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NowGamer does Draenor/Outland side by side
One of the things I like the most about doing Shadowmoon Valley on the beta is the way it evokes the memories of Outland's version of the zone while clearly being a whole new place, designed from the ground up. Now the folks at NowGamers have put together a video comparing the two zones side by side. It's cool to have because it does a much better job showing you how it is than telling you can. The way the new zone feels very much like the place before it got ruined, to the point where there's even places that were lost in the Outland version. And man, the elekks and talbuks in Shadowmoon make you feel sad for how much was destroyed and how only a few basilisks can eke out survival in the Outland version of the zone. Very much an elegy for a place destroyed when you see them side by side. Head over and check it out.
Sanwa stereoscopic YouTube viewer turns your iPhone into a big-screen 3D TV
Japanese iPhone owners are being given the chance to bathe in the nostalgic glow of the old 3D View-Master -- only now, the pictures will actually move. The Sanwa device works in a similar manner to its ancient mechanical counterpart, but magnifies side-by-side yt3D YouTube movies on an iPhone instead of the classic circular slides. On top of negating the need for custom content like similar products we've seen, this should also yield a brighter and larger 3D viewing area than red-green glasses -- letting you get the most out of that retina display.
New Commodore C64 gets stacked against the original, deemed a worthy successor (video)
We know a few of you have been waiting with bated breath for the retooled Commodore C64 to arrive, so we're not at all surprised that the first people to claim one are wasting no time putting its tactile keys through its paces. In that clip you see below, YouTube user "EternalPtah" places the three decades-old original next to its Atom-powered successor, comparing everything from the beige color to the height of the function keys. All told, he reassures us, the twenty-first century iteration is a worthy follow-up to the vintage model, even if it does replace the power light with a button. If you've got four minutes to spare, hit play for what will probably be the most nostalgic hands-on you see this week. [Thanks, Ian]
iPad vs. TouchPad... Fight!
Spec sheets are one thing, but we know what you really want to see -- two tablets going mano-a-mano in the ring. Here they are, your Apple iPad and HP TouchPad slates, sized up side-by-side each with their own sizable black bezel and 9.7-inch screen -- and incredibly similar in both size and weight. See how they literally stack up in the gallery below! %Gallery-116125%
Samsung Wave II has its Super Clear LCD tested against Galaxy S Super AMOLED display
Well, "tested" might be a strong word, but the living legend that is Eldar Murtazin has squared up Samsung's latest Bada handset against the company's top of the line Galaxy S for a bit of side-by-side screen comparison action. The 3.7-inch display on the Wave II holds its own admirably against the hyper-advanced Super AMOLED panel alongside it, but it does seem to have a tendency to introduce a slight yellow hue into images, as illustrated above. Regrettably, the Russian weather wasn't conducive to doing any comparisons under sunlight, so we'll just have to content ourselves with even more pictures setting the Wave II up against Nokia's N8 and Samsung's first Bada phone, the Wave numero uno. [Thanks, Ronan]
Call of Duty: Black Ops adds 3D to its list of features on PC / PS3 / Xbox 360
3D gaming has been around on the PC for a while, and has become more prevalent on recent and upcoming releases for the PlayStation 3 since it's system update and Sony's overall 3D push, but now Call of Duty:Black Ops is adding to those lists and the significantly shorter list of 3D games for the Xbox 360. Our friends at Joystiq were among the outlets that got a chance to go hands on with the Xbox 360 version, which joins other 3D titles like last year's Avatar game and the upcoming Crysis from EA on the system, so check them out for first hand impressions. As far as the technical specs, 3D is only for HDMI-equipped Xbox 360s, and Activision's 3D FAQ points out that using the dashboard in 3D won't work properly since it hasn't been updated for that yet. Curiously, the Xbox 360 version uses side-by-side compressed frames for its 3D while the PS3 version is top-bottom like ESPN 3D. So far developer Treyarch hasn't shown off any other 3D editions so we'll have to wait until release to see if there's any noticeable difference but the only thing that's certain when it comes to Call of Duty is seeing Editor Emeritus Ryan Block stalking the Team Hardcore rooms round the clock.
