Panasonic Japan, just like everyone else, is going 3D crazy. Today they presented 6 3D products to be rolled out soon. And the company has priced and dated these new TVs, Blu-ray recorders and players for the Japanese market.

The VIERA TH-P54VT and TH-P50VT2 feature 54 inches and 50 inches of screen size. Both plasma TVs are full HD with 3D. Sadly you need to wear Active shutter glasses for that 3D experience. Some other specs include a contrast ratio of 5,000,000:1, VIERA link, web connectivity, 4 HDMI ports, multiple TV tuners, eco-mode, full range 16×4cm×2 speakers and a 10cm sub-woofer. Be prepared to pay a premium for the 3D experience.

3D is all the rage right now, so we’ll be seeing tons of 3D technology this year. This one is from Acer. The GD235HZ is a 23.6-inch, 1080p LCD display, with 3D capabilities that require NVIDIA’s 3D Vision active shutter glasses, which are sold separately.

The LCD itself will cost ya $399 and an additional $199 for the NVIDIA kit. You’ll also need a compatible graphics card. Yeah, if you are going 3d, it isn’t cheap, but you already knew that. And there isn’t much 3D content right now either.

3D TVs aren’t even available yet, neither are 3D Blu-ray discs. But if you want to buy into the whole 3D craze I guess you better start buying stuff. How long the fad will last is anybody’s guess, but hey at least you’ll be all set right?

Samsung’s BD-C6900 is the company’s first 3D Blu-ray player, and its available now for pre-order on Amazon. Samsung wants you to buy your 3D gear now, not later when you can actually use it. You can still put on the glasses and pretend. Who’s going to know?

I am more excited about the prospect of 3D TV in my living room than I was at the thought of HDTV a few years ago. This year we will see lots of new 3D TVs and 3D content hit the market for home users.

Samsung has announced that it will be the first major panel maker to start mass producing 3D panels in LED and LCD styles. The screens will require active glasses and boast 240Hz refresh rates. The refresh rate will allow for 120Hz to each eye.

The Samsung 9000 LED LCD will provide support for 3D and will come with a sexy touch-based remote that looks like a tall iPhone with a Samsung logo. The remote has a touch interface and actually shows video from various sources. It can convert anything 2D into 3D.

Along with the 9000, Samsung also showed off some other flatscreens like the 8000, which features edge lit technology, 2D to 3D conversion, and the 7000 that Features Samsung’s ‘Touch of Color’, and a 4-legged stand, as well as the 6500 with DLNA streaming, but no 3D. Lastly the 5000 with low power usage, USB playback, and DLNA.

Recently Light Blue Optics unveiled a Holographic laser equipped Light Touch projector for interactive touchscreens images. Today LG has announced the CF3D, the world’s first full HD, 3D Single Lens Type Projector.

It features a stunning brightness capability of 2,500 ANSI-lumens and a high contrast ratio of 7,000:1. The LG CF3D also sports TruMotion 120Hz for smoother image projection. The images projected out of the CF3D are said to have improved color quality and a more life-like appearance.

I was glad to hear this week that the specifications for 3D Blu-ray had been finalized. I was even more excited to hear that my PS3 would support 3D Blu-ray reaffirming my feeling that the PS3 is the best Blu-ray player around.

Sony and RealD announced today that they were teaming up to bring RealD 3D tech to the home in Sony TVs and other products. If you have seen a 3D film at the theater recently it was probably powered by RealD tech.

In early 2010 Audi will be bringing the next generation of the A8 to the masses. You’ll be glad to know that the new vehicle will have a variety of Google services on board. The multimedia interface (MMI) navigation plus features a highly evolved operating concept with a touchpad called the MMI touch.

The system also boasts an integrated hard disk for navigation, phone and audio data along with a graphics processor capable of high-quality 3D images. The MMI system will also analyze navigation data and relay information to the control unit managing the automatic cruise control with Stop & Go, adaptive lights and the 8-speed tiptronic gearbox. Yep, this is like a Batmobile.

Oh joy. The Blu-ray Disc Association has now issued the official specs for 3D Blu-ray, confirming that the discs will be backwards-compatible. The PS3 will be able to play 3D Blu-ray discs, and upcoming 3D players will be able to play 2D discs as well.

The discs will use Multiview Video Coding (or MVC) and will use 50 per cent less space on discs compared to 2D content. The content will be full 1080p, so even though you’re watching your flick in 3D, the quality should be good still.

Looks like we might be able to enjoy 3D Blu-ray movies by next summer. According to NVIDIA’s PR manager for the UK and Northern Europe, Ben Berraondo, the Blu-ray Association has finally agreed on the details of 3D Blu-ray.

NVIDIA’s 3D Vision Technology will be able to display this new standard, but most of us would need to upgrade our existing hardware as many HDTVs run at a 60Hz refresh rate, while 3D films require a refresh rate of 120Hz. I’m still not sure this 3D thing isn’t just a fad, but I guess no one wants to miss out, so every company is jumping on the bandwagon.

Like it or not, 3D is coming. LG is leading the charge having just announced the world’s first mass produced Full HD 3D monitor. This guy is 23 inches diagonally, but other than that we don’t have much info yet.

But we do know that Korea plans to introduce Full HD 3D broadcasts and that there are satellite 3D broadcasting trials that will take place in the UK and Japan. So you won’t soon be able to escape the 3D no matter where you run.

Looks like the Koreans have gone 3D crazy. Crazy about implementing 3D. Crazy like a 3D fox. The Korea Communications Commission has announced that it will start broadcasting 3D broadcasts in full HD quality in 2010.

Licensing starts in January, so the first broadcasts should be by mid-year. We’ve seen 3D satellite broadcasts tested in Japan and the UK, but this will be delivered through terrestrial networks. I wonder if we will get all 3D crazy over here. Good luck grabbing that pack of smokes from Joe Camel.

Looks like it won’t be long before you are gaming on the PS3 with 3D technology. According to Sony, your current PS3 can support 3D with a firmware update. Sony wants into the 3D market and they are not just dipping a toe in either.

They will be offering 3D tools to developers making games on its platform. Not sure if we’ve heard anything about what Nintendo and Microsoft plan to do about 3D technology, but now that Sony has weighed in, they will likely speak up soon. The Xbox 360 could probably take the firmware route as well.

Hyundai has two new 3D LCD monitors for the European market. The 22-inch W220S and the 24-inch W240S. Both monitors come complete with polarized glasses to insure that you look your dorkiest while taking in that sweet 3D.

Some other features include a 1,000:1 contrast ratio, two 3W speakers, a D-Sub port, a DVI port and an HDMI port. The W220S has a native resolution of 1680 x 1050 pixels with a 5ms response time, while the W240S offers a higher resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels with 6ms response time.

We spied the Acer Aspire 5738DG online a few days back and today the notebook has gone official. The special thing about the new machine is that it is the first notebook from Acer to support 3D content. The machine turns normal 2D content into 3D.

The special notebook has a TriDef 3D screen measuring 15.6-inch wide. The resolution is 1366 x 768 and the panel has 220nit brightness. Graphics for the machine are via ATI HD 4570 with 512MB of VRAM. Acer uses Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit for the OS.