Toshiba Developing No-Glasses 3-D Televisions

Japanese electronics maker Toshiba Corp. said Tuesday it is developing technology for a 3-D television that won't require special glasses.
Company spokeswoman Yuko Sugahara confirmed such technology was in the works. But she declined to comment on a report in the Yomiuri newspaper that the Tokyo-based company plans to start selling the new TVs by the end of the year.
Mainstream 3-D TVs now on sale, such as those from rivals Panasonic Corp. and Sony Corp., require glasses. But there are already screens that don't require glasses, mainly intended for store displays. They require the viewer to stand in specific spots for the 3-D effect to emerge, and the image quality is much lower than that of screens using glasses.
Yomiuri said Mitsubishi's technology involves transmitting different images at various angles to create an illusion of dimension and depth, a principle used by current glasses-free monitors.
Electronics companies have been investing heavily in 3-D technology for televisions, betting that people will want a 3-D experience at home following the success of blockbuster movies such as "Avatar," which was screened in 3-D.
Some gadgets such as handheld game machines from Nintendo Co. can deliver 3-D images without special glasses.
"Many people don't like to wear glasses to watch TV for a long time, especially people who must wear 3-D glasses over regular glasses," Sugahara said.
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Drinking Water Before Meals Helps Weight Loss

Drinking two glasses of water before each meal may help you lose weight, according to a new study presented Monday at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society in Boston.

Obese dieters who drank two 8-ounce glasses of water before breakfast, lunch and dinner lost five pounds more than dieters who didn't increase their water intake. Those who drank more water also kept more of the weight off after a year, said Brenda Davy, an associate professor at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.

The study included only middle-aged and older adults between the ages of 55 and 75 who were on diet - 1,200 calories per day for women and 1,500 calories per day for men. Half of the people were told to drink 16 ounces of water before every meal. After three months, the dieters who drank water had lost an average of about 15.5 pounds, while those who didn't lost just 11 pounds.

It's a popular anecdote that drinking more water will help you lose weight. Davy's study is the first randomized controlled trial to test the theory.

But Davy isn't sure why drinking water before meals helps with weight loss. But according to the Health.com report, a reason might be that it helps fill your stomach, making you less hungry

Dell debuts first U.S. smartphone at $100

The long-anticipated move by the computer manufacturer puts Dell in competition with Apple Inc, the market leader in smartphones, and with a clutch of other phones that use Google Inc's Android operating system.

Round Rock, Texas-based Dell said its new smartphone will sell for $99.99 with a 2-year contract from AT&T, or $299.99 without the contract.
Dell said the Aero will be one of the lightest Android smartphones in the United States, and will support Adobe Systems Inc's Flash software. That sets Dell apart from Apple, which has declined to use Flash on its mobile devices.
The personal computer maker entered the smartphone market in late 2009 with the release of its Mini 3 in China. The company also released a 5-inch tablet called the Streak this month, which also runs on Android and uses the AT&T network for phone calls. That will compete with Apple's iPad.
The worldwide smartphone market is expected to grow 36 percent to 247 million units in 2010 from 182 million in 2009 according to IT research outfit iSuppli.