Nokia N8 vs. iPhone 4: camera showdown
What's the first thing you should do when you get the N8? Considering it packs the biggest image sensor embedded in a phone yet, Carl Zeiss optics, and an eight-digit pixel count, it seemed obvious to us that the answer was to take it on a picture- and video-taking stroll around London. On our way out we saw our iPhone 4 looking all sad and lonely, so we went ahead and brought it along as well. Below you shall find one gallery of pure, unadulterated N8 sample shots, another interspersed with the iPhone's results for comparison's sake, and a final one with side-by-side 100 percent crops from each image taker. Once you've digested all of those, we suggest hopping past the break and tucking into some tasty video comparisons for dessert. Naturally, all the images are entirely unretouched (but for our masterly watermarking) and the iPhone 4's HDR hocus pocus has been left off. We've also provided a zip file containing all the full-res imagery shot with the N8 in a link below. A quick note is also merited about the N8's resolution. The sensor's display ratio is 4:3, which means that full 12 megapixel shots are only available in those dimensions. The camera software, however, defaults to shooting 9 megapixel snaps at the increasingly popular 16:9 ratio -- this is done simply by cropping away the "excess" bars at the top and bottom of the image, meaning that the 9 megapixel images are giving us identical performance as the 12 megapixel ones, they're just chopped down (from 4000 x 3000 to 4000 x 2248) for the sake of convenience. Now, on with the show!%Gallery-103838%%Gallery-103849%%Gallery-103858%
Follow the money; the real reason why your AVR doesn't support DirecTV's 3D
Follow this industry and you learn to accept that manufacturers are only motivated to add new features to new products, but when we first heard that DirecTV's 3D signal wouldn't let you pass frame compatible 3D through older AV receivers, we were scratching our heads. Sure the receiver never claimed to be 3D compatible, but the entire point of using frame compatible 3D instead of doubling the HD signal for 3D like Blu-ray is so the signal can be transmitted via existing HD equipment. So while DirecTV gets away with making minimal changes to its infrastructure, you have to replace just about everything you own. What was a mystery, is now crystal clear and of course its always about money, it isn't necessarily about DirecTV's money, this time. You see RealD owns the patent on frame compatible 3D formats like side by side, and if a display or receiver manufacturer wants its EDID on the list of supported devices, they have to pay for that right. So it isn't that DirecTV wants to prevent you from using your old receiver as much as it is about preventing those who don't license RealD's patents from being able to display 3D. Nice huh, but no one ever said it was about the customer.
PopBox licenses RealD's side by side frame compatible 3D format
Technology patents are a funny thing and it can be difficult to understand that RealD owns the rights to encode 3D in the frame compatible side by side format as displayed above -- without license or consent -- but patents are a reality of the world and so Syabas has licensed RealD's 3D format for the upcoming PopBox which will support the 3D format at launch. No word on if the PopBox will support Blu-ray's Full HD 3D which is actually double the resolution of HD instead of trying to squeeze both perspectives into the same HD frame. At this point it doesn't appear that the PopBox will be HDMI 1.4a compliant so while it'll send the 3D signal to your 3DTV, you'll have to be the one to tell the TV it is receiving 3D in order to ensure the 3rd dimension is displayed. Full release after the jump.
The Masters in 3D will require you to manually select side by side
So you have Comcast's HD service, love golf, and have already picked up one of the latest 3DTVs from Samsung or Panasonic. Everything you need to enjoy The Masters this week in 3D, right? Well actually there is one little detail you need to know -- otherwise it'll look like the image above. This 3D presentation came about pretty fast and Comcast, Time Warner Cable and others have yet to update set-top boxes with 3D aware firmware. The good news is that frame compatible side by side 3D doesn't actually require the box to know what's going on. The bad news is that the set-top box won't tell your fancy new 3DTV what format the 3D is in. Luckily the fix is simple, you simply need to tell your TV what type of signal it's receiving. Exactly how to do it will depend on your TV, but it shouldn't take too much digging around in the interface to figure it out.
