Engadget‘s Joshua Topolsky:

… the Droid Incredible is the best Android device that you can purchase in America right now. It’s better than the Droid, better than the Nexus One, and certainly beats the pants off of any previous generation handsets like the Eris, myTouch, or Cliq.

No doubt Apple is working on the next-generation iPad already. Digitimes is reporting a rumor that Apple will be using an OLED panel instead of the excellent IPS LCD panel currently in the iPad. Naturally the second generation iPad will be launching some time in 2011. Probably in April.

Samsung is in the lead with OLED displays used for smartphone applications. In fact any smartphone with an OLED display sporting an 800×480 “resolution” is made by Samsung Mobile Displays using the PenTile Matrix system (read Nexus One PenTile Matrix OLED Display). Although the 1024×768 pixel format in the current iPad would not likely be a problem, scaling the size up to 9.7 inches will certainly make it very expensive and much more expensive than any LCD. Digitimes Research senior analyst Mingchi Kuo pegs the price of the current 9.7-inch IPS LCD at US$60-70. The equivalent OLED panel, if manufactured, would cost about US$500.

LG Display (LGD), the current and only LCD supplier to the iPad, has a lot of OLED IPs it can tap into thanks to a deal with Eastman Kodak and LG that was consummated last year (read Kodak Sells OLED Business to LG). AU Optronics (AUO) is also planning to restart its OLED business next year.

I’m not buying the rumor. OLED panel prices increase exponentially as diagonal sizes increase. Consider the largest OLED TV that is commercially available: LG’s 15-inch OLED TV is about US$2000. I think Apple wants to continue offering a $499 entry price to the iPad. According to a sales person at a local Apple Store the $499 iPad is by far the most popular.

FLAT BACK: Thank goodness, I won’t have to deal with the iPhone wobbling on the table when trying to do something. I liked the flat back on the original iPhone; I’m glad Apple’s bringing it back. And the back seems to be black and shiny, like the front. FRONT-FACING CAMERA: If true, video phone calls will become a reality. All the better since you shouldn’t be putting the phone next to your cranium for long conversations. With Skype in the background domestic and international video calls will be free and really wonderful. Video conferencing goes mobile. This would be another reason why the person on the other end would be compelled to purchase an iPhone HD. 80GB STORAGE: Now this is strange, but the interesting thing is that Intel’s SSD offerings are in increments of 40GB. So maybe we can see iPhone HDs in 40GB and 80GB. Intel’s SSDs are known for speed so maybe we can see iPhone HD’s performance increase too. And if the iPhone HD can capture HD video you’d want a much larger storage option. Source: Engadget

UPDATE 2010.04.18: Applesfera claims this device is a fake from Japan. The counterfeiter sure did a great job. Does it run iPhone OS 4.0? If so, I might just have to get one… via MacRumors

ANOTHER UPDATE 2010.04.18: Go to Engadget and look at the picture the right arrow is pointing to. Look very carefully. Yes, that’s the iPhone HD (or 4G). It uses MicroSIM cards, like the iPad.

When I first learned of OmmWriter late last year I was very excited. Finally, there was a way to focus on writing without all the distractions. OmmWriter takes over the entire screen and lets you write. There are simple icon-based “menus” that disappear when you start typing. Soothing music can be played in the background. I like the idea but there was just one thing. Once installed, OmmWriter takes up around 63.5 MB. That certainly isn’t very large when compared to Pages or Word, but I make it a habit to minimize resource usages on my Mac. I also try to limit the number of apps installed on my system. “What could be an alternative to OmmWriter?” I asked. I searched through Google and found a few but I was not satisfied. Then it hit me: the built in text editor called TextEdit. I changed the default font to Heofler Text, minimized all other applications and there I was. Just me a a blank canvas (menus can still be seen). I didn’t have to install additional software and TextEdit takes up just 16.3 MB (a bit more than I thought, but still considerably less than OmmWriter). This only works, in that it provides an environment similar to OmmWriter, because I use a simple gray background with absolutely no icons on my desktop. OmmWriter (www.ommwriter.com) is certainly a very well-designed app and is worth a try, but TextEdit is less and to me less is more.

