3D Tablet

Currently, thee are no true 3D tablets available to buy. It was expected that LG was going to release the first 3D tablet, but it appears that this device (the LG 3D Pad / LG-Slate) will, in fact, only have the ability to record video in 3D (you would then have to wear a pair of anaglyph red/cyan glasses to view it on the LG pad, or else hook the tablet up to a 3D TV or other 3D device).

However, at some point in 2011 we are likely to see the first real 3D tablets appearing, with Sony rumoured to be releasing a stereoscopic tablet pc this summer, and even the small possibility that Apple may release a 3D iPad towards the end of the year.

Masterimage 3D have announced that they are set to reveal an improved 1080p full HD version of their 3D tablet screen.  They debuted an early version of the screen at the recent CES in Los Angeles, but are now set to showcase the near market ready improved version at the Mobile World Congress next week.  Hopefully the technology is going to be taken up by one of the big tech companies so that we finally have a high quality real 3D tablet to buy.

Source : http://www.3dfocus.co.uk/3d-news-2/masterimage-3d-to-reveal-improved-glasses-free-3d-tablet/7446

Apart from the Gadmei, the only other 3D tablet to be announced at the recent CES was the Wikipad Android glasses free 3D tablet – more of a specialist gaming tablet, intended to rival the Nintendo 3DS.

The Wikipad will hopefully ship from May, and is promised to run the latest Android ‘Ice Cream Sandwich’ operating system.

Reviewers who got to have a look at the Wikipad seemed fairly impressed with the 3D effect (based on the usual parallax barrier tech), but several noted that the correct viewing angle, or ‘sweet spot’, was very narrow.

Read more about the device at : http://www.pcworld.com/article/248178/hands_on_the_wikipad_tablet_does_3d_runs_ice_cream_sandwich.html

Top 3D director James Stewart – the man who produced Werner Herzog’s ‘Cave of Forgotten Dreams’ amongst other acclaimed 3D projects – has expressed his opinion that the anticipated arrival of glasses free 3D tablets will be a tipping moment for the 3D industry.  Not only will they help to increase sales of 3D TVs, but when 3D on mobile screens are ubiquitous, then 3D advertising will really begin to take off.

The wait for a real 3D tablet that actually has a 3D screen is over.  A budget glasses free 3D tablet that costs under $200 has gone on sale in America – the GADMEI T863-3D tablet.  The Gadmei isn’t high on specs, and you’ll really need to want the 3D element to favour it over something like the Amazon Kindle Fire.  But we live in hope that several glasses free 3D tablet could be announced this week at the CES (consumer electronics show) this week in Las Vegas.

In fact, we know for certain that MasterImage are going to reveal a 10.1″ 3D tablet at the show which utilises their unique Cell-Matrix Parallex technology.  It’s unclear if MasterImage will market the tablet themselves or whether they are simply showcasing the technology for one of the big corporations such as Samsung or HTC to make use of.

Rumours abound that a couple of other companies could reveal their own 3D tablets at the show.

Samsung recently showcased a concept 3D tablet with a fully transparent and flexible AMOLED screen.  Despite it’s futuristic design, and despite the fact that we still await a 3D tablet of any shape or form, the concept could become reality within several years.  Samsung expect to launch a smartphone with a flexible bendy touch screen as early as next year.

The HTC EVO glasses free 3D smartphone has become a bestseller immediately.  Now it appears that it could get a 3D tablet brother that similarly doesn’t require the use of glasses.  The tablet would be the follow up to the HTC Flyer, a successful 7″ product that was only released on to the market a few months ago.  Pictures apparently leaked from a Chinese factory show what is allegedly the next generation Flyer with a pair of duel lenses on the back – meaning that the new tablet will be able to take and record 3D images, as well as hopefully (unlike the LG 3D tablet) allow you to play 3D movies without glasses on its screen….if the rumour is true.

http://www.fonehome.co.uk/2011/07/21/htc-evo-3d-getting-an-android-tablet-brother/

Toshiba announced this week the imminant launch of the world’s first glasses free 3D laptop.  The Toshiba Qosmio F750 boasts a 15.6″ screen that shows 3D without the need for special glasses.  Reviewers who have seen the 3D display have been impressed with the quality and the width of the viewing angle.  Toshiba appear to have managed a great leap forward from smaller devices such as the Nintendo 3DS and the HTC EVO 3D smartphone.  Those two mobile devices both suffered from a very narrow viewing angle.  Toshiba have solved the problem, to some extent, by incorporating eye tracking technology via a webcam installed in the laptop.  The webcam tracks the viewer’s eye and adjusts the parallex barrier accordingly, leaving a much wider viewing angle and the ability to move your head and even position without losing the 3D effect.  The 3D effect is still confined, however, to a single viewer.  Hopefully this technology will soon be utilised in a 3D tablet device.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology/2011/07/06/world-s-first-glasses-free-3d-laptop-unveiled-by-toshiba-115875-23251405/

Asus has become the first in line to launch a glasses free 3D tablet with the announcement of a glasses free 3D screen version of its Eee Pad MeMO device.  The tablet will feature a 7″ multi-touch 3D screen and will come with a stylus for note taking on it.  The 3D Asus tablet will run the Android Honeycomb operating system and may appear in the USA and Europe before the end of the year, with the expected retail price at between $500 and $700.

According to a ‘Hollywood insider’, the next Apple iPad is a ‘dead cert’ to be 3D.  The rumour has spread across the internet and is now appearing even on leading tech and gadet sites such as T3.  According to the anonymous source, Hollywood film studios are in the know that the iPad 3 will have a 3D screen and are panicking at the lack of 3D content for the new tablet.  The rumour is alleged to have been backed up by sources at the leading Asian manufacturer for Apple devices.

Meanwhile, Nokia have patented a glasses free 3D tablet/smartphonehybrid with a twin display, one in 2D and other in 3D.  The patent makes use of head tracking tech to create a kind of holographic style 3D display.  The 3D ‘hologram’ will apparently even cast a shadow on the 2D display!

T-Mobile have made available the LG G-Slate ’3D Tablet’ on their American network – for $599 on contract and $799 off. The G-Slate has been touted as the world’s first 3D tablet, and is still being erroneously described as being glasses free 3D. This is true only to the extent that it doesn’t display with glasses or without them. Except if you wear the decades old traditional anaglyph red/blue type of glasses when playing back its confirmed ability to recored in 3D. Let’s hope not too many thousands of customers are going to be disappointed if they purchase a ’3D’ LG Slate on the back of misleading press reports.