The idea of 3D cinema has been around a long time and the occasional movies have been used as oddities to scare the viewing public with larger than life monsters and out-reached hands.

But things have moved on and now 3D televisions have received rave reviews from the latest techno shindig at Las Vegas, CES 2010.

Indeed, Best in Show gong was awarded to the Panasonic VT25 television. Now LG, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba were all showing off 3D TVs, but Panasonic got the accolade, mainly because it not only does the business, but it’s about to ship, meaning it could be in a home near you (if you live in America of course), by the spring. And as such, it will be one of the first 3D, flat-panel HDTV’s available in the US market.

Now, once it reaches across the pond, don’t go expecting Phil’s next fight at the Queen Vic to be in glorious 3D, because as with all such technologies, the device is only part of the story. There isn’t much 3D content around at the moment and as happened with HD television, the availability of 3D programming could be on the low side for a bit.

The other downside of course is that watching 3D television requires you to look like Mr Magoo wearing his best set of lenses. Special glasses have to be worn if you don’t want to be sick watching a fuzzy image and although the Panasonic comes with a complimentary pair, other members of the family will either have to ask for the sick bag, or buy their own.

Now, in case you’re interested, the Panasonic glasses use an active LC shutter system which means that the two lenses darken and lighten very quickly – not discernable with the human eye - whilst the TV picture synchronously displays the corresponding left and right eye specific images. This results in what Panasonic call the Full Monty (or Full HD 3D to be precise). In techno blurb, it’s full-resolution 3D content, which preserves all 1,920 x 1,080 pixels for the left and right eye. Bingo.

Okay clever, but how long before you can view such 3D images on your mobile phone? And how long before those phones end up in the hands of the mobile recycling fraternity? The answer, on both counts, is quite some time.

For those addicted to such sites as YouTube and MySpace, there’ s  now a major reason to get cash for old phones if you want to fund a new sidekick. T-Mobile is getting a bit of a reputation for releasing phones that are on the edge in terms of the technology envelope. And the T-Mobile 3G Sidekick LX is geared for those that can’t bear to tear themselves away from their social networking habits.

Harking back to the days of the PDA (measuring 5.1 x 2.4 x 0.6 inches and weighing in with a hefty 5.7 ounces), the Sidekick comes equipped with a 3.2 inch F-WVGA screen boasting a high-end, 854×480 resolution; the best yet on a T-Mobile handset. Underneath the screen is a full QWERTY keyboard manufactured by Sharp.

But what will interest most social surfers, is that the Sidekick comes complete with an integrated social networking bundle which includes the delights of MySpace, Facebook and Twitter, available via high-speed web browsing with 3G support. So there’s now no excuse for not keeping up with your friends. But that’s not all. If you fancy yourself as a movie director, it will record and play videos. And in case you wish to share your genius with a wider audience, it has the ability to share recorded videos via email and also upload videos to the social networking sites.

Don’t expect too much from the camera though, because at 3.2 megapixels, it’s not going to offer the sort of picture that might grace Vogue. In case you’re lost, or can’t find the pub, you can either search Google for help, or use the GPS facility with Live Search.

There’s a music player with streaming audio and for those that keep an eye on their personal communications, there’s support for SMS, MMS, personal emails and IM (instant messaging). IM support includes Yahoo Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger and Windows Live.

Onboard memory is boosted with 1GB microSD card. Bluetooth is there and it also comes complete with, as you would expect, quad-band capability. But don’t take too long surfing the internet between charges, as in 3G mode, the Lithium Ion battery gives only three hours talk time and six days standby.

Oh yes, the bad news, before you rush out to get cash for old phones, bear in mind that it’s only available in the U.S. for the time being, although a European model should follow.

When news of the first Android powered phones came out last year, many thought it would cause a heap of mobile phone recycling as people dropped their old handsets for a Google-branded phone. Leading the way in the charge was T-Mobile with the G1, but anyone with hopes of manufacturers introducing new models soon were disappointed if the news conferences at the recent Mobile World Congress were anything to go by.

The major players – LG, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson – made no official announcements regarding an Android phone and HTC, a maker of handsets for many other manufacturers, including themselves, said nothing either. The only sign of Android life came from a Chinese company called Huawei Technologies.