Asus 17-inch 3D Notebook: Asustek’s 17-inch 3D notebook PC will launch in Q3’10. Chimei Innolux Corporation (CMI), LG Display (LGD) and Samsung are competing for the opportunity to supply 3D panels for the project. This goes without saying: Asustek’s decision will be based on the quality of the 3D displays. I sure hope so since the only thing that matters on a 3D display is the quality of the 3D effects. Another display manufacturer, Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) is a major supplier of 3D LCD panels for notebook PC applications and I’m willing to bet CPT also wants a part of the action.

Worldwide PC Shipments Up 27.4% Y/Y in Q1’10: Worldwide PC shipments increased 27.4% Y/Y to 84.3 million units in Q1’10 according to preliminary results by Gartner. The market research firm expected growth in Q1’10 to be 22%. What happened? A robust recovery, in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. On the other hand, US and Latin America came in at slightly lower than expected. Gartner pointed to a gradual pick up of the professional PC market, PC replacements in mature markets, relatively positive macroeconomic outlook, and demand driven by Windows 7. HP, Acer and Dell were the top three PC vendors worldwide in Q1’10.

Apple Needs Time to Ramp iPad Production: Apple has delayed the international release of its iPad. The company cited higher-than-expected demand for the iPad than expected. That would be code word for: we need more time to ramp production, including LG Display (LGD) who is the sole supplier of the marvelous 9.7-inch IPS LCD panel. The custom Apple-designed A4 CPU would also require some additional time to ramp to meet demand on a worldwide basis.

Palm’s Michael Abbott Leaves: Abbott, SVP of software and services, is largely responsible for the webOS mobile operating system, and the Mojo and Ares SDKs. Palm will lose him as of April 23rd. Stock packages and US$250,000 cash incentives convinced Jeff Devine, SVP of global operations, and Doug Jeffries, CFO, to continue working at Palm. The person who had the most input in developing a completely new mobile operating system is leaving. In some areas webOS is more advanced than even the mighty iPhone OS and without doubt more fine-tuned than Android. This is a huge loss on the part of Palm. It is most unfortunate because I think the Palm Pre Plus is marvelous with a real workable keyboard (Motorola’s Droid could have used some of that expertise), a mobile hotspot (allows five WiFi connections and is free from Verizon), a great price (just one cent at Amazon), and a very solid combination of great hardware and software. Where did Palm go wrong? I think the simple answer is that Palm wanted to be like Apple and control the entire hardware, OS and software but did not have the support of a money-generating machine like iTunes. I think it would be a great move for Motorola, LG or HTC to take a close look at integrating Palm into its fold.

Sprint 4G Case for iPad and Overdrive: This is an interesting move by Sprint. The 4G Case by Sprint is to carry both the iPad and the company’s Overdrive mobile hotspot. There is a pocket where you slide in the Overdrive, which connects to Sprint’s 4G network that is 10x faster than 3G according to Sprint. That is if you have 4G at all. I live in San Jose, California. There is no 4G in San Jose, let alone in the entire state of California at the moment. The irony is the iPad’s popularity is probably the strongest in California.

Dell Streak Tablets in 7-inch and 10-inch Sizes: Dell will be entering the tablet game with its Streak slate tablets, which look remarkably similar to Apple’s iPad with a fairly thick black bezel and a glossy cover glass. The only thing that ruins the external design is the Dell logo. Oh, these have not been officially announced by Dell yet.

HP Mini 5102 Review by Engadget: The Mini 5102 sports a capacitive multitouch 10.1-inch matte LCD with a 1024×600 pixel format. Here’s the final word:

We love a lot of things about this business and education aimed laptop, but not enough to spend $668 on the configuration we were given. Heck, at that price we’d pick up an entry-level ProBook that has a similar chassis, but way more powerful processor options.

