These and other recent technology developments have been marketed using the hot new term “cloud” services. While true cloud computing is slightly more complicated than these services, it works on fundamentally the same principle.Cloud Computing Basics
Cloud computing refers to any collection of resources used and accessed by connecting to a digital network called “the cloud.” The cloud can be small-scale, involving resources stored on small networks (LAN or WAN), or large-scale, involving resources stored and accessed over the Internet. With cloud computing, users can access data and programs using computers, netbooks, pad computers, vehicle tracking, smart phones or other devices. Rather than installing and downloading data or software on individual devices, users connect to the cloud to access applications and data.

With cloud computing, any device that can connect to the cloud can access the same pool of applications, files, and computing power. Users can play games or use word processing software without installing anything to their own devices, and can store and access data such as text files, music, photos, and videos without the need for a personal physical storage device.

Cloud computing differs from previous forms of computing in that it does not require users to have any understanding of the systems or infrastructures used to store and access data. Instead, users simply access data and applications through a web browser or other simple interface. This allows for individual user machines to be simpler and cheaper, reducing the need for hard drive space or processor speeds.

Current Cloud Systems
Web-based e-mail services such as Gmail, Yahoo Mail and AOL Mail are one form of cloud computing that has become widespread and has been around for years. Rather than install and access e-mail programs on home computers, users simply log-in and access an e-mail interface and their e-mail data stored on the provider’s system. Users can access data on any machine with Internet access, rather than storing data on individual hard drives or data storage devices.

Google has also implemented cloud computing into their suite of Google Apps, including Google Docs. With access to a Gmail account, users can open a word processing application that allows them to create and store documents completely online, using storage space on Google’s networks.

Somewhat similarly to Apple’s iCloud, Amazon has recently launched a service called Cloud Drive that gives users 5GB of free data storage, and more space for a price. Users can upload music and other files to Amazon’s networks, and access this data from any Internet-connected device. While files and documents have to be downloaded onto devices for access, music can be streamed directly from the cloud through a standard Web browser.

The Future of Cloud Computing
Cloud computing has become so popular recently in large part due to the increasing ease of access to the Internet and other networks. Developments in wireless technology, including 4G networking and widespread Wifi networks, have made access to the Internet possible almost anywhere, and connection speeds increasingly faster.

Also, as devices such as pad computers and smart phones become important ways for users to access the Internet and data, cloud computing may become more prevalent. Steve Jobs has said that he sees a post-PC world coming on the horizon. In this post-PC future, users would only need simple, low-cost devices and would pay for access to clouds of data and applications.

Of course, like anything hot in the technology field, cloud computing could turn out to be a passing fad that fizzles out over the next couple of years, but it also could turn out to be the way of the future.

3D technology gives a sense of depth to a 2D display. Your brain perceives the world in 3D automatically, processing the images received separately from your right eye and from your left eye. Faking 3D relies on sending slightly different images of the same scene to each eye and letting the brain do the processing. Today, there are three technologies that can create believable 3D effects.Passive Polarized Glasses
Polarization is a way to filter light so that only light beams of the same orientation are seen. One polarizing filter delivers one image to one eye, and a different polarizing filter delivers an image as seen from a slightly different direction to the other eye. The display device must be able to deliver images at different polarizations.

This technology is the cheapest method for 3D. However, the quality of the images are not that good. Many of the less expensive 3D televisions on the market now use this technology. Dolby, however, has developed a proprietary 3D system that does produce higher quality images — this system is used currently in many 3D movie theaters.

Active LCD Shutter Glasses
In this technology, eyeglasses have an LCD screen for each eye and an infrared receiver to synchronize the LCD screens with the movie being shown. Remember, a movie is simply still frames projected at a speed that your eyes see as motion. The active shutter method essentially closes one eye at a time, letting one eye see one frame and the other eye see the next. A film made for this method projects alternate frames of a scene seen from one angle, then from another angle. The LCDs turn off and on so quickly that the moments of blackness for one eye and then the other are not even perceived.

This technology is the 3D platform of choice today. Miniaturization of the components has begun. It’s true that bulky headsets are being used now in 3D movie theaters, but the main purpose for the size is not technology, but rather security — it’s hard to smuggle out one of those bulky headsets. Still, to see 3D, you must don a headset, and many people would rather not. For 3D without glasses, we must turn to the next technology …

Parallax Display
No eyeglasses are needed for this technology. The 3D effect is seen directly on a screen containing tiny angled edges or filters that can present different images when viewed at various angles. One limiting factor is the small number of viewing angles at which 3D can be perceived. When viewing the screen outside those 3D viewing angles, all that is seen is a blur of the two original images.

Many manufacturers and companies are developing this parallax technology, and its use is evolving even as you read this. 3D camera and gaming consoles are now being developed with parallax displays. Because no special eyeglasses are needed, this technology may turn out to be the primary one for 3D in the future.