Now, just in case the Android platform had passed you by, the Google-developed operating system is based on open source code which means that other developers can see its structure and more easily develop other smartphones and mobile phone applications.
And T-Mobile has embraced the Android code with gusto, using the operating system to power a home phone, complete with docking device, and a tablet computer. T-Mobile’s motives are clear, as they wish to become a major player in the U.S. home telephony market.

But how long before a roster of G1 phones appear, depends on whether customers are likely to embrace the Android platform. Obviously Huawei Technologies thinks so, as according to their Communications Vice President Mr. Li Jilin: “Huawei sees potential in the operator resale market, and is relying on its insight into mobile communication trends and operators’ requirements to further explore the mobile field to meet the varied demands of operators and users… Currently, we’re developing smart phones on the Android platform, which we plan to launch in 2009. We believe that the Android platform will transform the mobile life experience for users around the world.”

Huawei went on to say that by 2011, smartphones are set to account for over 24% of the global mobile phone market, which will be nearer 30% by 2012. They believe that mobile devices are increasingly crucial for people’s daily communication needs, and mobile phones will continue to incorporate ever more compelling features. It further believes that the commercial use of the Android platform will have a major effect on the mobile operating system market.

So when it comes to mobile phone recycling, maybe they won’t be throwing their phones away to get hold of an Android powered beauty, just quite yet.

If you’re worried about missing your favourite soap episode whilst travelling, fear not, as the BBC has launched a new service that will bring live TV to your mobile, which increases the likelihood of people wanting to do a bit of mobile recycling and get the latest model. Who’s going to want to be stuck with their old handset which just sends texts and makes calls, when brand new examples can get the latest episodes of East Enders?

The real breakthrough with the BBC service is that live TV can be watched on the mobile at the same time as it is broadcast live on TV. Although initially limited in nature, the news service, called Live TV, will allow mobile users to watch BBC1, BBC4, BBC News and CBeebies, using a compatible mobile phone with a Wi-Fi connection.

The live programmes will have been optimised for small screen performance, but don’t expect a full line-up straight away, as certain shows, such as sports events, will not have the correct rights to be broadcast.  The slight sting in the tail is that users will have to have a colour TV licence, although whether that is covered if someone already has a licence for their house, remains to be seem.

The BBC is particularly proud of it’s service’s ‘click-and-go’ credentials, meaning that no special software, or adapters are needed to view the programmes.  And although the BBC plan to extend the service, both in terms of content and its ability to work via the 3G Network, many industry observers say that it’s current reliance on Wi-Fi technology makes it only a toe in the water as regards a radical new offering.

Only a few mobiles can easily access the service at the moment and these include the G1 from T-Mobile and the Nokia N Series phones. Forget it if you’ve got an iPhone, or iPod Touch.  But watch this space say BBC, who hope to broaden the services catchment over the coming months.

Those in the technology and marketing departments have one thing in common, they love initials.  For the technology guys and gals, the people that actually invent all the gadgets we love to play with, initials are an easier way to describe something. They have a certain logic. Firstly, you just jumble together a load of adjectives, describing what your invention does, then just use the initials: simple.

So HSPA, is High Speed Packet Access. Brilliant! And its great for the marketing guys and gals as well, because it saves time having to think of some brilliant name. So, okay, it’s an application name, so is generic across quite a few products, but lets say you had to think of a cool name everytime you invented something. The problem is, most of the cool names have gone, or have been patented, so it’s a nightmare if you don’t use the initials.

A test. What does DVD stand for? Answer in a moment and just to task your brain that bit further, what does the HSDPA and HSBC stand for in the title of this article?

Right, DVD. This is a popular one in pub quizzes, but there are two correct answers: Digital Versatile Disc, or Digital Video Disc. It’s a long story, but actually the name apparently originally stood for digital video disk, although it seems no-one really tied down what DVD stood for. It sort of evolved.

So, if you invent a new product, don’t get wound up with a name; think what it took the guys to come up with Blu-ray, the next generation DVD (maybe they thought DVD-2 was a bit uninspired). So, maybe, if you invent a software that tells a machine to wind back a cable automatically, you could call it: Cable Rewind Automatic Programme, or CRAP. Okay, perhaps not! Right, HSDPA. Funnily enough, it’s the same as HSPA, but the D stands for Download, clever, huh? By the way, both HSPA and HSDPA enhance the speed of third generation (3G) network mobile phones.

And HSBC, why that’s the high street bank of course.