With the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show beginning in just a couple of days you can be sure the gadget news will start to fly fast and furiously. RSS feeds and Twitter streams will overflow with lots of fun goodies to spend money on. Some will be available, some will not. There were a couple of new items and announcements today that are worth noting. The biggest wave-maker, more than Google phone and the fact it doesn’t really support multi-touch yet, is the announcement of upcoming 3D cable channels.

Both ESPN and Discovery have announced upcoming channels that will broadcast in 3D. It looks like ESPN’s ESPN 3D will arise in 2010 and “will showcase a minimum of 85 live sporting events during its first year, beginning June 11 with the first 2010 FIFA World Cup match, featuring South Africa versus Mexico.” Discovery looks to partner with Sony and IMAX to “develop the first 24/7 dedicated 3D television network in the U.S.” There’s a full press release at the engadget link about the Discovery channel.

The time would seem ripe for this type innovation to begin to make its way into the living room. There’s a lot of elements coming together. Avatar has moved the 3D discussion to the water-cooler, there’s been a Blu-ray specification finalized to get discs into the home, new HDMI cables will be able to handle 3D and carry it from player to monitor and tv manufactures are ramping up their commitment to 3D tvs. You might even be able to buy your own designer 3D glasses.  And if you are really technical you can attend the 2010 3D TV conference in Finland. 3D moving into the mainstream has been a long time coming and the ability to work with stereoscopic materials are being added into our post-production tools as well. 3D just might stick this time. The 3D demos at NAB 2009 were very fun to watch. I’m sure this year there will be much more 3D all over the NAB show floor.

But 3D isn’t the only thing in the future. We all have heard rumors about the Apple tablet and how it might/will change content delivery once again. There is a great video that was posted on Vimeo back in December that shows an “example of how tablets will enable the creation of innovative, addictive experiences by publishers, media companies, and advertisers.” I have no idea how easy or difficult it might be to create the kind of interactivity demonstrated in the video below but if that’s the kind of thing the Apple tablet and various small, flat touch-screen devices will give us then I say bring it on!  I just wonder about the cost … not the cost of the device itself, but the monthly fees that will be required to make something like this work.

Sports Illustrated – Tablet Demo 1.5 from The Wonderfactory on Vimeo.

This collaboration between The Wonderfactory and Time, Inc. is an excellent example of how tablets will enable the creation of innovative, addictive experiences by publishers, media companies, and advertisers.