You can watch 3D videos via HTML5 on YouTube, starting today. The catch? This new feature is limited to Firefox 4, and to people who have a specific kind of Nvidia graphics card.

YouTube currently hosts "several thousand" 3D videos that it will encode and play back in WebM format, according to a blog post by Mozilla Director of Platform Product Management Chris Blizzard. Only people who have Nvidia 3D Vision graphics cards will be able to see those videos in 3D, and only if they are played in Firefox.

If you have the 3D Vision hardware, search YouTube for "yt3d," which will bring up videos encoded in 3D. You will also have to set your 3D hardware mode.

Full list of 3D HTML5 video on YouTube requirements:
• NVIDIA GeForce GPU-equipped PC or notebook
• NVIDIA GeForce driver Release 275 or later
• A 3D Vision Ready monitor, notebook, projector, or DLP HDTV
• NVIDIA 3D Vision emitter and glasses when using a PC monitor or notebook display

As the requirements listed above indicate, 3D HTML5 video on YouTube can only be watched by a small segment of the Web browsing public. However, the mere fact that HTML5 video standards are still growing and introducing new abilities, such as today's 3D announcement, indicates that HTML5 video's potential is far from fully tapped. Given the continuing and developing support for HTML5 in the top 5 browsers, it probably won't take long for Chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari, and Opera to follow Firefox's lead here.

If you've been able to watch 3D HTML5 video on YouTube, let us know what you think in the comments below.

Despite being in the middle of litigation with Apple over the use of the term "Appstore" for its mobile application store, Amazon today launched two digital downloads stores for Mac software.

The new stores, picked up by The Loop, cover games and applications. Altogether, Amazon's got 252 pieces of software up for sale, the majority of which are applications versus game titles.

Just like Apple's Mac App Store, which is how the company sells both its own and third-party Mac software, Amazon users can redownload applications if they somehow misplace the file. However, unlike with Apple's offering, there's no mechanism to keep applications up to date--something Amazon has left up to software makers. Some applications are also bundled with DRM or serial number authentication, the latter of which is not a concern on the Mac App Store.

So far there's already a handful of software that cannot be found on the Mac App Store, including Microsoft's Office for Mac 2011, which is being promoted heavily. Microsoft has long offered it as a digital download through its own store, but not on Apple's Mac App Store.

As part of the store launch, Amazon is offering buyers a $5 discount on any Mac game or software purchase through June 1, 2011.

Originally posted at Apple Talk

If you've ever used SoundHound (or its arch rival Shazam) chances are good you were holding your phone out to identify a catchy song whose name you didn't know. Now the company is introducing Hound, SoundHound's little sibling, but one with a slightly different identity.

Instead of helping name that tune, the free Hound for Android and iPhone prompts you to search for a song or artist with just the spoken word. Unlike SoundHound, the abbreviated Hound won't accept singing, humming, typing, or recorded sounds.

The results pull from SoundHound's music database, displaying album or artist art, a YouTube snippet, tour dates, an info page, a shortcut to the digital music store, and lyrics when they're available.

Like its big sib, Hound is a polished, slick-looking piece of software that offers a variety of useful information about songs and singers. We demoed it on both platforms, and for the most part, the app was fast, especially when fulfilling more specific requests for an artist or song.

Since the app focuses on rapid, voice-driven music search, its uses are also more narrow. As a standalone app, it's functional and attractive but not as broadly applicable as the free SoundHound and premium SoundHound Infinity apps, both which go beyond this lighter app's functionality.

While Hound has its immediate uses, the app also lays the groundwork for SoundHound's to step into other categories of voice search, which will bring it into more direct competition with companies like Google, Nuance, and possibly Vlingo. That's a smart move for SoundHound to expand from the algorithm-honed Sound2Sound database that powers these apps in the first place, to other implementations for its so far superior aural processing. Hound is a good start, but we're already looking forward to what comes next.

Originally posted at iPhone Atlas

Sometimes we all get so wrapped up in our physical health (see: Four killer iPhone apps that help you lose weight), we forget about our mental health. But take it from a guy who can get mighty moody, it's no less important.

