We’ve seen enough home theater 3D already to be well and sick of it, but mobile 3D is still an upcoming sector, one which Sharp seems to be making a bid for. It’s showing off a mobile device prototype (it looks like it could be your friendly neighborhood carrier’s next Android handset) with a glasses-free 3D parallax screen (akin to the tech used in the Nintendo 3DS ), a 3D camera around back, and 3D output over HDMI. The result isn’t stellar — just because a mobile device is shooting grainy, color-bleeding footage in 3D doesn’t make the footage stop being grainy and color-bleeding — but it most certainly works, as we witnessed both on the device’s own screen and on a regular glasses-required 3D TV the prototype was outputting to over HDMI.
Navigating maps on computers and mobile devices can still be a clunky experience, especially when you try to search for places on a map. Typically, on Google Maps or Bing Maps, you get a bunch of virtual pushpins for each place which you can click on for more information. UpNext , a 3D mapping startup based in New York City, brings that information forward in amore fluid way in the latest release of its iPad app
It’s no secret that Google, Apple and even RIM want a piece of the $1 billion-and-growing mobile advertising market. The fight over share of ad dollars is even resulting in possible anti-competitive practices. Apple’s developer licensing agreement update in June basically says it reserves the right to block Google’s AdMob from serving ads on the iPhone and iPad, allowing only “independent” ad-serving companies to serve ads on the devices
Editor’s note : The following guest post is by Nikhyl Singhal , the co-founder and CEO of voice-application startup SayNow . Is it conceivable that one of our greatest inventions, the phone number, is about to face extinction?
For the last 30 or so hours self-described Apple fanboy MG Siegler has put his iPhone 4 aside ( Jason Kincaid and Greg Kumparak held him down while two interns broke his Kung Fu grip ) to give Motorola’s Droid 2 a proper test drive. The verdict? A definite step above the HTC EVO 4G .
Going overseas soon, and looking for a prepaid phone plan? Wiki community Wikia has a great wiki that lists information on getting pay-as-you-go data plans for your SIM card (without paying tons of money) all over the world. More
The iPad is fostering all sorts of new ideas for how to create digital books , and the most interesting ones do not come in iBook form. Instead, they are being delivered as apps. A great example of this is Fotopedia Heritage , the first of a series of photo books for the iPad and iPhone ( iTunes link )
Remember how back during the Antennagate press conference , Steve Jobs explained that all smartphones have an Achilles Heel known as their antenna? Oh sure, we all rolled our eyes and then oohed and aahed when we learned we’d get bumpers. Well guess what… Jobs was right.
We’ve been hearing Verizon iPhone rumors for years now. It’s to the point that no one really believes the rumors anymore, since analysts and pundits have cried wolf so many times. But this time looks to be different due to some key dynamics in the semiconductor value chain, and I am going to go on record to say Verizon will be selling an iPhone this coming January
Editor’s note : This guest post is written by Alex Ahlund, the former CEO and founder of AppVee and AndroidApps , which were acquired by mobile application directory Appolicious . About this time last year, he gave us his picks of the best iPhone apps of 2009 up until then, so we thought we’d make it an annual tradition. I’ve been involved in the iPhone app industry since it first began in 2008 and I have to say that it has come a long way.