Chances are you’ve made the big leap to High Definition, and you might have even made the leap from DVD to Blu-ray. Well, here we go again. Early next year, stores will start selling an entirely new set of television components, all promising the wonders of 3D. This will include new 3D HDTVs, new 3D Blu-ray players, new 3D Blu-ray discs, and of course, 3D glasses. None of these will work with your existing components, except to play normal movies as usual. If you want 3D, and the home entertainment business is betting everything that you will, you’ll need to replace everything. Everything.

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As the home video industry gears up for the launch of 3D movies on Blu-ray next year, Sony’s music division has already jumped ahead with their own experimental 3D product. Launching today in Europe on Blu-ray is forsenses, a film that is designed to explore the boundaries of High Definition video, headphone-3D surround sound audio, and mobile 3D on the iPod Touch and iPhone. [More]

This coming Tuesday will see the release of the December issue of Esquire Magazine. It's a special issue, filled from cover-to-cover with Augmented Reality codes that allow photos and articles to come alive when you hold them up in front of a webcam. Actor Robert Downey Jr. smashes through the cover and in a fashion piece, a model tries on different clothes. It's more than just the magazine adding a quick gimmick, the digital wizards at The Barbarian Group, the creative company who developed the technology at Esquire really play with what's possible. With one of the magazine's photos, you get to control the weather by tipping the photo at different angles, in another photo Gillian Jacobs will tell you a joke based on the time of day. Come back later and you'll get a different joke. You'll need to download the software from the Esquire site and of course a copy of the magazine, although if you can't wait, Mashable has some of the pages for you to download and try here and here.  

The BlackBerry Storm 2 9550, the follow-up to Research In Motion's first touchscreen smartphone, is now available starting today through Telus for $199 on a three-year contract. The biggest change from the first is the addition of Wi-Fi. From there it still uses a clickable touchscreen, 3G data connection (using Telus' original CDMA network, not the new HSPA) and the ability to download apps from the BlackBerry App World Store. It has a large 3.25" screen with an improved web browser and virtual keyboard. In addition to the messaging and e-mail features we've come to love from all BlackBerry devices, the Storm 2 also has built-in GPS, a 3.2 MP camera, bluetooth and speakerphone. [More]

Google has released another playful way to explore search results, this time offering a different perspective on pictures. Type a search into Google Image Swirl and you'll return a series of image stacks made of pictures that are similar both in a visual sense, but also in a semantic sense, meaning that it could be an excellent way to sort out results that are confusing, such as typing in "pirates" and getting results for a football team or apple and getting a computer company. A quick glance at the stacks will tell you which collection has the meaning you're after. Once you've chosen a stack, it'll open up into a swirl, sorting the results again into sub-groups that surround the original, and again after that. The idea is to help you quickly find the right image you're looking for. It's certainly works fast and would work really well with a touchscreen.  [More]

Fresh and very engaging, Adventurous Eric tells is a game that tells a fun story of a cat who follows his curiosity through hand-sketched animation and upbeat music. Your tasks is to follow along with your mouse. You'll need a steady hand to guide your mouse cursor through the developing path that begins first with a single white bubble, and then grows across the screen. Keep the cursor in play and the story will move forward. A very original concept, so well presented. 

Sony Canada announced today that Blyth Academy, which consists of three high school campuses in the Toronto region, has made the switch between traditional printed textbooks to digital versions loaded into Sony Reader Touch Edition devices. According to Sony Canada, this would make Blyth Academy the first high school in the world to make the switch. Each student will be supplied with a Sony e-book reader pre-loaded with course textbooks, outlines, assignments, reference materials, background reading, and personal timetables. Students will also be given access to a digital library of literature and additional class materials including digital assets needed for university admission. Sony says that among the publishers providing content is Pearson Canada. [More]

After a very long wait, Canadians can finally start placing their orders for the Amazon Kindle. The popular e-book reader, which was first launched in the United States in 2007, is now available for Canadian orders and shipment from Amazon.com for $259 US. The Canadian launch brings with it a limitations on select features. [More]

The mark of a good e-book reader is the ability to deliver the pleasure of reading, of losing yourself within the theatre of a good story, while continuing the relationship you already have with the books you love. This is something the Amazon Kindle, now into its second generation design and available for the first time to Canadians, does well even as it grapples with technical issues that want to spoil the experience. [More]