DIGITIMES

Samsung Seeks Quick LCD Fab Approval by China: Rumor has it Samsung Electronics plans to offer DRAM investments to speed up China’s evaluation of its LCD panel investment plans. Samsung might also give up subsidies. Taiwan-based DRAM manufacturers are skeptical: Samsung must be willing to open the DRAM investment to the local government for a chance to obtain permission to operate a DRAM manufacturing plant. Samsung is concerned about the strengthening ties between Taiwan LCD suppliers and China-based TV manufacturers. AU Optronics (AUO) has submitted an application to the Taiwanese government to establish a LCD panel fabrication plant in China. AUO expects volume production at this LCD fab to commence in 2011. Chimei Innolux (CMI) also has the potential to announce a Gen. 8 LCD fab in Sichuan, China.

Samsung’s local rival LG Display (LGD) will invest US$1.33 billion in a joint venture with Skyworth to build a Gen. 8 LCD plant in Guangzhou, China. LGD will have 70% equity share and Skyworth 10%. In December 2009, the South Korean government approved both applications submitted by Samsung and LGD to establish LCD fabrication plants in China, which will likely become the largest LCD TV market soon, surpassing Western Europe and the US.

Multitouch IPS LCD Panel Most Expensive iPad Component: We experience the iPad through the 9.7-inch multitouch IPS LCD panel, which is not surprisingly the most expensive component making up the iPad. The estimated total cost of the WiFi-only iPad is about US$300 with the LCD panel costing around US$50-60 with the touch layer adding US$30. LG Display (LGD) is the only supplier of the 9.7-inch IPS LCD and has shipped close to 900,000 panels since February.

LED Chip Per LCD TV Backlight to Fall 30% by End of 2010: According to AU Optronics (AUO) expects the number of LED chips inside the backlight units (BLUs) of LCD TVs to decrease by around 30% by the end of 2010. AUO expects single-side edge-lit LED BLUs to become standard for budget LCD TV models in 2011. In 2010, 20% of the global LCD TV market will sport a LED BLU. Toward the end of 2010, AUO forecasts LED-backlit LCD TVs to take 30-40% market share. Epistar’s chairman Biing-jye Lee sees LED-backlit LCD TVs capturing 45% market share in 2011.

There is concern of an LED shortage that might limit growth. In the first quarter of 2010 there was a 30-40% shortage of LEDs. Due to an increase of material costs, LED suppliers are expected to raise prices. With the number of LEDs per LED backlight decreasing and LED suppliers increasing capacity (read LED Shortage) the shortage of LEDs may not continue for too long.

During FINETECH Japan 2010, Corning gave a presentation titled New Component Technologies for e-paper. Corning has an incredibly optimistic view of the e-book reader market. E-book readers, according to Corning, makes use of a low-power reflective bi-stable display, like the one you see in Amazon’s Kindle. In 2009 the market for e-book readers was just 2 million, but that according to Corning will grow to 8 million in 2010 and then balloon to 77 million by 2014. Incredibly, by 2020 Corning expects the market to hit 400 million. Let’s put this number into perspective. That would be equivalent to the entire population, and then some, of the entire European Union. Or the combined population of the United States and Canada. I don’t presume to know more than the entire marketing department at Corning, but I am scratching my head and wondering if this optimism will bear out. I don’t think it will.

