The race will be available on Direct TV’s newly launched 3-D channel n3D, as well as on Comcast, Time Warner, and Bright House cable systems. NASCAR is also providing coverage on it’s RaceBuddy 3D website.

FOR THE COMPLETE STORY ON NASCAR IN 3-D CLICK HERE

FOR THE COMPLETE STORY ON n3D CLICK HERE

Still no further details on the “Starbucks Digital Network” scheduled to roll-out this fall, offering free access to some paid content. The network will be available in US stores only and will be a partnership with Yahoo.

FOR THE COMPLETE STORY ON FREE WIFI CLICK HERE

FOR THE PRESS RELEASE ON STARBUCKS DIGITAL NETWORK CLICK HERE

(Thanks to Engadget and ReadWriteWeb.)

Many of you remember our event earlier this year on the subject of Augmented Reality. It was a great event and I am still getting feedback about it…including my good friend Dan Smigrod, CEO & Chief Creative Officer at GREAT! Dan has been in the media &  entertainment markeing/promotion business for many years and has always been on the cutting edge of the marriage of technology and marketing….and his recent blog posting is no exception.

By December 31, 2010, a major broadcast or cable TV network and one or more national brands – or Facebook – will do for QR codes in the U.S. what American Idol did for mobile texting. If you work at a major broadcast or cable network or major U.S. consumer brand and are first (in a big, useful, powerful way), you’ll also benefit from a massive amount of traditional consumer and trade media coverage; social media and word-of-mouth buzz.

This means you need to get started – today! QR codes just took-over Times Square, reports Mashable (6/11/10). Facebook is experimenting with quick response codes, reports TechCrunch (3/16/10. Google started testing the scan code waters, also reports TechCrunch (4/7/10). Now is the time to figure-out which scan code uses makes the most sense for your business. Like Twitter, scan codes cross corporate silos. (Marketers must take the leadership role among silos so that your company takes the correct scan code path to success from day 1.)

FOR THE COMPLETE STORY CLICK HERE

Interesting article from TVB: Television Broadcast

TOKYO: Japan is betting it will have holographic TV technology ready in time to host the 2022 World Cup soccer event. The Japan Times said the country unveiled its bid for the 2022 World Cup on Monday. Japan and South Korea would co-organize the event and employ 3D, holographic display technology into the coverage.

“The high-tech projects include images being beamed onto giant 3-D hologram-style flatbed screens, translation earpieces for fans of different nations to converse with each other, and devices to instantly capture information by pointing at players on the pitch,” The Times said.

FOR THE COMPLETE STORY CLICK HERE

TV used to mean two things: moving pictures with sound, and the box where they appeared. The box usually sat in the living room covered with family pictures. When someone said they would spend the evening watching TV, it meant they weren’t going anywhere.

People who appeared on TV shows really were stars. There were three networks. If you appeared on TV, everyone saw you. Now there are 300 networks and people appear on TV because they are from New Jersey, are a housewife, have a litter of kids or they are fat. Most of the people who now appear on TV do so because 300 times 24 times seven equals a lot.

FOR THE COMPLETE STORY CLICK HERE

(HTC EVO photo from Engadget.)

With the rollout of 4G services already underway at Sprint and the first round of 4G LTE testing nearly complete at Verizon, here are some milestones to watch out for:

Get ready for Sprint to debut its 4G capable Android powered HTC EVO 4G on June 4th at Sprint dealers, Radio Shack, Best Buy and Wal-Mart. With the introduction of 4G service in Boston, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. later this year, Android powered phones could become tough iPhone competitors.

Watch for Verizon to hedge its technology bets by possibly working with Google to develop an Android powered tablet to go along with its Motorola made Android powered Droid. As the Wall Street Journal reported, Google has both an operating system and content that Verizon could find both useful and profitable.

Fun story by Chuck Hollis/VP -Global Marketing and CTO EMC Corporation from his blog “Chuck’s Blog: A EMC’s insider perspective on information, technology and customer challenges…”

This one is most definitely off-topic, but you might find it interesting.

Last Sunday, I broke down and bought a non-3G iPad. I just was too damn curious. Walked into the Apple Store, played with it for 5 minutes, gave them my credit card, and walked out 15 minutes later.

Brought it home, set it up, downloaded some interesting stuff, and had a blast. Big geek fun

I then went off to work for the week, and left it home. And that’s when things got interesting …

Some Context

I’ve been married for almost 25 years, and have three kids, the youngest of which is 14. We have always had a lot of tech in the house.

A lot.

As I think about it now, we’ve got a fleet of 6 PC desktops of various vintages and three Windows laptops — two of them that actually work well. On the Apple side, we’ve got an iMac and two MacBook Airs of different vintages. We just updated the family NAS server to the most recent Iomega device.

We use Verizon FIOS 20Mb service and can keep it busy. Add in 3 printers, three separate wireless domains to cover the house, a few thingies that connect between the TVs, stereos and the in-house tech, countless MP3 players and USBs, gaggles of cables, Harmony remotes and — yes — you could say that we have a decent amount of tech in my family.

FOR THE COMPLETE STORY (WITH WITH A VERY COOL AUDIO APP) CLICK HERE

For example, “IFC in Theaters” sometimes releases a movie in theatrical distribution and on “on-demand” at the same time. They would be able to protect the on-demand showing of the movie for 90 days. (The issues are actually more complicated if you have an older TV with analog-only inputs: you might not be able to watch these new movies at all. The FCC does not see that as a problem, as they assumed that you have never been able to watch first run movies before, so you won’t miss not getting them.)

On engadget.com “RandomGuy” commented: “The FCC did the right thing by essentially calling their [the MPAA's] bluff and saying, sure go ahead and prevent analog, but only on titles that haven’t hit physical media, and only for 90 days. Meaning that the studios cannot easily use this on the content they really wanted to [all movies], while still allowing them to use it on the early pay-per-view that they requested.”

What do you think? “Speak Your Mind” below. (Registration required.)

FOR THE COMPLETE ENGADGET POST CLICK HERE.

FOR THE FULL FCC ORDER CLICK HERE.

Technology lives up to hype, but CR recommends waiting to buy

YONKERS, N.Y.: Consumer Reports tested several new 3DTV sets in its labs in what it calls “the first hands-on evaluation outside the manufacturers’ facilities.” So far, so good. The TVs live up to their billing, but the “average consumer shouldn’t rush out to buy one,” CR said.

The product examiners tested two Samsung LCD 3DTVs and a Panasonic plasma set. CR said the results were “impressive…. The 3D images had excellent depth, color, and high-def details, creating a compelling 3D picture as good as a movie theater.” It recommended that folks who are perfectly happy with the relatively new HDTV sets wait for subsequent generations of 3D sets. Later models are likely to be cheaper.

FOR THE COMPLETE STORY CLICK HERE

Interesting article from a new documentary from Discovery Channel

Stephen Hawking: Human, alien interaction ‘risky’ business

By Associated Press | Monday, April 26, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Television News

LONDON – Earthlings would be on the losing end of close encounters with aliens, warned renowned British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking.

Hawking, in a new documentary, said aliens are out there but they are so far advanced it could be too dangerous for humans to interact with extraterrestrial life.

FOR THE COMPLETE STORY CLICK HERE