Satellite Broadcaster BSkyB, has demonstrated its new three-dimensional television (3DTV) system. The new system can broadcast 3DTV into homes using existing high-definition TV infrastructure.

Three-dimensional viewing is on a roll. Games systems are pushing the development of 3D screens. Nvidia's newer graphics cards use Stereo Gaming technology to enhance some of the most popular PC games.

The magic specs were back in the cinema this year with 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth' and 'Beowulf' both doing well at the box office. Other 3D movies such as 'Toys Story 3' and 'Ice Age – Dawn of the Dinosaurs' are due out in 2009.

According to BSkyB 3DTV is not far behind. Sky engineers have so far broadcast sporting events and the TV show Gladiators.

The BSkyB system requires viewers to wear special 3D glasses. Technology allowing viewing of 3D shows without special glasses will be cheap enough to use in the home in five to ten years time.

The system also requires a special television set capable of converting the dual pictures sent over the satellite link, into a 3D display. Mitsubishi launched a 73-inch 3D television receiver in June 2008. Other companies are expected to follow in 2009 with prices in the £2,000 range (US$3000).

Extensible Markup Language (XML) is something I have often encountered, but never mastered. It was developed by the World Wide Web Consortium and is a general-purpose specification for creating custom markup languages. As it allows the user to define the mark-up elements, it is an extensible language.

Like most developers I have a working knowledge of HTML, which is an XML developed to define the layout of web pages. But XML has far more uses than just a way of defining pretty internet sites. Its purpose is to allow information systems to share structured data. It can be used to define data structures, as well as the data.

Tools, such as XQuery can be used to query these XML data structures in a similar way to SQL can be used to query a relational database. Many popular internet applications, such as the Wordpress blogging application this site uses, use XML.

I am definitely not an XML superstar by any stretch of the imagination. Do you think you could be? IDUG want to increase awareness and familiarity with XQuery, XML and DB2. So they are sponsoring a contest, open to students, professional and hobbyist developers alike.

There are five separate tracks, so you are bound to find something that suits you. You can enter one or more tracks, up to all five.

• Video Contest: Upload a video, judged by the community, prizes awarded monthly.
• Gadget Contest: Create a small widget or gadget, judged by the community, prizes awarded monthly.
• XQuery Challenge: Answer a series of questions by developing queries in XQuery. All correct answers (answer and query structure) entered to win larger prizes.
• Port an Application: Port an existing application to use XML, XQuery or DB2. Judged by a panel of judges.
• Develop an application: Develop a brand new application using XML and/or XQuery. Judged by a panel of judges

You Can Do It!

Don't hide your light under a bushel, gain recognition for your hard won skills. Step up for your chance to win thousands of dollars in prizes ranging from Wiis to complimentary places at technical conferences. Go to the XML Challenge site now to enter the competition.

JHL-40

The Jess Heavy Lifter – 40 (JHL-40) will have a helium filled envelope sized so that the aircraft will be neutrally buoyant. This means that its four rotors lift only the payload. By comparison, the Russia’s Mil Mi-26, the world’s largest helicopter, can lift only half the payload with a similar power plant because it must lift its own weight as well.

"SkyHook secured the patent for this neutrally buoyant aircraft and approached Boeing with the opportunity to develop and build the system," said Pat Donnelly, director of Advanced Rotorcraft Systems for Boeing. "We conducted a feasibility study and decided this opportunity is a perfect fit for Advanced Systems' technical capabilities."

Designed by SkyHook founder Peter Jess, the JHL-40 will use rotor technology from the Chinook helicopter, avionics and flight controls technology from the 787 and Boeing’s experience as a lead systems integrator. "If you have to develop all of that technology from scratch on this aircraft we wouldn’t be sitting here today," Donnelly told Flight Global.

SkyHook envisages the aircraft operating in harsh environments such as the Canadian Arctic and Alaska providing transport for gas oil and mining industries. It hopes that the JHL-40 will be an environmentally acceptable alternative to building new roadways in remote areas. As it uses less fuel than a helicopter for a given load, the JHL-40 is expected to reduce the carbon footprint of the projects it supports.

Image: Boeing / SkyHook

In its annual "E-Communications Household Survey", the European Commission highlights trends in telecommunications within the European Union (EU). The report provides a snapshot of a continent in transition, but contains few surprises.

The report, (2.78 MB) released Jun. 27, show some marked differences between the old EU states and the newer members. With the newer states, leapfrogging landline technologies to mobile ones, a pattern often found in developing economies.

The survey of 27,000 households was carried out between Nov. 9 and Dec. 14, 2007.