The main reason why I do not share Corning’s optimism for the e-book reader market as the company defines it is because of multi-functional tablets, like the one I’m using right now to type out this post, the iPad. Let’s look at the number of gadgets we carry today. That will help us understand one very important desire of gadget toters: we want to carry less gadgets. A typical gadget toter will have a mobile phone or smartphone, a netbook or full-blown notebook, an e-book reader and maybe a MP3 player. The iPhone and other smartphones capable of playing back music allowed us to keep the MP3 player at home. Some use the netbook or notebook as an e-book reader too but most avid readers still make use of a dedicated e-book reader because it lasts long enough to read a book. Gadget toters tote around too many gadgets and it is my guess that they, we, want less gadgets to carry around. And this brings us to why I think multi-functional devices like the iPad will be much welcomed. 500,000 have already decided that they would at least check out the iPad. I *want* to replace my MacBook Pro with the iPad. I want the iPad to also replace an e-book reader and possibly a MP3 player. I want to carry just two gadgets: my iPad and my phone. What I want is to do more with less.

DIGITIMES

Taiwan Netbook Panel Suppliers Ship 2.35 Million in March: AU Optronics (AUO) shipped 800K units, HannStar Display shipped another 800K and Chimei Innolux (CMI) shipped 750K for a total of 2.35 million in the month of March. (Samsung shipped 300K and LG Display (LGD) shipped 400K. LGD’s numbers do not include the 9.7-inch panels for Apple’s iPad, which total about 500K in March, up from 350K in February.) Taiwan-based netbook LCD panel suppliers experienced a slight sequential increase in unit shipments in March thanks to more working days and new netbook launches.

Worldwide 3D LCD TV Market to Reach Four Million Units in 2010j: Digitimes Research estimates the worldwide 3D LCD TV market to grow to four million units in 2010. Currently, 3D TVs are being manufactured with panels procured in-house. Taiwan-based 3D LCD panel suppliers will likely compete on lower prices and may supply to brands such as Samsung and Sony in the future. Samsung has both 3D LCD and 3D PDP TVs. Sony makes use of 240Hz LED-backlit TFT LCD panels for its 3D TVs using active shutter 3D glasses. Both AU Optronics (AUO) and Chimei Innolux (CMI) have the ability to manufacture 240Hz LED-backlit LCD TV panels. LG Electronics (LGE) makes use of patterned retarder technology to generated 3D images and may enter the 3D PDP TV market using active shutter 3D glasses in the future.

E-paper Shipments Grow 417% to Five Million Units in 2009: DisplaySearch reports that e-paper shipments grew 417% Y/Y to five million units in 2009, up from 950K units in 2008. The main driver was Amazon’s e-book reader the 6-inch Kindle, which captured 66% share of the entire e-reader market in 2009. Hiroshi Hayase, director of small to medium size displays expects this trend to continue with large growth in shipments in the first half of 2010. I must disagree as a lot of attention has shifted from single-purpose e-book readers to multi-purpose devices like the iPad, which uses a multitouch TFT LCD panel.

ENGADGET

Verizon Wireless Droid Incredible: Also known as HTC Incredible. Specs include a 3.7-inch 800×480 touch OLED display, Android 2.1, 1GHz Snapdragon CPU, Sense UI, 8 megapixel camera with autofocus, GPS, 8GB of integrated memory. Coming to a store near you on April 29.

MacBook Pro Core i7 Review: The US$2,199 15.4-inch MacBook Pro’s specs are a 2.66 GHz Core i7 CPU, NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M with 512MB, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD. The i7 machine handles multiple GPU-intensive programs better than the previous Core 2 Duo versions. Turbo Boost automatically overclocks the i7 CPU when needed. Apple’s automatic GPU switching is different from Optimus in its software implementation:

Optimus turns on the GPU if its needed, and then runs both the Intel graphics and the discrete card simultaneously, pushing the GPU-produed imagery through the Intel chip… Apple’s solution actually switches fully between the cards seamlessly, with the Intel graphics on only in a power sipping mode but not in use at all for rendering when the NVIDIA GPU is in play.

