ESPN and Discovery TV’s planning to push 3-D viewing

Two major cable networks, ESPN and Discovery planning to push 3-D viewing.
ESPN and Discovery, said yesterday that they plan to start beaming 3-D entertainment into peoples’ homes for the first time.
Riding what could be one of the next big waves in consumer electronics, ESPN said it will have a 3-D channel for broadcasting live sports events in time for the June 11 FIFA World Cup soccer match. The channel will not operate 24 hours a day but plans at least 85 live events in its first year.

Separately, Discovery Communications Inc., which owns Discovery, TLC, and other cable channels, said it will partner with Imax Corp. and Sony Corp. to bring out its own full-time 3-D network in 2011.

It is yet to be seen whether 3-D can make inroads in the home. For viewers, it will probably mean buying new TV sets and wearing 3-D glasses.

But enthusiasm for the new technology has been building across the industry, with electronics makers, cable and satellite companies, and content providers betting they can get consumers to shell out money for new TVs and channels. They hope 3-D blockbusters such as James Cameron’s “Avatar,’’ still strong in its third week in theaters, can get enough people excited about characters popping off the screen.

Last year, 3-D films took in more than $1 billion at box offices worldwide. And major electronics makers such as Sony Corp. and Panasonic Corp. are planning to market 3-D-capable TVs this year.

“The trouble is going to be how do you take the enthusiasm about what’s happening in movie theaters and bring it into the home,’’ said Greg Ireland, an analyst with the market research firm IDC.

Aside from getting people to wear funny-looking glasses in their living rooms, Ireland said, the big challenge will be providing enough 3-D material to justify consumers’ buying new sets.

Another hurdle could be the inevitable wrangling over the fees that cable networks such as Discovery charge the cable TV and satellite operators that pipe their shows into peoples’ homes. Such disputes have already led Scripps Networks Interactive Inc. to pull its HGTV and the Food Network from Cablevision Systems Corp. lineups.

Neither ESPN, owned by Walt Disney Co., nor Discovery had any deals with cable or satellite operators lined up.

First Armani hotel at Burj Dubai

Armani Hotel Dubai, marking ace fashion designer Giorgio Armani's foray into the hospitality sector, will throw open its door to public from
this March.
Dubai tower, the hotel will be officially inaugurated on March 18, while online booking will begin later this month, an announcement in this regard was made today.

Armani Hotel Dubai is the first hotel built in collaboration Giorgio Armani and Emaar Properties, the leading developers of Gulf and is the first in the series of hotels, resorts and residences designed by Armani.

The opening of the Armani Hotel in Dubai will be followed by Armani Hotel Milano as the group has plans to open at least ten hotels and resorts in next ten years.

Other developments underway include a resort in Marrakech, Morocco and Residence villas in Marassi, Egypt.

Armani has plans to build hotels, resorts and residences in key international destinations such as New York, Tokyo,Shanghai and London under an agreement between Giorgio Armani S.p.A. and Emaar Properties.

Giorgio Armani Group is one of the leading fashion and luxury goods groups in the world and designs, manufactures, distributes and retails fashion and lifestyle products including apparel, accessories, eyewear, watches, jewellery, home furnishings, fragrances and cosmetics.

"The Burj Dubai opening would have a positive impact on the first three quarters of 2010," said Chairman Emaar Properties, Mohamed Alabbar, who held a media briefing for the opening of the skyscraper.

Marriage can keep mental health good & healthy...

Marriage can keep mental health good & healthy...According a New Zealand-led international study ....

GETTING married is good & positive for the mental health of both men and women.

The world-first study, led by clinical psychologist Kate Scott from the University of Otago, Wellington, was based on World Health Organisation mental health surveys across developing and developed countries in the past decade, and published in the UK journal Psychological Medicine.

By contrast, separation, divorce or being widowed was associated with substantially increased risk of mental health disorders in both genders; particularly substance abuse for women and depression for men.

"One of the more important findings is that in recent years it has been asserted that marriage is better for men than for women in terms of mental health. This study does not agree with that position," Dr Scott said.

"We found that compared to never getting married, getting married is good for both men and women in terms of most mental health disorders."

However, the study did find that men were less likely to become depressed in their first marriage than women.

Dr Scott said this may be linked to traditional gender roles in the home.

Significant gender role differences in the home could have an effect on mental health problems for married women.

The other gender difference the study found was that getting married reduced risk of substance use disorders more for women than for men.

Dr Scott said this could be explained by the fact that women are usually the primary caregiver for young children. A number of international studies have shown that women's consumption of alcohol dropped sharply when they became pregnant, and this restraint often continued into early childcare.

On the downside, the study showed that ending marriage can increase the risk of mental health problems.

Being separated, divorced or widowed was associated with increased risk of all mental health disorders in both men and women; particularly with depression in men and substance abuse (drugs and alcohol) in women.

"What our study points to is that the marital relationship offers a lot of mental health benefits for both men and women, and that the distress and disruption associated with ending marriage can make people vulnerable to developing mental disorders."

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