the PlayStation console.

Speaking of PlayStation, Stringer promised 3D gaming capabilities by the end of October. Visitors to Berlin were dazzled with demonstrations of 3D golf and football games.

With interest in 3D television still in the stars and Google TV several months away, the must-have gadget of the 2010 IFA were one of the many wannabe iPad beaters.

Samsung got in early with the Galaxy tablet device, the one tech experts say is most likely to give the iPad a serious run for its money. With a 17.8cm (7-inch) touchscreen and weighing 380g, the Galaxy Pad is slightly smaller and half the weight of the iPad, and runs on Google’s Android 2.2 operating system.

Much slimmer than the Apple device, it covers glaring iPad omissions, with upgradeable micro-SD memory, cameras front and back and a phone feature.

“It’s a tablet Wunderkind,” remarked one early German tester. Samsung hopes to launch the device first in Europe in mid-September, with the US and elsewhere following.

“Samsung recognises the tremendous growth potential in this newly created market and we believe that the Samsung Galaxy Tab brings a unique and open proposition to market,” said JK Shin, head of Samsung mobile communications unit.

He was tight-lipped, however, on pricing, in particular whether Samsung planned to undercut Apple’s €499 iPad. More forthcoming on price was Toshiba: at €399 its Folio 100 tablet also runs Android and, at 10.1 inches, is slightly larger than the iPad. Expect to see it in shops before Christmas. Samsung’s South Korean rival LG hopes to be in the market by then, too.

Other players entering the increasingly crowded tablet market included Dell’s 5-inch offering, the Streak, running on Android and offering fast response times in a smaller device.

Archos has bet the farm on tablet computing, presenting no fewer than five models with displays ranging in size from 2.8 inches to 10.1 inches. Uniquely for devices running Android 2.2, the Archos machines allow the attachment of external USB devices, something the company hopes will set it apart.

A final intriguing tablet was the Viewpad 100 with a 10-inch screen and no fewer than two operating systems: Android for power-saving surfing and Windows 7 for real work.

Can these me-too efforts seriously damage Apple, with a year’s headstart with the iPad? The geek jury is still out.

“The biggest tablet market is leisure,” Jörg Wirtgen of German tech magazine c’t told AFP. “The iPad is becoming the main computer, the first to be switched on in the morning and the last to be looked at each night, but you can’t do everything on it and will still need a notebook.”

The attention on mobile computing and tablets this year put the humble mobile phone in the shade in Berlin. As many stands demonstrated, the next breakthrough in mobile phones is still some time off.

Several providers showed off their new LTE standard, the successor to UMTS (3G) which should allow easier transmission of movie and television content to mobile devices. Don’t expect a rush anytime soon: while Vodafone unveiled customer data plans, manufacturers have yet to unveil compatible hardware.

Proving there was no getting away from 3D, Sony showed off a new 16-inch laptop that, with the touch of a button, allows you to enter the third dimension. Sadly, there’s still no escaping the glasses.

That said, researchers from Berlin’s Heinrich Herz Institute claim to have found a way to deliver 3D without glasses: a set-top camera that tracks a viewers’ eyes and aligns 3D images accordingly. At present it can only work with one pair of eyes at a time, so no there’s no chance of glasses-free 3D family fun for some time to come.

“We’re talking about five to 10 years,” predicts Thomas Ebner, the man researching the technology at Berlin’s Heinrich Hertz Institute. Someone can tell Anne Doyle to rest easy: it sounds like she won’t be entering the third dimension any time soon.