Four Inches This picture is via iFun.de and is supposedly the front-facing bezel frame for the 2009 iPhone. If true, the obvious difference from the current iPhone 3G is that it is black. The interesting differences are the ear speaker and thinner base where the single button goes. If the ear speaker is flush with the upper bezel then the opening should be close by. And since I’m interested in displays, this will make room for a slightly larger display compared to the 3.5-inch in today’s iPhone. Next: the bottom base. This looks thinner to me. That might mean a smaller diameter for the single button and give a bit more room for the slightly larger display. I am guessing Apple can squeeze in a 4-inch display based on my fool-proof scientific method: I measured my iPhone with my ruler and it seems a 4-inch looks about right. (more…)
Verizon Wireless announced that it would be adding Palm’s Pre to its upcoming device lineup. When? In the next six months or so according to Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam. The upcoming device lineup also includes the new BlackBerry Storm 2 and the BlackBerry Tour from Research In Motion and Android smartphones. According to McAdam:
Over the next six months or so you will see devices like Palm Pre and a second generation Storm… You can expect to see us launch a steady stream of new devices from multiple vendors.
Palm’s Pre will be luanching on Saturday, June 6, 2009, just a couple of days before Apple’s WWDC kicks off. Many are expecting Apple to announce an updated iPhone. (more…)
Engadget‘s Joshua Topolsky shares his thoughts on the Zune HD after fiddling with it:
… the thing kind of rocks… The OLED screen looks absolutely stunning… we didn’t notice a single hiccup while jumping through menus or playing back HD video.
That’s a lot of praise on a preproduction model. Topolsky also mentions that the Zune HD had a “nice, solid feel, with good heft to it and a surprisingly thin profile.” That thin profile is thanks to the OLED display that doesn’t require a backlight, making it razor thin. The existing Zune user interface was “way tricked out” in addition to a lot of “flipping images, scaling text, smooth scrolling, and an extreme emphasis on simple visual navigation.” I’m liking what I’m hearing about the Zune HD. And this is all the more surprising since I’m not experiencing hiccup-free operations on my second-generation iPhone with the OS that’s already at version 2.2.1. (more…)
The morning of May 27, 2009 the folks at Apple quietly unveiled an updated MacBook. The entry-level one that goes for US$999. What did they update?
The graphics subsystem, which is NVIDIA’s GeForce 9400M, didn’t change. This updated entry-level MacBook still goes for $999. I like it. Now make a black one too.
For the ultimate budget shopper. You can knock off $100 and get the “older” 2.0GHz version for just $889.00
Air-Esque MSI’s X-Slim X340 is an inch-thick notebook PC, sports a fantastic design (MacBook Air-esque), is ultra-thin (0.78-inch) and costs a penny under US$900. Graphics is powered by Intel’s GMA 4500MHD. The X340 comes with 2GB of DDR2 RAM, a 320GB hard disk, gigabit Ethernet, WiFi, a 4-cell battery with an integrated 1.3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, two USB 2.0 ports, HDMI & VGA connections and a SD/MMC media reader.
The X340 sports a Adamo-sized 13.4-inch LCD featuring a 1366 x 768 pixel format. The MacBook Air is just a bit smaller at 13.3-inch and a 16:10 aspect ratio’ed 1280 x 800 pixel format.
HD Viewing If you were thinking that the 16:9 LCDs on the X340 and Adamo are better than the MacBook Air when watching 720p HD content, you’d be wrong. The 1366 x 768 requires the 1280 x 720 pixel HD content to be scaled up both horizontally and vertically. There are no black bars but scaled HD video is never a good idea if you want quality. On the MacBook Air you will get horizontal black bars on top and on the bottom but the 1280 x 720 pixel HD content will look much better as it will not need to be scaled to fit the LCD width wise. (more…)
Ion Lenovo‘s IdeaPad S12 is the first netbook to make use of NVIDIA’s Ion graphics processor. With Ion you get DirectX 10 graphics (the latest games) and 1080p HD playback. I don’t know how NVIDIA did it but Ion has considerably more power yet uses a lot less of your CPU’s power. There are a couple of videos and a bunch of Ion information at NVIDIA’s website. The IdeaPad S12 makes use of the regular Intel Atom N270 CPU running at 1.6GHz.
Mainstream One of the main concerns that I have with netbooks is the size of the LCD: almost always too small at around 10-inches. That also means the keyboards are also too small. The IdeaPad S12 makes use of a much more usable 12.1-inch LED-backlit LCD with a 1280 x 800 pixel format. The keyboard should be significantly more comfortable to type on compared to the smaller netbooks. Pricing starts at US$449.
Souce: Engadget
3.3-inch OLED On May 26, 2009, Microsoft announced its Zune HD portable media player. The Zune HD will sport 3.3-inch OLED display with a 480 x 272 pixel format. It will be multitouch capable too. The overall design is nicely angular. Some might like the champagne color but for those who don’t there will probably be additional colors like aluminum, black and/or white.
HD Audio The “HD” in Zune HD isn’t about High Definition video but about audio. The Zune HD will feature a built-in HD Radio receiver. It would have been nice if the OLED display was 1280 x 720. Maybe Microsoft is working on the Zune HD^2.
via Engadget
LG Display announced on May 27, 2009 that it has developed a 23-inch 1080p 3D LCD panel geared for monitor applications. By embedding time-sequential technologies right into the panel, LG Display was able to improve the brightness of the panel, about twice that of other 3D displays. Time-sequential just means that the left and right eyes see different images resulting in a 3D effect. 3D viewing is possible with polarized glasses which are generally pretty affordable. The company will be showcasing this 23-inch 1080p 3D LCD at the Society of Information Display (SID) 2009 show that will be held in San Antonio, Texas.
On May 20, 2009, Panasonic dropped the price of its 103-inch by US$20,000 to US$50,000. The 103-inch plasma display is the world’s largest commercially available since December 2006. Since its debut, more than 6,000 103-inch plasma displays have been installed worldwide. According to Andrew Nelkin, president of Panasonic Professional Display Company:
The combination of advancements in Plasma production technology and the tremendous worldwide success of the Panasonic 103-inch Plasma HD Display over the last two plus years have enabled us to increase production as well as efficiencies, and thereby make it available to a wider range of customers at a lower price point. When our 103-inch Plasma first debuted, it was a made-to-order product. It soon became obvious that in ultra-large screen sizes, nothing comes close to the Panasonic 103-inch Plasma in delivering crisp, clear, blur-free images in 1080p High Definition. Demand for the 103 exceeded our initial expectations, and its popularity continues.
PureDepth, like the name, develops real 3D displays using multi-layer display (MLD) technology. The company, founded in 1999, is headquartered in Redwood Shores, California and has offies in Japan and an engineering center located in New Zealand. PureDepth’s MLD technology makes use of real depth. MLD makes use of two LCD panels: a front display and a back display. In between the two displays is an insterstitial filter, which is used for optical correleation, compatibility and interferences between display layers. Since PureDepth’s MLD technology is physically 3D, users should not experience headaches, a problem for many other 3D technologies. (more…)
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