Losing won’t keep former high-tech executives from continuing to seek high public office, experts said. They said the defeats Tuesday in California of Republican nominees and former CEOs Meg Whitman from eBay for governor and Carly Fiorina from Hewlett-Packard for U.S. Senate won’t deter others. Both personal and industry reasons were cited.

Electronic Arts has 3D content and “when the market’s there” for it, “we're ready,” EA Chief Operating Officer John Schappert said in a Tuesday earnings call. But he said, “We think it’s still kind of early,” predicting it will be “a little bit more interesting next year.” CEO John Riccitiello said he saw more “potential” for EA in Internet Protocol TV than 3D. EA is “watching that very carefully,” he said, calling IPTV “a priority that’s high for us."

The Department of Energy must avoid subjecting a charging device to two different regulations as it proceeds with its rulemaking on energy conservation standards for battery chargers and external power supplies, the CEA said in comments. “CEA’s foremost concern is DOE’s contemplation of a ‘double jeopardy’ regulatory situation,” in which a charging device is subjected to two different test procedures and efficiency standards, the group said. The agency can avoid such a situation by defining a charging device as either a battery charger of an external power supply and subject it to one test procedure and efficiency standard, said Douglas Johnson, vice president of technology policy.

In advance of the federal government’s energy efficiency requirements that will result in a phase-out of incandescent light bulbs, starting with 100-watt bulbs in 2012 followed by 75-watt bulbs in 2013 and 60-watt bulbs in 2014, Lutron introduced a new in-wall dimmer that controls the four major residential light types. The dimmer works with halogen, compact fluorescent and LED bulbs, in addition to incandescents, said Michael Maholick, marketing director for Lutron’s Residential Products and Solutions group, who said the company is trying to “stay ahead of the market.”

With tablet PCs and e-readers among the top five gifts expected to ring through cash registers this holiday season, it’s not clear where Barnes & Noble’s $249 Nookcolor e-reader will fall in the mix between sub-$200 e-readers currently on the market and the low-end tablet PCs starting to roll out. Certain to take a hit is Barnes & Noble’s own $149 Wi-Fi Nook and its $199 3G counterpart, which use an E-Ink display, said analyst Ross Rubin of NPD Research. Although the Nookcolor “seems like a stronger competitor to the Kindle” than the original Nook, Rubin said, the “considerable price delta” could limit appeal of the Nookcolor to all but “those hard-core e-reader customers looking for a bit more multimedia capability,” he said.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Fox has “already mastered” Avatar for release on Blu-ray 3D “and it looks fantastic,” director James Cameron said at the Digital Entertainment Group’s Blu-Con 2010 conference Tuesday. Producer Jon Landau said Blu-ray will give audiences “the highest-quality 3D” experience available when Avatar is released in 3D on the format. But neither film maker tipped his hand on when Avatar might be released on Blu-ray 3D.

Microvision is readying a lower-priced new version of its ShowWX pico-projector that increases brightness 50 percent, as the company seeks to recover from a key customer’s decision to delay shipment of a product. Microvision didn’t release specs for the new model. The current ShowWX projector is sold at a loss at a price above $500, company officials have said. It offers 10 lumens and 854x480 resolution. Microvision has aired plans for 720p model with 15 lumens that features ASICs from STMicroelectronics and Toshiba. The projector will ship late this month, CEO Alexander Tokman said in a conference call.

Most of the U.S. Supreme Court justices raised enough tough questions for both sides in Schwarzenegger v. Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) during oral argument Tuesday that it was hard to gauge how most of them will decide in the case, representatives from both sides of the court battle said. But both sides offered an upbeat take on what transpired in the courtroom, saying their attorneys effectively made their cases.

Corning’s Q4 LCD glass prices will fall 4 to 5 percent, slightly above its quarterly average, as TV manufacturers seek to clear excess inventory, analysts said. Corning is projecting a “mid-single” digit decrease at its own and Samsung Corning Precision Glass joint venture glass businesses, Vice Chairman James Flaws said Monday in a conference call.

The EPA said it’s resuming work on revising the Energy Star specification for battery charger systems and development of a spec for uninterruptible power supplies (UPS). Work on both was set back this year because of “high-priority efforts related to third-party certification” for all Energy Star products, the agency said. The agency said it wants to cover large battery chargers for industrial and other applications and smaller systems where it sees significant energy savings “opportunities."