Gray Powell will probably go down in history as the person who lost the yet-unannounced iPhone HD (also known as iPhone 4G), which was picked up by Gizmodo and then shared to the world. Poor fellow. I hope he doesn’t lose his job at Apple for this mistake. On a side note it seems he takes really good pictures with his iPhone: check out his Flickr photos. And if you’re curious, read the entire story of how Powell lost an iPhone HD prototype at Gizmodo.

Apple is finally getting serious about resolution independence on displays. In the Mac OS X Reference Library there is reference titled Resolution Independence Guidelines:

Resolution independence allows greater flexibility with high-density displays by allowing a Quartz point to map to any number of pixels (or fractions thereof). You can no longer assume a 1:1 correspondence between a Quartz point and an onscreen pixel…

Many years ago a typical LCD sported a resolution of about 72 PPI. A Quartz point had a scale of about 72 units per inch and one Quartz point mapped to about one pixel. Not any more:

One a 144 dpi screen, a 200 x 200 image is one quarter the size of a comparable image on a 72 dpi screen.

Of course in displays we typically use pixels per inch or PPI. But the point here is that developers cannot assume a 1:1 ratio between a point and an onscreen pixel. Apple is introducing The Scale Factor, which is a new parameter that determine the ratio between a point and an onscreen pixel. At the moment a scale factor of 1.0 corresponds to 72 PPI. A display with 144 PPI will result in a scale factor of 2.0. Look at the example below. The physical font size stays the same between the two displays but with the higher resolution 108 PPI display with a 1.5 scaling factor the font is made up of more pixels and is much smoother.

I’m very excited that Apple is moving toward resolution independence with its developers. This will in turn make higher resolution displays eminently more valuable. via Daring Fireball

DP-SLR is an external display for a DSLR. Just the thing for those who shoot video with DSLRs. The 5.6-inch display sports a pixel format of 1280×800 giving it a superb 270 PPI resolution. Dimensions are 4x6x1 inch and it weighs just 10 ounces. Connectivity options include HDMI, component, composite, and optional 3G/HD/SDI. Pricing isn’t too exorbitant with the standard model going for US$899. The version with SG/HD/SDI connectivity goes for $1199. You can pre-order now and you’ll get yours within 75 days. Source: SmallHD via Wired

If you pre-order the iPad 3G right now it will be shipped on the 7th of May.

UPDATE 2010.04.20: US retail launch on April 30th at 5PM. Source: Apple

This (above) little 4×4 buggy called the BeetleCam takes pictures like this (below).

The brainchild of shutterbugs Will Burrard-Lucas and his brother Matthew.
via Wired, Photo source: Burrard-Lucas.com

I’m sticking with iPhone HD. One major reason is that 4G will not be available on the AT&T network by the time the next generation iPhone rolls out in June. As far as I can tell AT&T will be field testing late this year with a rollout in 2011 (via iPhone Alley). I would peg an iPhone 4G to be released in 2012 after the iPhone HD. If I had it my way, I would get rid of all of these suffixes: the iPhone would be just iPhone, just like a MacBook Pro is a MacBook Pro. So what are some the juicy details of the iPhone HD? It is thinner than the 3GS. There is a flash on the back. The display is slightly smaller but has more pixels. There is a second microphone for noise cancellation. It is slightly heavier than the 3GS, by three grams according to Gizmodo. Has a larger battery inside (16% larger than the 3GS). Looks pretty solid. There’s even a crappy video of it.

Panasonic’s Lumix G2 is priced at US$799.95. You get to choose among three colors: red, blue, black. The G10 comes only in black with a price of $599.95. Both will be fitted with the Lumix G VARIO 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 ASPH. MEGA O.I.S. lens. via Engadget

Conecti.ca has posted a mini review of HP’s Slate. The conclusion:

The official verdict is meh.

HP’s Slate is a Windows 7-based tablet that can run anything that a regular PC can. And therein lies the problem: it is slow. Imagine running Flash on a non-GPU-accelerated netbook. Conecti.ca even thinks it is “annoying.” Engadget also thinks the Slate looks “chuncky” in the photos but digs the dock. I personally don’t mind rugged high-tech gadgets but rugged-looking without the ruggedness… that doesn’t do it for me. The Slate does look a bit thick and that’s going to hurt since its main competition is the iPad, which is very thin and extremely fast. But there are two very important things the Slate has going for it: you can run millions of Windows apps and you can multitask.

Digitimes: Prime View International (PVI) will invest US$500 to expand its electrophoretic display (EPD) business in China. The company will work together with fanshu.com and Phoenix Publishing & Media Network for content development. China-based Founder Group’s fanshu.com will be the e-book download platform of choice.

More than 600,000 Chinese-language titles are authorized for downloads on fanshu.com and the number of titles are expected to grow at 100,000 per year. PVI and Phoenix Publishing & Media Network will develop China’s educational market by digitizing textbooks and reference titles. The goal is to reduce the consumption of paper and educational expenses. Apple’s iPad might be experiencing considerable demand in the US, more so than expected, but with an entry price of US$499 is considerably higher than Amazon’s Kindle. I’m certain e-book readers will need to hit the $99 price point (or even $49) to catalyze the transition from paper to e-paper.

The half-billion dollar investment will go toward building Yangzhou, China into a hub for EPD production. Yuen Foong Yu (YFY) Group, PVI’s parent company, will be one of the largest investors in Yangzhou, China. Transcend Optronics, the PVI subsidiary that produces TFT LCD panels and EPD backend modules, is also located in Yangzhou. By bringing downstream and upstream companies together development can be accelerated and costs reduced.

China’s e-book reader market is expected to be around two million units in 2010, more than double the 400,000 units that were sold in 2009. With a global market for e-book readers pegged at 10 million in 2010, China’s share is expected to grow from 10% in 2009 to 20% in 2010.

Acer is quite optimistic about its Android-based Liquid smartphone (read Acer Liquid A1: Snapdragon Android Smartphone). In June during Computex 2010 the company plans to unveil a many new models. JT Wang, chairman of Acer, stated the company’s Smart Handheld Business Group (SHBG), which was formed after the purchase of E-Ten Information Systems in 2008, has been fully integrated with the computer business group. Acer increased its target from two million to three million handset shipments in 2010. Source: Digitimes

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