Japanese electronic giant Toshiba Corp. announced on Tuesday that it is developing a new technology that would allow viewers to watch 3D television without special glasses.

In an interview, Toshiba spokesperson Yuko Sugahara confirmed earlier reports, saying that the development for such technology is now being undertaken.

“Many people don’t like to wear those special glasses to watch TV for a long time, specially people who must wear 3-D glasses over regular glasses. That is why Toshiba is now developing a new technology that would allow users to view 3D movies even without glasses,” said Sugahara.

However, Sugahara refused to comment on Japanese newspaper reports that the company will come up with the new 3D television by year’s end.

To date, Sony Corp. and Panasonic Corp. are the leading companies when it comes to 3D TV technology. However, units being sold still require 3D glasses.

Toshiba said that they are looking for ways to go around the traditional 3D glasses, saying that screens that don’t require special glasses are already available in the market.

“The only thing is that these 3D screens were designed only for store displays and not for moving pictures. These screens require viewers to stand on specific spots for them to see the effects,” she said. “Besides having only still images, the quality of pictures in these screens is much lower than those that require special 3D glasses.”

Sugahara said that they are now investing hundreds of millions of dollars in 3D technology for TV to bring the exciting experience of movies like “Avatar” and other blockbuster movies to the viewers at the comfort of their own homes.

The spokesperson also said that the new 3D technology for television will coincide with the development of gaming consoles that can play three dimensional games.

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Computer giant IBM Corp. has raised its annual forecast for this year as the technology sector batted for bigger sales in the coming months.

The company made the announcement despite shaky market conditions in the technology sector, saying that the worst is finally over for the sector and bigger sales will be at hand in the comings months.

IBM also reported that its net income for the second quarter of this year has spiked up by nine percent ($3.39) billion, or roughly $2.65 per share. The figures have topped earlier analysts’ projection of $2.58 per share.

But the company said that its Q2 revenue has slipped by two percent to $23.7 billion, below the $24.2 billion analysts predicted.

The computer giant blamed the currency changes over the past three months, which cost at least $500 million worth of losses to the company. IBM said that experts, who have estimated the revenue projection, have failed to include the data in their calculations.

The currency value is important for IBM since most of its businesses were outside the United States, particularly Europe.

With the dollar-euro rate at its lowest, the computer giant gained less possible revenue when the euros were converted to greenbacks.

Also, despite the consistent positive forecasting by Wall Street, IBM also disclosed that the company shares dropped by four percent on Monday due to reductions in its services contract value.

IBM announced a 12 percent slip in the value of services contracts signed during the second quarter of 2010, costing to about $12.3 billion.

Meanwhile, other major players in the technology sector expressed belief that the economy will soon pick and more corporations will start to replace their old computer systems, which in turn could bring higher revenue for the tech firms.

Other Internet companies such as Google also shared the same view, citing the continued increase in the advertising revenue online.

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Computer giant Microsoft Corp. and the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) have teamed up to produce the most detailed 3-D images of space and the planets through the so-called “WorldWide Telescope.”
Microsoft’s “WorldWide Telescope,” which has been steadily increased viewership on the Internet, is the galactic version of Google Earth.

With the help of NASA, Microsoft was now able to produce high-definition 3-D images of objects and planets that can be found in the Milky Way and other galaxies.

One of the highly talked about image was the true color map of the entire Mars surface, taking online users to a “Total Recall” experience.

Microsoft also launched the first of its kind, high-resolution spherical sky map called the “TeraPixel,” which users can view using a virtual telescope.

TeraPixel, which is also under the WorldWide Telescope program, is the largest and clearest spherical image of the sky.

The image was made possible through Digitized Sky Survey, which is a collection of hundreds of thousands of images that were taken in a 50-year period by two survey telescopes on Earth.

The combination of the collected images gives users the spherical and panoramic view of the night skies, which would require 50,000 HD televisions to view.

Scientists at NASA expressed surprise to the outcome of the project, saying that they can now navigate through space using TeraPixel and make their own discoveries.

NASA’s chief technology officer for IT, Chris Kemp, said that the release of the two programs, Microsoft and the space agency have lowered the barrier in accessing the thrill of space.

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A human rights group on Wednesday cried foul over recent moves of the Chinese Internet regulators, who want to reduce the anonymity among online users in mainland China.

State Council Information Office director Wang Chen, in his address to the national legislature in April, has called for the extensive system that would require all Internet users to use their real names when going online or buying a mobile phone.

Chen said that the new registration system will allow the Chinese government to better manage the Internet and the content being provided by its users.

The Chinese government tried to remove the full context of Chen’s speech from its websites to avoid the watchful eyes of its critics. The media’s reporting on the issue was abruptly cut by the government.

