There has been an addition to the list of upcoming autostereoscopic (glasses-free 3D) devices. The latest addition is of the portable variety. Supernova X1 is a 3D-capable tablet prototype that does not rely on 3D glasses for its mojo. Engadget's Chinese site was the first to get a glimpse of this tablet prototype from China's Rockchip.

However, not a lot is known about the Supernova X1 at this point in time apart from the fact that the glasses-free 3D effect can be adjusted (or even disabled) in much the same way as the Nintendo 3DS. Rockchip will unveil this tablet at the upcoming IFA 2010 event in Germany.

Back in 2008, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) commissioned the development of a content filtering software. Beijing Dazheng Human Language Technology Academy and Zhengzhou Jinhui Computer System Engineering were the two companies tasked with the development of the Green Dam Youth Escort content-filtering software.

Although the software was initially meant to be mandatory for all new PCs sold in China, the diktat was amended to only cover PCs in public places – no longer requiring vendors to ship PCs with Green Dam pre-installed on them. But now the project is in danger of petering out as the ministry seems reluctant to fund it.

According to local media reports, the lack of funds has forced one of the developers, Beijing Dazheng Human Language Technology Academy, out of the project. "We indeed lack funds. We cannot keep on operating any more after a one-year bitter struggle," Chen Xiaomeng, the general manager of Dazheng, told ChinaDaily.com.  The other company is also unlikely to continue working on the project if the current situation persists.

Last month, Google stopped automatically redirecting Chinese search traffic to its uncensored Hong Kong site, opting instead for a landing page that contains a link to the uncensored site. The search engine giant was made to rethink its approach after it began to threaten its request for a fresh Internet Content Provider (ICP) license.

Google's legal boss David Drummond had said last month: “It’s clear from conversations we have had with Chinese government officials that they find the redirect unacceptable—and that if we continue redirecting users our Internet Content Provider license will not be renewed (it’s up for renewal on June 30).”

The new approach seems to have done the trick. “We are very pleased that the government has renewed our ICP license and we look forward to continuing to provide web search and local products to our users in China,” Google said on its official blog. The announcement comes after days of suspense surrounding the fate of Google's application for a fresh license.