Istation announces a 3D tablet

KOREAN MANUFACTURER Istation has beaten the bigger boys to the punch by announcing that it will launch a 3D tablet later this Autumn.

Today's mantra is, if it has an e-pulse and a display, get it up and running in 3D, even if that means cobbling together a gadget from spare parts. Rather than wait for a glassesless 3D world to arrive, Istation has put together its Z3 3D tablet that requires you to keep some spare stereoscopic glasses handy.

Istation claims with marketing bravado that it is releasing the world's first 3D tablet. There's not much information on the Z3 3D tablet in the digital ether, but it's built on a 7-inch chassis and sports a 800x400 resolution display, although Istation claims it supports full HD 1080p video output. It will come with Android 2.1.

The Z3 3D tablet will also have WiFi, Bluetooth, an FM radio and a host of other multi-media tablet features when it's released in November. As for the glasses, Istation isn't giving anything away but it will probably be passive shutter polarised technology. We can't expect buyers to fork out £100 for active shutter, which will be nearly a third of the price of the £330 Z3 3D tablet itself. That would also require users to have a plug-in IR receiver in their pocket, so no dice.

We're not stuck on portable 3D devices, unless they use Sharp's glassesless parallax barrier display. In other words, we mean Nintendo's 3DS, which is the only portable 3D hardware on the market that doesn't need you to don glasses. But Istation obviously couldn't miss the opportunity to make some money from punters easily persuaded to part with their cash for a 3D gadget. µ