Comcast's 3D Masters broadcast explained
Still wondering how the first live broadcasts for the new 3DTVs will work? Comcast Fellow Mark Francisco has been working on bringing 3D home for several years now, and was able to clear up some of the questions that you've been asking about what takes place before home viewers slip on those "beautifully styled" glasses for the first time. Whether you'd want to, can afford to with the first generation of compatible HDTVs, or why it's expanding the use of that silly Xfinity name weren't among them, so for that you're on your own. What format/compression will Comcast use on its Masters broadcast and going forward? Just like DirecTV, Comcast is planning on a side-by-side 1080i (not sure what that is? Check out our breakdown of the different ways to send 3D) MPEG-2 transmission. Mark confirmed what we'd heard previously in our discussion with Bob Wilson from Motorola, on the backend, very little needed changing or updating to enable this transmission, which will take up a 6MHz channel, other than their frame multiplexers. There will also be an h.264 stream and VC-1 (for the Masters.com feed) and for broadcast within hospitality tents at Augusta National. Will I need a new cable box or have to get a firmware update of some kind to watch 3D? All of Comcast's HD set-top boxes connected through HDMI are already capable of handling the signal, so don't expect a firmware upgrade (unless you're waiting for remote DVR features, of course) between then and now, although future upgrades will include 3D menus and guide information, which are currently still 2D.
HDMI 1.4a spec released in full, lays down mandatory 3D format support details
That the HDMI 1.4 spec would need some tweaking to ease compatibility between old upgraded set top boxes delivering 3DTV, Blu-ray 3D, receivers and displays was already established and today the full information has been released to all HDMI Adopters. Firmly implemented are the mandatory formats devices will need to interpret with displays required to support all mandatory formats, repeaters able to pass through all of them, and sources must support at least one. That certainly doesn't stop older HDMI 1.3 labeled equipment from delivering a Full HD 3D experience, as long as they're able to upgrade to compatible signaling. As HDGuru explains, the main potential hangup is in the audio receiver, as older ones without 3D passthrough capability may not be able to interpret 3D signals, and can't be upgraded to interpret it requiring a workaround like Panasonic's upcoming dual HDMI packing Blu-ray player. Whether it's "frame packing" (sequential) in 1080p/24Hz for movies or 720p/60Hz for games, and either side-by-side horizontal at 1080i/60Hz or top-bottom compressed 720p/60Hz and 1080p/24Hz for TV the new updates to the spec just ensure everyone is speaking the same language going forward. We haven't heard of any looming compatibility issues for 3DTV devices but until it gets in someone's home and the cables are plugged in we're sure some will still have doubts.
Sky Perfect launching 3D over satellite in Japan this summer
Another day, another broadcaster launching 3D. This time it's Japan's Sky Perfect JSAT, which plans to flip the switch ahead of World Cup 3D action in June. Of course this isn't the first 3D broadcasts for the country, but it's similar to rollouts planned by DirecTV here and Sky in the UK, using side by side format, h.264 compressed video to send the new broadcasts over existing boxes. Currently broadcasting 58 HD channels and still looking to add more, it plans to kick off with two or three programs, mostly sports and live events.
Samsung N510 unboxed, looking rather large sitting next to the NC10
We know the specs, the release window, even the price -- it feels like we're already intimately acquainted with Samsung's ION-powered N510 netbook, but honestly, we've never really seen it outside of a touched-up press photo. Netbooknews.de has gone ahead and fixed all that, giving us a good idea what we'll be taking home to mom and dad, from retail packaging all the way to the exposed underbelly. There's even a number of side-by-side shots with its older brother NC10, which looks downright tiny sitting next to its more powerful, but also pretty small kin. Want a good glimpse of what's likely to be the first ION netbook to US market? All relevant materials lie beyond the read links below. Update: Turns out the ION-equipped N510 has been pushed back until after the Windows 7 launch, at least for the US. Unboxing is from Germany, where the netbook's now on sale. [Thanks, buttons] Read - Samsung N510 unboxing (translated) Read - Flickr gallery