MoodKit is a new app packed with tools designed to improve not just your mood, but also your overall well-being. It's available now for $4.99.

Developed by a pair of clinical psychologists, MoodKit employs acknowledged cognitive-therapy techniques. It's designed to be used on its own or as part of a professional treatment plan.

The app is divided into four main sections. Activities gives you more than 150 mood-lifting activities (each with tips and examples) for things like improving social relationships, becoming more physically active, and making life more enjoyable. This module can guide you through activities based on your specific needs, though you can also pick and choose via category (Productivity, Social).

Thought Checker plays out like a therapy session, as you write out a situation that left you feeling bothered or upset, identify how your thoughts might be distorted, then get suggestions on how to deal with it.

Mood Tracker lets you rate your daily mood on a scale of 1-10, and integrates with the MoodKit Journal (the fourth module) for recording any related thoughts. And the Journal itself is just like it sounds, a place to keep written notes, but it includes a variety of templates that can help with specific situations.

MoodKit's interface can seem a bit overwhelming at first, if only because there's so much packed into it. And it's slightly frustrating that the app doesn't return you to where you left off, instead starting you at the main menu every time you run it.

But those minor gripes aside, I think this could be a very helpful tool for anyone who suffers from mild depression or just needs some guidance coping with negative feelings. For $5, it's a lot cheaper than therapy (but no substitute for it, of course).

Originally posted at iPhone Atlas

Starting today, users of the mSpot app for Android get to enjoy Radio Spotter Beta, a new release that adds streaming radio to the app's usual cloud music service. Previously, mSpot was all about uploading, storing, and playing music that you already own. But now, with Radio Spotter Beta, users can mix in some spontaneity and variety via Internet Radio stations, mSpot Stations, Personal Stations (based on a song or artist of your choosing), or the innovative Suggested Stations. The mSpot app is able to make its suggestions based on the music you've been listening to, as opposed to all of the music you have stored.

With services like Pandora and Slacker each offering their own combinations of socially programmed radio, curated radio, and an on-demand catalog, mSpot is adding yet another unique option to the mix. We like that it combines the guaranteed enjoyment of your own personal music catalog (stored in the cloud) with the potential discovery that streaming radio offers. And the suggested stations are a nice touch.

Radio Spotter Beta is available for download now in the Android Marketplace. Versions for the desktop as well as other mobile platforms are expected to roll out sometime later this year. We'll keep our ears open.

Foxit, widely recognized as No. 2 behind Adobe in the PDF software market, has revamped its lineup.

Already respected by many consumers as a faster and lighter alternative to Adobe Reader, Foxit PDF Reader has jumped all the way up to version 5.0. This new build is now capable of XFA form-filling, which means users can complete PDF forms electronically without having to print and fill in by hand. Also, version 5.0 displays a significantly improved user interface, allowing people to choose from the increasingly popular ribbon menu bar, or traditional drop-down menus. You can customize your own shortcut keys, view previews of PDF files in Outlook and thumbnails in IE, or enable a Split View of PDFs. Overall, the program offers some welcome flexibility and productivity features. Companies using the Foxit PDF Reader also get some enhanced security, as the program can now open documents protected by Active Directory Rights Management Service.

Meanwhile, Foxit has also updated its PhantomPDF Suite. This newest offering has been renumbered as PhantomPDF 5.0 to sync up with its Reader counterpart. It's available in three separate editions, all of which should be significantly faster at creating PDFs than previous Phantom versions. Foxit PhantomPDF Express is on the entry-level side, with all your basic tools for annotation. It can also validate digital signatures and encrypt with passwords. Foxit PhantomPDF Standard goes a step further and lets you edit existing PDF document content. And finally, Foxit PhantomPDF Business gives you advanced editing, and allows you to control usage rights with Microsoft Active Directory RMS. All of the editions enable users to create PDF documents with one click from Microsoft Office programs.

Enterprise users may also enjoy the just released Foxit PhantomPDF Plug-in SDK, which will allow them to develop custom tools and extensions using the Reader and Phantom as platforms.