Mark your calendars, “Star Wars” fans. Disney has announced opening dates for the new Star Tours attraction. Star Tours: The Adventures Continue will open May 20, 2011, at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida, and June 3, 2011, at Disneyland in Anaheim.

In production since 2005, the Star Tours revamp will feature high-definition video in 3D, updated flight simulator technology and new special effects. Guests will board a Starspeeder 1000 for a tour of several planets in the “Star Wars” galaxy. Though Disney has remained mum on which planets will appear, a new trailer shows scenes on Bespin, Coruscant, and Alderaan. By combining the planets with other ride experiences, Star Tours: The Adventures Continue will offer 54 unique journeys.

Disney’s new Star Tours ride takes place between the two “Star Wars” trilogies, happening after Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith but before Star Wars: A New Hope.

Story by Karen Wyman, Yahoo! Contributor Network

See the original post here: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/7807068/disney_announces_opening_dates_for.html?cat=16

Santa Monica, Calif. – LG Electronics used Oscar weekend to send movie lovers the message that its Cinema 3D LCD TVs will give viewers a more cinema-like 3D experience in the home.

In the past two weeks, LG has taken that message to both the fashion industry and Hollywood as it prepares to deliver the first sets to retail shelves. Its passive-glasses single-lens 3D LCoS projector was used topresent fashion designer Marc Bouwer’s 2011 fall collection in New York two weeks ago, and then the manufacturer sponsored the Film Independent Spirit Awards after-party Saturday night.

Every year, Film Independent gives awards for independent films, with a wide range of budgets from paper thin to big enough for 3D production.

The bash drew a gaggle of movie stars, including Jason Ritter, Gerard Butler and Hillary Swank, who were joined by industry producers, writers and even a handful of CE retailers (guests of LG), all of whom had an opportunity to hear about LG’s forthcoming Cinema 3D passive-glasses 3DTVs.

Tim Alessi, LG home electronics product development director, attempted to give the chatty crowd a brief education on the benefits of passive-glasses technology, including the absence of image cross-talk that sometimes appears in active-shutter technologies, and greater comfort to the glasses wearer.

Although LG continues to offer 3DTVs with active-glasses technology in both high-end LCD TVs and plasma sets, its messaging at the FISA event was laser-focused on the passive-glasses technology. LG will be one of the biggest set makers to introduce the capability this year.
“It’s a better experience overall. More like you get in the cinema,” said James Fishler, LG go-to-market operations senior VP. “What’s great about Cinema 3D is that they are inexpensive glasses. You can use them from the theater and get a bunch of them for your friends to use. We will also be able to demonstrate Cinema 3D to a wider audience without having some of issues of active shutter glasses — like charging the batteries.”

LG is reserving active-shutter glasses for its top-performing models and plasma sets, where the picture quality is better optimized to the technology and purchasers are less troubled by the added expense of the glasses.

During the event, Wayne Park, LG Electronics U.S. president, told TWICE the company is expecting a “very tough year” ahead for the CE industry, and Cinema 3D presents a big opportunity for LG to better its competitors.

“We think we can take advantage of — at least in 3DTV — the leadership position for the whole industry,” Park said. “With our distinguishing 3D technology, we can bring a much more affordable and enjoyable experience to the consumer, so that our 3DTVs can leap ahead of the industry.”

Park said he believes passive-glasses technologies will ultimately win out over active-shutter systems due to the many benefits that resonate with consumers.

“We are working with most of the major retail partners that we have on the launch of Cinema 3D, and we will be taking advantage of our NCAA March Madness Promotion,” Park said.

By Greg Tarr — TWICE, 2/28/2011

See the original story here: http://www.twice.com/article/464536-LG_Brings_Cinema_3D_To_The_Stars.php

In Groningen, The Netherlands sits the University of Groningen’s Reality Touch Theatre which at 10 meters (33 feet) wide is called the biggest touchscreen interface in the world.

The university has converted its existing cylindrical 3D theatre into a touchscreen that can detect more than 100 touch interactions at any one time.