Another major difference is the Optimus solution is based on a list of apps. If one of those apps are running the discrete GPU is turned on, whether or not any graphics intensive work is being done. Apple’s solution is based on need. The i7 MacBook, with a SD video rundown test with brightness set to 65%, lasted for 5 hours and 18 minutes besting Sony’s VAIO Z (2.53GHz Core i5, NVIDIA GT 330M) by almost an hour. HP’s Envy 15 (1.6GHz Core i7-720QM, ATI HD 4830) only lasted 2 hours.

iPad International Launch Delayed to End of May: Originally slated for a late-April introduction, the iPad’s international launch has now been pushed back to end of May. The reason may involve requiring a bit more time to ramp up production to meet demand on a worldwide basis. More than 500,000 iPads were sold in the first week in the US.

WIRED

iPhone HD on June 22: Apple has booked the Yerba Buena Arts Center in San Francisco for the 22nd of June. Most likely Apple will be unveiling the iPhone HD. Read iPhone HD for my guess at the pixel format of the next iPhone.

DIGITIMES

BOE Expects Gen 8.5 Production in Third Quarter 2011: BOE Technology, a China-based LCD manufacturer, plans to commence LCD production at its Gen 8.5 plant in the third quarter of 2011 focusing on large LCD TV panels. By 2012, the company wants to become the fifth largest LCD supplier in the world according to Xuezheng Li, vice president of BOE. Li noted that China will become the largest market for LCD goods and local production will become increasingly important. BOE’s Gen 6 LCD plant will begin volume production in the fourth quarter of 2010 with a maximum 90,000 substrate input capacity per month. The company’s overall LCD production capacity is expected to increase 147.2% Y/Y in 2011 and another 120% Y/Y in 2013. BOE’s entire capacity will be slated for China’s domestic market with all China-based TV vendors as the company’s customers. BOE expects a 20% share of China’s LCD panel market in 2011 that will grow to 31% in 2012.

Asustek Forecasts 4.5 to 5 Million LCD Monitor Shipments in 2010: Asustek Computer expects to ship 4.5 to 5 million LCD monitors in 2010. That is an increase of 29% to 43% Y/Y from 3.5 million units in 2009. Asustek was the top LCD monitor brand in Taiwan with 400,000 units sold and 25% unit market share in 2009. Acer and Chimei both shipped 250,000 units each in 2009. Asustek will be launching LED-backlit LCD monitors in 2010 with sizes ranging from 15.6 inches to 27 inches. LED-backlit LCD monitors will account for 10 to 15% of the company’s total shipments for 2010. Taiwan’s overall LCD monitor market is forecasted to grow 5 to 10% Y/Y in terms of unit shipments in 2010. AOC, a TPV Technology brand a competitor to Asustek, plans to launch a new product series in the months of April and May after having returned to the Taiwan LCD monitor market in the third quarter of 2009. Worldwide LCD monitor shipments are expected to range between 170 and 180 million units in 2010, a slight increase from 167 million unit shipments in 2009.

Major LCD Monitor Brands Cut Prices in China: Due to less-than-expected sales numbers in China major LCD monitor brands are cutting prices. Samsung and AOC have reduced 19-inch LCD monitor model prices by 11% to 12% to CNY799 to CNY899 (about US$117 to $132). In recent years demand for LCD monitors and other PC-related goods have been strong after China’s Lunar New Year. Unfortunately this year sales has been underwhelming. Still, China is poised to become the largest LCD monitor market in the world in 2010 with an expected market of 50 million units, an increase from 45 million in 2009.

Demand for Netbooks Declining in Taiwan: Recently netbook demand has been decreasing in Taiwan. In response retailers have had to reduce mainstream model prices to NT$9,500 to NT$11,000 (about US$300 to $350) to reduce high levels of inventory. More price cuts are expected in the near future. In the first quarter of 2010, netbook’s share of the overall notebook PC market in Taiwan was just 20%, a major drop from a peak of 40% to 50%.

