Chinavasion: 3D Photo Frame and Video Player

[Update 2011 10 31: I've now ordered one of these!]

I've been keeping my eyes open for a glasses-free, 3D photo frame and video player for a while. I think Rollei sold one with their 3D camera but I couldn't find a place I could just order it from.

China to the rescue! As we see more and more often these days, Chinese companies are stepping up to fill market niches with cool stuff of all kinds including 3D products.

"Chinavasion" is offering a device it calls "3D Stereoscopic 8 Inch HD Photo Frame and Video Player (Glasses-Free 3D) " and the price is quite reasonable (NZ$182 / US$130-ish). The name of the manufacturer isn't obvious. This is often the case. You may find if you Google around that the same device is being sold under a variety of names.

My experience with this sort of thing is very much BUYER BEWARE as the quality can be low (or VERY low) and the specs are often very close to NOT actually being able to do what the product promises.....but not quite. Or it could be a wee piece of massive awesome and you'd be glad you bought one. As build quality can be 'variable', sometimes you can even get both levels of quality - excellent or rubbish -  simply by buying two (apparently) identical units.

If you're feeling adventurous, then order one of these things. You'll either be very happy with it or you'll have an interesting horror story to add to your collection of stories about trash made in China. It's almost worth the money either way. :-)

Manufacturer Specifications

Color: White
Display: Glasses-free 8 inch parallax barrier TFT-LCD
Screen resolution: 1280 x 768
Optimal watching distance: 45-65cm
Memory:
Internal: 4GB
External: SD Card up to 32GB (not included)
Compatible File Types: 
2D: 
- Videos: MJPEG, MPEG1/2/4, Divx, Xvid, VC1, WMV, H.264, AVI, RMVB
- Pictures: JPEG, JPG, BMP, PNG
3D:
-Videos: 3DM, 3DV 
-Pictures: MPO, 3DG, 3DP
Other: 
-Music: MP3
-E-book: TXT
Power: AC 100-240V, 50/60HZ / Internal battery
Battery Capacity: 4000mAh
Battery Life: 2-4 hours depending on use
Built-in stereo speakers: YES
OSD Language: English, Chinese
Dimensions: 204 mm (W) x 139 (H) x 20 mm (D)