See the original post here: http://www.zdnet.com/photos/photos-worlds-largest-touchscreen/6197900?tag=content;get-photo-roto

Fox Home Entertainment appears poised to enter the Blu-ray 3D retail market on April 19 with the release of Gulliver’s Travels starring Jack Black and Amanda Peet.

Listings for Gulliver’s Travels on Blu-ray and a separate sku for Blu-ray 3D appeared at Amazon.com during the past week. The Blu-ray 3D version has an SRP $10 more than the Blu-ray version at $49.99 versus $39.99.

Though Fox has yet to formally announce their entrance into the standalone Blu-ray 3D market, the fact that these listings have active pre-order links suggest that retailers have already been notified of their upcoming arrival. The official announcement will be passed along once it’s made.

Last year Fox offered Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs on Blu-ray 3D as part of a summer Panasonic 3D starter kit that also included Coraline on Blu-ray 3D. Universal has since released Coraline individually on Blu-ray 3D this past summer. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs on Blu-ray 3D is still exclusive to the Panasonic starter kit making Gulliver’s Travels the first Fox film to be released individually at retail.

At Macworld this year, I got a chance to try out the new SRS iWow 3D. It’s an interesting little dongle that fits on your iPhone, iPad, or any iPod, including the touch, that has the 30 pin connector. When you connect it, plug in your headphones to it, and click the on button, it enhances the sound coming from your device in some interesting ways.

I have no idea what’s behind the magic that this little device does. What I do know is that it seems to enhance the sound impressively. The stereo separation seems much greater. The highs brighter, and the bass deeper. Works great with music, but the enhancement when playing videos was even more dramatic.

SRS has also created an iWow 3D app that lets you tailor the sound to your preferences. You can set the output for different devices such as headphone or speakers, and you can increase the treble and base to your preferences.

If the sound is important to you, it may be worth carrying around an extra piece to you. You can pre-order the SRS iWow 3D now from SRS directly.

By Jeff Scott on February 28th, 2011

See the original story here: http://www.148apps.com/news/srs-iwow-3d-quick/

If Diego Sanchez busts out a “Yes” cartwheel during the UFC on Versus 3 show, it’s going to look like he’s coming straight into your living room with it.

The UFC announced along with Versus on Monday that the broadcast of the show slated for this Thursday from Louisville’s KFC Yum! Arena will be shown in 3D, the first ever of its kind for the promotion.

The 3D cameras will be in addition to the normal HD shots that fans normally expect, and will be available to those with 3D capable TV’s.

“We’re really excited to start broadcasting UFC events in 3D,” UFC President Dana White said. “UFC is ahead of the curve when it comes to introducing new technology and we think UFC fans will really enjoy seeing fights in 3D.”

The other change to the upcoming UFC on Versus 3 show will be the broadcast team which for this card will feature former WEC play-by-play man Todd Harris alongside UFC featherweight Kenny Florian who will take up color commentary duties.

The broadcast kicks off on Versus this Thursday night at 9pm ET/6pm PT.

Posted on February 28, 2011 by MMAWeekly.com Staff

See the original story here: http://mmaweekly.com/ufc-on-versus-3-card-to-be-broadcast-in-3-d

While some filmmakers accept 3-D as the inevitable next step — heck, even old-school Martin Scorsese is dabbling in the technology with Hugo Cabret — some of today’s top directors are still holding out. Take Christopher Nolan, whose Inception would seem tailor-made for three dimensions. (Just imagine that Paris cityscape folding on top of you.) Yet Nolan, who still insists on shooting on film rather than video, has complained about the limitations of shooting 3-D, and he has no wish to turn The Dark Knight Rises into a 3-D spectacle. Though Nolan was silent over the weekend, his Oscar-winning cinematographer, Wally Pfister, addressed the subject backstage at the Academy Awards. “I’m personally not a big 3-D fan. It doesn’t really work for me. I don’t like the glasses, I don’t like the dark image, you know, through there. And it’s it feels a little gimmicky to me. That’s my own personal preference, I’m not a big fan of that,” said Pfister, who’s shot all six of Nolan’s films. “In terms of the immersion for the audience, we like to do things like film things in IMAX and put it on a much larger canvas and higher resolution rather than three dimensional. So in terms of what’s happening with Inception, you know, Chris and I are like-minded in that way. I don’t know whether they’re going release a DVD version in 3-D or not, but that’s definitely [going to release]. It’s just not something I’m that interested in as a filmmaker.”