However, a New York-based human rights group in China, which managed to obtain the original copy of the speech, expressed fear that the new proposal would make another row of human rights violations in the country, saying that they have found “an unexpurgated text and discrepancies” in the documents.

“This only shows that Beijing is wary that its push for tighter information control to its people,” the group said in its China Rights Forum magazine.

China’s move, according to the group, will plug all the loopholes in its existing Internet control called “The Great Firewall” by limiting anonymous access to contents or comments online.

It will be recalled that the tight Internet control by the Chinese government led to row with online giant Google.

But the due to the large consumer and advertising potential of the country, Google was forced to vow down to the Chinese, allowing it to resume operations in the mainland after months of absence.

Despite the pervasive censorship and stricter controls online, China’s online population continued to grow with over 400 million active users, the largest in the world. Also, China has over 233 million mobile Internet users.

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A group technology experts and volunteers has released on Thursday a new version of the popular open-source blogging website WordPress.

Dubbed as WordPress version 3.0, the new software hosts more than 2, 700 upgrades, which include 1, 217 bugs fix. At least 218 volunteers have provided the software upgrades for the 13th version of the software.

Research and consulting firm Real Story Group analyst Adriaan Bloem said that WordPress has now become the “most capable” blogging platform on the Internet, citing the most notable upgrade in the website’s feature – the multi-task blogging capability.

Real Story group, a company that specializes in content management software, said that with the addition of the WordPress MU, administrators can now run multiple blogs simultaneously.

“MU has been integrated into the main version of WordPress ensures that it should be easier to deploy,” Bloem noted.

Bloem believe that the addition of the MU capability to the main WordPress website has now put it directly ahead of its rival MovableType, which has long offered the multiple blogs.

“Despite MovableType’s long history of running multiple blogs, many of the online users still prefer WordPress because of its user-friendly interface. And with the addition of the MU, WordPress has overtaken MovableType in the race for blogging supremacy,” Bloem added.

It was learned that WordPress run on PHP platform, which is much easier to use than the Perl Language platform of MovableType.

WordPress users can now define whether their articles will go to certain categories such as products, models, and other specification they will require – through the website’s custom post capability.

Prior to the implementation of the custom post, WordPress user content were often limited to just blogs.

“The custom post types will further help establish WordPress as a good candidate for managing an entire Web site’s content, in addition to just the blogs,” Bloem added.

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Skype Limited on Sunday launched a new Apple Application, which allows iPhone users to call other Skype users over 3G networks.

The company said that the new Apple App will be offered to millions of iPhone users for free only until the end of the year.

“Skype-to-Skype calls over Wi-Fi networks will be free of charge while Skype-to-Skype calls over 3G will be offered for free until the end of the year,” the company said in a statement.

However, the company said that it is yet to study the amount of charging to Skype users.

“Apple iPhone users may be charged additional fees by their wireless operators for the use of 3G networks and data traffic. So they’ll have to make sure that they discuss their mobile phone plan, the terms and conditions, with their operators to be allowed to use IP telephony,” Skype added in the statement.

The company said that the new Skype App will allow iPhone, iPod Touch (3rd generation), and iPad users to make calls to other users using Skype technology.

But the company said that iPod users may have to buy the compatible headset and microphone to be able to talk with the person on the other line. It is also limited to Wi-Fi Skype calls since it is no 3G-capable.

Other Symbian-based Smartphones can also download the free Skype App. The company also said that they are now working on Android version of the application.

The Skype software application works by allowing users to make voice calls over the Internet.

Calls to other users within the Skype service are free, while calls to both traditional landline telephones and mobile phones can be made for a fee using a debit-based user account system.

Skype has also become popular for its additional features which include instant messaging, file transfer, and video conferencing.

Skype Limited, the company that operates Skype, was founded in 2003 by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis with headquarters in Luxembourg.

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Ever wonder why many people choose to watch regular films than 3-D or IMAX movies? A new research study showed the real reason why many people feel sick or throw up when watching 3-D movies.

Due to the brain’s inability to process realistic images coming out of the movie screens, many people are now suffering an occasional case of nausea called by researchers as “cybersickness.”

“People suffering dizziness, nausea, and even headaches while watching 3-D and IMAX movies are unable to process the information from their senses. The brain receives conflicting information from all their senses,” Prof. Andrea Bubka, a cybersickness researcher at the St. Peter’s College in New Jersey.

Prof. Bubka also noted that the eyes and brain coordination of a person has a lot to do with the conflicting signals, saying that the vivid images being played out on screen tells the body that it is moving.

However, the “motion and balance” fluid or the sense of motion, in the inner part of the ear detects no changes in the positioning of the person’s body causing a dizzying experience to the people watching 3-D movies.

Bubka also pointed that the phenomenon was exactly the opposite to what happens during “motion sickness.”

