In case you hadn’t noticed, there was some trouble brewing in the NVIDIA camp. After ages of reigning atop the land of stereoscopic 3D playback on the PC, NVIDIA is finally being confronted with a real, bona fide standard for 3D, with zero GPUs capable of meeting it. The current NVIDIA 3D Vision -compatible cards pump out the necessary pixels over DisplayPort or dual DVI plugs, while the official spec for 3D TVs is an HDMI 1.4 plug that accepts data from both frames at once. We were in doubt there for a moment, but it turns out NVIDIA’s cards upgrade to 1.4 just fine, and all 3D Vision customers will be getting this as a free upgrade later this spring. NVIDIA will also be offering this 3DTV Play software in a standalone version for $40 to folks who don’t want to bother with NVIDIA’s 3D Vision stuff at all (with HDMI 1.4 you can just use the stereoscopic glasses that come with your fancy new 3D TV, no need for NVIDIA’s setup). NVIDIA is naturally hitting all the high points of the 1.4 spec, with 1080p24, 720p60 (the official gaming spec), and 720p50.

Lenovo ’s quietly unleashed three new 1080p resolution-boasting monitors. Up first, the 21.5-inch L2261 Wide LCD, a pretty basic affair with VGA and DVI inputs. The L2361p Wide is 23-inches, with a more stylized look than the L2261, with integrated speakers and microphone, a webcam, and three USB 2.0 ports. Finally, the real star of the show, the L2461X Wide is a 23.6-inch, multitouch display. It also has integrated speakers and microphone, a 2 megapixel webcam.

Greetings humans! If you’ve seen The Engadget Show, then you’ve been privy to some pretty incredible performances by a group of musicians and artists who eschew familiar instruments in exchange for hacked and modded handheld gaming devices. We grabbed our cameras and got a brief look at the history of the chiptunes movement, the difference between Game Boy music and music from Game Boys, and most importantly, how these artists and visualists make it all happen. Kick back and take a look at the segment (featuring the likes of Glomag , Paris , and Outpt ) — you’ll be glad you did! Special guests: Glomag , Paris , and Outpt Produced and Directed by: Chad Mumm Executive Producer: Joshua Fruhlinger Edited by: Michael Slavens Opening titles by: Julien Nantiec Download the Show: The Engadget Show Segment - 00 5 (HD) / The Engadget Show Segment - 005 (iPod / iPhone / Zune formatted) Subscribe to the Show: [ iTunes ] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (M4V). [ Zune ] Subscribe to the Show directly in the Zune Marketplace (M4V). [ RSS M4V ] Add the Engadget Show feed (M4V) to your RSS aggregator and have it delivered automatically

We talk about the FCC a lot here, but usually the ways ye olde Commission affects our lives are indirect. A little extra spectrum here, a nice leaked image there, that kind of thing. Not this time, though, as the FCC is getting involved directly with its own Consumer Broadband Test app, designed to probe network latencies and download speeds on your home connection or mobile device. Part of the hallowed National Broadband Plan , this will furnish the FCC will useful data to show the discrepancy between advertised and real world broadband speeds, and will also — more importantly perhaps — serve as a neat way for users to directly compare network performance in particular areas. It’s available on the App Market and App Store right now, with versions for other operating systems coming up, so why not get with the program and give it a test drive

Look. The hype has gotten to all of us. You’re up at some ungodly hour. You said you wouldn’t buy one til the third generation, but now look at your apple.com cart. Let me talk you down; Do what’s right. More

You’ve learned all you need to know about commenting and our tagpages , so it’s time to have some fun. Come join the conversations in #whitenoise . More

There are six iPad configurations to choose from and some helpful guides explaining which you should get. We thought we’d keep it simple and explain our feelings in nearly decent haiku. More

It used to be that jailbreaking your iPhone was a long, involved process , but worth it for the freedom . We’ve reached a new age, though, where emancipating your phone is as simple as plugging in an iDongle. Liberty! More

What do b-boys, random celebrities like Mark Sanchez, Andy Samberg and Hillary Duff, and the Black Eyed Peas have to do with 3DTV ? We’re not sure either, but that didn’t stop Samsung from mixing them up during its “worldwide launch event” yesterday in NYC. Check the video (embedded after the break) for the above revelation about 3D from the JIMP troubador himself, but what was going through the heads of our friend Jimmy C and the BEP when this picture was taken? Chris : “And see, just by turning this knob to the right, we can give Avatar a plot.” Richard Lawler : “If everyone starts wearing these, we’re going to need new outfits.” Nilay : “Fascinating. You say this is called a ‘lady lump?’” Joe : “What? Bono beat us to it?” Joanna : “That Neytiri, she’s a handful…” Paul : “I’ve gotta feeling that nothing of intellectual importance is happening here.” Continue reading Caption Contest: 3D is a mind blow, everyone can agree on that Caption Contest: 3D is a mind blow, everyone can agree on that originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:21:00 EST

Usually it’s frustrating to see a kickass video with no background info. This time, I don’t care. I don’t even want to know how or why someone made a Passat 4×4 . I just want to watch that sucker churn .