Film buffs might applaud the duo’s commitment to the highest-quality 2-D, but studio bean-counters must be impatiently strumming their fingers against their desks. Would you still like to see Inception in 3-D, as rumored, and will you be disappointed if The Dark Knight Risesdoesn’t show in 3-D?

by Jeff Labrecque

See the original story here: http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/02/28/inception-wally-pfister-3d/

The world’s largest full LED 3D TV, the LG LZ9700 was recently launched in South Africa. The LG 3D TV measures a mammoth 72 inches.

Complete dimension details of the LZ9700 from LG are 59 inches wide and 40 inches tall with an ultra slim design and sporting 400 Hz TruMotion support.

A press statement from LG says: “With full HD resolution on an LED display, the LZ9700 delivers pictures as large and colorful as paintings at an art gallery. The extra spacious screen size also makes the picture more immersive than ever, offering viewers a 3D experience every bit as good as the screen in the local multiplex.”

Viewers can also enjoy video streaming data from YouTube as well as photo views from Picasa which is Google’s free web photo service.

The TV also features a DLNA function which helps in setting up wireless connectivity with the TV set. Users can then connect to the net and enjoy the contents on the large screen of the TV set.

Price of the TV is South Africa is R249, 999.99 (Including VAT) which is as exclusive as the features that the set boasts of.

By James Patterson

See the original post here: http://good3dtv.com/3d-tv/world’s-largest-full-led-3d-tv-lg-lz9700-revealed-in-south-africa/

The 102 year-old rivalry between Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe will be played out in 3D by Lig TV and the Digiturk platform on March 20. Digiturk, which has previously shown documentaries in the 3D format, is partnering with Sony for Turkey’s first live sports broadcast.

Separate equipment and staff will be used for the 3DTV transmission that will run in parallel to Lig TV’s regular high definition broadcast. Between them 40 cameras and 2 live broadcast vehicles will be used. 150 personnel will be deployed.

Customers will need a suitable 3DTV and Digiturk Plus box.

Published: 08.23 UTC, February 28, 2011 by Julian Clover

See the original post here: http://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2011/02/28/digiturk-puts-galatasaray-fenerbahce-into-3d/

(Here is the conclusion of the lengthy review)

3D REVOLUTION

So after a marathon of features are we holding a device worth the 200 sheets you’ll likely be paying? The answer is a resounding “yes”. While some of the 3DS’ in-built software is light on the ground, it’s the tech it demonstrates that is really incredibly important.

The 3DS has enough juice and a small enough screen to churn out visuals which well surpass any of Nintendo’s past portable offerings – that’s why we can look forward to big names that normally would never fit into a little DS like Metal Gear Solid and Resident Evil.

But even that’s not the key point. These great looking games are being beamed to you in 3D, unadulterated by shaded glasses or any other auxiliary device. Okay, so some of the smaller bits of software are gimmicky and the camera is more a point of interest than a visual spectacle, but 3DS’s core function will very likely blow you away.

It’s the full production games that are meant to draw in the crowds, and there is no doubt in our mind that they’ll do just that. Oh, and when we say “crowds” we mean scores of people representing a complete cross-section of society.

In true Nintendo fashion there’s something here for mum, dad, nan and your annoying baby brother. Most importantly for us, though, there’s something for the hardcore market – and it’s more than a little bit magical.

We’ve always been great believers in the growing prominence of 3D gaming, but Nintendo’s glasses-free tech could well represent the tipping point for the technology. If you want an example of a modern day gaming revolution, look no further.

by Tom.Pakinkis@futurenet.com

Read the entire, lengthy review here: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/291003/nintendo-3ds-review-2011/