Digital Lifescapes

Due to advancements in autostereoscopic 3D technology, it's now being utilized to view a variety of video content in mobile devices -- such as high-end smartphones and handheld game consoles. Autostereoscopy is any method of displaying stereoscopic images (adding perception of 3D depth) without the use of special headgear or glasses on the part of the viewer. Because headgear is not required, it is also called glasses-free or glasses-less 3D. As an example of the applications, Nintendo plans to release its first 3D-enabled handheld game console -- called the 3DS -- in the first half of 2011. According to the latest market study by In-Stat , this will be the beginning of what will result in over 11 million unit shipments of 3D-enabled handheld game consoles by 2014. "The uptake of 3D in handheld game consoles will happen more rapidly than in other mobile device segments over the coming year," says Stephanie Ethier at In-Stat. Apparently, this is primarily because t...

Are your home network device connections easy and seamless? Not to worry, neither are mine. That said, a growing number of digital media devices for home entertainment are receiving DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) certification. According to a new study from ABI Research, nearly 200 million such products shipped in 2008 -- that number will rise to more than 300 million in 2012, and the growth curve accelerates even faster in the years that follow. "Consumers increasingly desire ways to connect their various home entertainment devices and distribute digital media content around their homes," says digital home practice director Jason Blackwell. Without standardization, that is a nightmare. Specifications developed by the DLNA, which are based on the UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) standard, supposedly enable easy, seamless connections in a wide and growing range of consumer electronics devices. As of today, more than 5,500 devices have received the DLNA "seal of appr...

As the worldwide media player market matures, with shipment growth of only 5 percent in 2009, competitors are scrambling to add features such as touchscreens and Wi-Fi connectivity to re-ignite demand, according to the latest In-Stat market study. Just a few years ago, the Personal Media Player (PMP or MP3) player market was among the strongest growth segments in the portable consumer electronic (CE) industry. Today, the market is stalled due to weak consumer demand, a poor economic environment, a stalled replacement market, and competition from the iPhone and other audio/video-capable smartphones. "Among the lone bright spots in the PMP market is Wi-Fi enabled PMPs," says Stephanie Ethier, In-Stat analyst. "Unit shipments of Wi-Fi-enabled PMPs will grow more than four-fold by 2013 from the 14 million units shipped in 2008." In-Stat's market study found the following: - Total worldwide shipments of PMP players will reach 225 million in 2009, with Asia Pacific re...

In-Stat conducted a survey of their Technology Adoption Panel to determine what devices road warriors -- defined as those who travel five or more days in a typical month -- travel with, and what interface options they use. The results from 522 respondents show that these Digital Nomad travelers carry several devices, and stay connected through multiple interface options. The results show that 85 percent travel with a notebook PC, 66 percent with a mobile phone, 43 percent with a smart phone (defined as a combination mobile phone and computing device), 53 percent with a headset, 38 percent with a portable media player, 21 percent with an external storage drive, and 17 percent with a PDA. In terms of notebook connectivity, business travelers depend primarily on Wi-Fi, USB and Ethernet as their lifelines on the road. Wi-Fi was used by 93 percent of road warriors with notebooks, while USB was used by 84 percent and Ethernet by 72 percent. Those using Wi-Fi in their notebook employed it to ...