“For example, while reading a book in a moving car, the eyes are focused on the page and do not sense that the body is moving. But the fluid within the ears senses the movements of the car, and the difference between the information coming in from these two senses causes the brain to trigger nausea and dizziness,” Bubka said.

To better understand the phenomenon, the researchers have conducted and developed a series of laboratory tests inside a device called the optokinetic drum or the “vomitator.”

The vomitator works by putting the subject inside the machine in a sitting position in the center a large cylinder that is open on the top and bottom.

The drum spins, and images on the inside of the drum move across the subject’s visual field while the subject remains still.

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Millions of parents around the world are now wondering if they can get the same ankle bracelet attached to Hollywood star Lindsay Lohan, saying that the breathalyzer technology can help them monitor or solve alcohol abuse of their children.

But the company responsible for designing and manufacturing the device said that it would be impossible, for now.

In a statement, Alcohol Monitoring Systems Inc. Spokesperson Kathleen Brown said that they have received hundreds of inquiries from parents who wish to protect their children from being addicted to alcohol by monitoring them using the bracelets.

She said that, for now, the ankle bracelet were exclusively being sold to courts, probation officers, and other similar agencies to make sure that drivers addicted to alcohol will not drink again while serving his sentence.

“We want to focus on the corrections market,” Brown said.

But Brown stressed that they are not eliminating the possibility of going in the mainstream market.

For many years now, an electronic gadget has been used by court to restrict the suspects’ movement at the comfort of their own homes.

But the addition of the breathalyzer technology has made the bracelet more useful for the courts, especially with people under alcohol probation.

Just like a breathalyzer, the bracelet checks the person’s blood alcohol level. But instead of checking the breath for alcohol, it samples the perspiration on the skin.

The alcohol detecting device gained popularity after a Los Angeles Court ordered actress Lindsay Lohan to wear one after failing to show up in a hearing schedule last week.  The actress was also asked to pay $100, 000 bail for her temporary liberty.

Reports told that the former teen star went to Cannes Film Festival despite being informed of the set hearing.

Aside from Lohan, others who were made to wear the bracelet were rapper-actress Eve and ex-NBA star Jayson Williams.

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The United States, European Union and the rest of the global community have asked China to drop or temporarily suspend the deadline to technology companies to enable them to finish computer encryption and other security programs that will be used in country’s “Green Dam” policy.

The US and EU has condemned the pressure by the Chinese government to technology companies, saying that it is an act of protectionism.

Earlier, China has warned computer suppliers and manufacturers to immediately comply with the deadline set this Saturday or face sanction. The Chinese government also said that it will not hesitate to shut out the companies that will fail to comply for billions of dollars in computer purchases.

Many of the suppliers of smart cards, anti-spam software, and security routers were also asked by China to bare the encryption codes and other trade secrets during a government panel meeting.

But the technology firms expressed fear from the deadline imposed by the government, saying that the information they will reveal in the panel discussion might leak out to Chinese rivals.

Meanwhile, the US and EU accused China of using its Internet regulation program as an excuse to gain grounds over its foreign rivals.

“No other nation imposes such high demand from foreign companies. China should scrap the policy, or at least, suspend its implementation,” the group said in a statement.

Some of the companies believe that the Chinese government is helping its own companies at the expense of other countries’ technology, citing the recent dispute between Europe, America, and China.

The Chinese people have scaled back a technological plan to favor its companies’ technology products in US and European government procurement.

But this time, Washington stood pat, saying that China should now follow global norms in dealing with other countries.

“China is bullying the other companies by imposing a deadline that has no real base in reality,” a company spokesperson said.

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A new study by media watchdog Ofcom showed that the number of children, aged 12 years old and below, who have Facebook and other social networking accounts increased in the past couple of years.

According to the report, many of these children have ignored the age restrictions by the social networking sites by posing as older persons. The average age restriction for social networking sites is 13 years old.

The study also revealed that one out of five (19 percent) children, aged 12 years old below, uses social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace. But the most alarming fact about the study is one out of six parents did not even know that their kids have social networking accounts.

The study also included the number of young Internet users that visited social networking sites from their homes, showing the number grew by more than 37 percent.

Many of the experts who have reviewed the new data said that the new study could spark a new set of debates on how social networking sites should regulate theirs age policy. They also said that despite the warning on the age limit, there is no real verification process to distinguish if the applicants were on the right age group.

It will be recalled that Facebook has faced a barrage of criticism from Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center for its refusal to install the CEOP abuse report program in its website. The program aims to look after and report inappropriate behavior of the youth in the website.

Sophos Internet safety expert Graham Cluley said that there are mix types of dangers that children will encounter on social networking sites, including being preyed by adult users.

He also mentioned that racism is a popular topic among the people in this websites, which could potentially misinform millions of youth in the website.

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