Imagine watching the latest Hollywood blockbuster at home in full 3D without cumbersome glasses. Or picture a cooking channel with food so vivid you feel you could almost eat it, or being able to seamlessly watch several live programmes on one TV screen while having your latest Facebook updates scroll below. Taking 3D technology from the silver screen to the living room is what electronics makers and media companies are banking on becoming the next big thing after the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, which finished yesterday.
The TV makers Sony, LG Electronics, Panasonic, Vizio and Samsung Electronics demonstrated several 3D TV product lines at the trade show. Cable networks such as HDNet, ESPN and Discovery have all committed to broadcasting in 3D this year, with a dedicated 3D channel expected to be launched by the end of the year. Intel, the world's largest microchip maker, said it would begin making products to bring the internet on to TV screens and provide the computing power needed to create 3D content for the home.
"We expect 3D to move from the [Hollywood] studio to the home," Paul Otellini, the chief executive of Intel, said in a keynote presentation on Thursday. Building on the success of the science fiction epic Avatar, 3D TVs are being regarded as an industry saviour after a year where the consumer electronics industry revenues rose only 0.3 per cent to US$165.3 billion (Dh607.16bn), the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) said. Electronics sales decreased by 7.8 per cent, the CEA said.
"This really will be the next big thing," said Steve Koenig, the director of industry analysis at the CEA. "All the stakeholders in the industry, from the device manufacturers to the content producers and the sales channel, everyone is on board to make this happen." But amid all the publicity, analysts are not certain whether 3D TVs will be able to have an immediate effect this year. James McQuivey, an analyst at Forrester Research, said he expected half of the US population to own 3D TVs in 10 years, about the same amount of time it took for high-definition TVs to be adopted in the US.
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dgeorgecosh@thenational.ae
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The Gentlemen
Director: Guy Ritchie
Stars: Colin Farrell, Hugh Grant
Three out of five stars
The BIO:
He became the first Emirati to climb Mount Everest in 2011, from the south section in Nepal
He ascended Mount Everest the next year from the more treacherous north Tibetan side
By 2015, he had completed the Explorers Grand Slam
Last year, he conquered K2, the world’s second-highest mountain located on the Pakistan-Chinese border
He carries dried camel meat, dried dates and a wheat mixture for the final summit push
His new goal is to climb 14 peaks that are more than 8,000 metres above sea level
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
Company Profile
Name: Direct Debit System
Started: Sept 2017
Based: UAE with a subsidiary in the UK
Industry: FinTech
Funding: Undisclosed
Investors: Elaine Jones
Number of employees: 8
Moonfall
Director: Rolan Emmerich
Stars: Patrick Wilson, Halle Berry
Rating: 3/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: SmartCrowd
Started: 2018
Founder: Siddiq Farid and Musfique Ahmed
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech / PropTech
Initial investment: $650,000
Current number of staff: 35
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Various institutional investors and notable angel investors (500 MENA, Shurooq, Mada, Seedstar, Tricap)