3D technology is coming one step closer to home with the development of a new set-top box system that will allow consumers to browse through and access 3D offerings from their cable or satellite TV company.

The prototype, developed by digital content security company Nagravision SA, based in Cheseaux, Switzerland, and 3D company 3ality Digital LLC, Burbank, Calif., will be shown at the 3D Entertainment Summit this week in Los Angeles. It’s called the Nagra Media Guide for 3D.

Although no cable company has yet committed to the set-top technology, the prototype offers a window into the evolution of 3D home technology, which is getting much closer to what is available in movie theaters. Consumers will be able to access 3D programming using today’s set-top boxes, but the Nagra Media version will show the information using 3D graphics.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

When a closely guarded prototype of a new Apple (AAPL) iPhone went missing at a huge factory here two weeks ago, an internal investigation focused on a shy, 25-year-old employee named Sun Danyong.

Mr. Sun, a college graduate working in the logistics department, denied stealing the iPhone. But he later complained to friends that he had been beaten and humiliated by the factory’s security team.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

News media in China are reporting that a 25-year-old employee of Foxconn, which manufactures products for Apple (AAPL) there, committed suicide last week after being interrogated about a missing prototype for a new iPhone.

According to publications that include Shanghai Daily, Sun Danyong, a recent engineering graduate, jumped out of the window of his apartment last Thursday. The reports said Sun, who had been tasked with sending iPhone prototypes to Apple, had been under suspicion for stealing after one of the handsets went missing. Some publications reported that, in the days prior to his suicide, Sun had been detained and beaten by a senior official in the security department of the Taiwan-based electronics manufacturing giant.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Gmail turned five on Wednesday, April 1. Launched in 2004 as an invitation-only email service, the Google (GOOG) product now has more than 100 million users. Yet it’s still in “beta”–a term of art traditionally reserved for prototype software that’s ready for testing. What gives?

Read the rest of this post

The path from engineering to marketing is usually not a straight line. Often there can be many stops along the way, as a product goes from idea to a spec to prototype release build, through the quality assurance process, and eventually general availability to the marketplace.

Read the rest of this post

So, uh, wasn’t Dell (DELL) supposed to be working on a cellphone?

Well, that was the scuttlebutt. But Dell has failed to show at recent mobile trade shows. Shaw Wu, an analyst at Kaufman Bros., asserts in a research note today that the company’s first attempt was basically rejected by the carriers as too, well, Dell-like.

He asserts that Dell showed a prototype to the carriers, but that they weren’t all that impressed. “From our conversation with supply chain and industry sources, it appears that it ultimately came down to lack of carrier interest and small subsidies, making it difficult for Dell to make a profit,” he writes. “In our view, the last thing Dell needs is to enter another money-losing business as it seeks to preserve its operating margins of 5-6 percent.” (Which he notes compares to Hewlett-Packard at around 11 percent, and Apple and IBM at 15 percent.)

Read the rest of this post

Broadcom (BRCM) has developed a new chip that will allow cellphone manufacturers to offer HD video cameras in their handsets. In an interview Friday with Tech Trader Daily, Broadcom CEO Scott McGregor said the chip will be available later this year, with large volumes shipping in 2010. McGregor said one handset maker was displaying a prototype phone using the chip privately at the show, but he declined to identify the manufacturer. McGregor said the first version of the chip will produce video at 720p resolution–full HD at 1080p or 1080i will be in the next-generation chip, which he says is “not that far away.” McGregor says the chip will be able to shoot six hours of video on an average cellphone battery.

Broadcom, like many chip companies at the show, was displaying its wares in a private display area. But on Friday afternoon the spacious booth was bustling with visitors. Broadcom had some interesting technologies on display:

Read the rest of this post