Kiyoshi Shikano (second left) Senior Vice President Sony Corporation during a press conference of Sony at the Cape Town International Convention Center (CTICC) on December 3, 2009 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images for Sony)

CORP TALK: The world’s first World Cup with a 3D broadcast and it’ll beam live from South Africa next year by Sony.

According to this announcement from the electronics giant, football governing body FIFA and Sony have struck a deal to film up to 25 matches in next year’s World Cup 2010 with 3D cameras.

Sony advertisement boards at the International Airport on December 3, 2009 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images for Sony)

These will then broadcast at demo booths at “International FIFA Fan Fest” events in 7 cities in June and July next year.

The 7 cities are Berlin, London, Mexico City, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Rome and Sydney.

Press members watching a 3D demo at the Sony press conference at the Cape Town International Convention Center (CTICC) on December 3, 2009 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images for Sony)

For those in other countries, 3D aficionados will probably have to wait for Sony to release the official 3D film of the World Cup 2010 after the event.

Additional reports indicate that 3D-TVs will be the next big thing to hit the living room as early as next year (or 2013 as others predict).

With 3D Blu-ray Discs being not that far-fetched a reality (Sony says next year) and James Cameron’s AVATAR set to hit 3D cinemas next week, expect 3D to be the next buzzword among the tech community before the year is out.

HWM Indonesia

HWM Indonesia: Sony is unraveling a new dimension to viewing experiences and by bringing it to the masses (7 cities for a start), it’s setting the bar pretty high.

This is a new kind of entertainment (eventually for the home) which was only previously available on the big cinema screen.

This is a precursor of more big things to come visually from Sony as well as from the 3D entertainment world. The opportunities are limitless!

Vijay Anand, Editor, HardwareZone.com

Vijay (HardwareZone.com): It’s great to know that Sony is betting high stakes on probably the next biggest change in consumer experience for entertainment.

Aside from the porn industry which is inevitably the media consumption standard trend setter (whether we like it or not), focusing on sports, especially on a major event like the FIFA World Cup is really a smart and calculated move on Sony’s part.

It’s just too bad that not all countries can enjoy the live 3D broadcast, which would have been really swell if theaters around the globe had the right equipment to decode a 3D broadcast and enable a big screen 3D experience to devoted followers. (more…)