Multi-Layer Display LCD TV to ship soon

Minority Report's holographic images made 3D cool again. Even more impressive was 6th Day's highly interactive virtual girlfriend who could unzip your pants. But until that day arrives, PureDepth's upcoming MLD a.k.a Multi-Layer Display technology collaboration with Samsung looks like a start. Rumored to launch soon, this joint effort will roll out a 46-inch MLD LCD display that consists of two or more layers of LCD panels sandwiched within a frame and sharing a common backlight. The result is an onscreen image that appears to have 3D-ish depth. Better yet, there's no need to don any annoying 3D goggles to view this.

We were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of this showcase at CES 2008, at January's Showstopper preview in Las Vegas, though the crowd milling around the booth was forming its own 3D mass that we had to hoe our way through.

At 46 inches, this claims to be the "world's largest" MLD LCD TV, which is enough to make us wonder what the sticker shock would be like. Still, anything that moves us out of the static 2D zone is much welcomed, and if successfully mainstream, may see more collaborations that will put MLD into mobile phones, GPS units and gaming solutions. Now all that's needed is for Microsoft to hop in with its interactive Surface, and we're halfway home to that hubba-hubba interactive 3D babe/hunk.

Via New Launches | Photo credit: PureDepth

New iPhone firmware features Chinese handwriting recognition

A day really doesn't go by these days without news of the iPhone. The latest piece of news, coming from a Chinese blog site wretch.cc, shows screenshots of a Chinese handwriting recognition function in the iPhone. According to the site, this function is included in the new iPhone 2.0 beta firmware and this has also been verified by another site MacRumors.

Based on the Web site's description, the handwriting recognition allows users to draw characters on the screen with their fingers. Suggestions for the character will appear on the right of the panel where users can then pick the right one.

With so many rumors and claims that the iPhone (or possibly the much-awaited 3G iPhone) is set to officially debut in Asia this year, this latest news certainly reinforces market speculation that Apple will soon bring its elusive handset to our part of the world.

Via MacRumors and wretch.cc

Possible mid-September release for Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1

Let the XPERIA hysteria begin. Thanks to loose-lipped mobile content provider Handango, we may now know the general launch date of the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1. According to a newsletter Handango sent out to its partners, the highly anticipated Windows Mobile smart phone will launch in "mid-September 2008" with the Handango InHand service onboard. Earlier, rumors had put it at delayed till 2009.

The company also noted that if partners want their software to be considered for the catalog, it must support "International English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish", so presumably, the smartphone will be available in appropriate markets. Now, we're not taking this as definitive word, but at least it's a little more encouraging than Sony Ericsson's more generic "second half of the year" response.

Via Crave CNET | Source: Engadget Mobile

Quick Tip: Closing pop-ups the safe way

Confronting a pop-up is one of those times when your gut reaction might lead you down the path of frustration and tears. If the "X" is spring-loaded with malware, anywhere you click on the pop-up could trigger that virus.

This is the path less traveled--the majority of pop-ups truly are the ads they appear to be--but when a pop-up does deliver malware, undoing the damage could be a tense, jittery journey. We get enough panicky Spyware Horror Story submissions to know that so-called button flips and booby-trapped Close buttons continue to deliver malicious payloads.

So what is the best practice for closing a pop-up? CNET Executive Editor Tom Merritt demonstrates in this Quick Tip video.

This spoon is smarter than us in the kitchen

It's not often that we have one of those why-didn't-I-think-of-that moments at Crave, but this is definitely an exception. That's probably why we just write about inventions instead of create them and retire.

The idea behind the aptly named Spoon Scale is as useful as it is disarmingly simple: Just scoop what you think you need and let the integrated digital meter do the fine-tuning. Showing immediate results on its built-in LCD, this battery-powered scooper is purportedly accurate to down to the last 1⁄10 gram", according to OhGizmo--and, thankfully, can be programmed to measure in ounces for the metric-challenged among us.

This intelligent scooper even has an option to weigh ingredients added to the original measurement, making it ideal for the most difficult culinary feats that leave no margin for error. Which, for the record, is something we'll never know anything about.

Via Crave CNET

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