3-d, 3d | featured news

The promise of home 3-D printing is that you can construct anything you want from the comfort and convenience of your own living room. For a group whose mission is to 3-D print a working pistol from scratch, however, that promise has been revoked.

This past Memorial Day weekend broke box office records, but 3-D stumbled.

It certainly is not Avatar. Sumptuous costumes, golden keys opening doors to reveal orgies in imperial China and plenty of erotic action in lurid 3D – Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy, the world's first major three-dimensional pornograhic movie, is generating a lot of excitement in China.

The 3DS is Nintendo's follow-up to its successful and incredibly lucrative DS console. The new handheld launched last Sunday with the typical tech-demo titles like Pilotwings Resort, Steel Diver, and Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition. And the glasses-free 3D effects selling point? Very effective.

From Hollywood studios to Japanese TV makers, powerful business interests are betting 3-D will be the future of entertainment, despite a major drawback: It makes millions of people uncomfortable or sick.Optometrists say as many as one in four viewers have problems watching 3-D movies and TV, either because 3-D causes tiresome eyestrain or because the viewer has problems perceiving depth in real life. In the worst cases, 3-D makes people queasy, leaves them dizzy or gives them headaches.

Imax, the big-screen movie specialist, said its global gross box-office sales more than doubled in 2010, thanks to additional theaters and big 3-D blockbusters.

The eyesight of children under six could be harmed by 3D games played on Nintendo's forthcoming handheld console, the company warns.

As Toshiba prepares to start selling the world's first glasses-free 3-D televisions in Japan this week, the company says it plans to go global with a larger model of over 40 inches in the coming fiscal year.

Shoppers ignored Best Buy Co Inc's promotion of pricey 3D televisions and other high-end gadgets this holiday season as they chased bargains elsewhere, hammering the company's profits.

The Monkey King character from Chinese folklore will be revived in a $60 million 3-D blockbuster starring Donnie Yen and Chow Yun-fat, as local filmmakers try to match the massive success of "Avatar" by launching their own productions in the new format.