ENGADGET

Toshiba Tecra M11: Toshiba’s Tecra M11 seems to be a business-oriented notebook PC. The new iteration now sports options for Intel’s Core i3 and i5 CPUs. Not surprisingly in addition to Windows 7 a copy of Windows XP is included. Other specs include: maximum 3GB DDR3 RAM, Intel HD graphics or NVIDIA NVS 2100M on higher-end model, 320GB 7200RPM HDD, DL DVD writer, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, WiFi, ExpressCard Slot, three-year warranty and a 14-inch LED-backlit LCD sporting a 1366×768 pixel format. Price starts at US$899.

Barnes & Noble Nook Now Available at Best Buy: Best Buy is offering the Barnes & Noble Nook for US$259.99. Originally guessed to be April 18, the Nook has turned up on Best Buy’s online site earlier than expected.

Spring Design Alex Ships Tomorrow: Spring Design’s Alex is a dual-display e-reader priced at US$399. Alex will ship tomorrow. Originally Alex was slated for a February ship date. The top display is E Ink based while the bottom color display is powered by Android.

ViewSonic VT2300LED LCD TV: ViewSonic’s VT2300LED is a 23-inch LED-backlit LCD TV. The LED backlight allows for 30% to 50% less power consumption compared to typical CCFL-based BLUs. The VT2300LED’s pixel format is 1920×1080 and the response time is 5ms. Other specs include: an ATSC/NTSC/QAM tuner and three HDMI connections. Price is US$399. Amazon sells the VT2300LED for just $299. Consider supporting DisplayBlog by using the Amazon link to purchase your products.

LG LU2300: LG’s LU2300 is an Android 2.1 smartphone powered by a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU. The 3.5-inch capacitive touch display is of the AMOLED variety. Other specs include: a 5 megapixel camera, WiFi, DivX support, DMB TV tuner. No price or availability at the moment.

Sony PVM-740: Sony’s PVM-740 is a 7.4-inch OLED-based professional monitor featuring a 960×540 pixel format. MSRP is a steep US$3,850. This is the very first professional monitor making use of OLED display technology.

AKIHABARA NEWS

Samsung SPH-W9600: The SPH-W9600 from Samsung makes use of AMOLED display technology and incorporates a pico-projector, which can project a 50-inch screen. Other specs include: a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus, a 3.3-inch 800×480 AMOLED display, and a DMB TV tuner. The AMOLED BEAM supports DivX video files and can read Microsoft Office documents.

DIGITIMES

Sharp Develops 4 Primary Color 3D LCD: Based on the time-sequential technique where the left and right eyes are shown different content through active-shutter 3D glasses resulting in a 3D effect. Sharp improves upon conventional 3D displays by increasing brightness by 1.8x and reducing crosstalk leading to a significant decrease of double-contour ghost images. Sharp combined many of its technologies: UV2A (read Sharp UV2A Technology), four primary color (Red, Green, Blue and Yellow), FRED (Frame Rate Enhanced Driving), edge-lite LED backlight. The four primary color technology improves light transmission efficiency and allows for a wider color gamut.

PVI March Revenues Increase 19% M/M: Prime View International’s March consolidated revenues increased 19% M/M and 94% Y/Y to NT$1.87 billion (about US$59 million) and includes results from E Ink and Hydis. First quarter revenues were NT$5.01 billion. PVI supplies E Ink-based e-book displays to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Sony and others. The company expects to maintain its leadership as the largest e-paper supplier in 2010. With the advent of Apple’s iPad, I am not certain that E Ink-based e-book readers will continue to enjoy rapid growth.

Chimei Innolux Announces March Revenues and Shipments: Chimei Innolux (CMI) announced unaudited consolidated revenues of NT$38.38 billion (about US$1.22 billion), 9.81 million large-area and 25.31 million small/medium LCD panel shipments for the month of March. These results exclude results from Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO) and TPO Displays prior to the merger date, which was on March 18, 2010. CMI’s results do include LCD panels, LCD modules and LCD systems.

Corning Taiwan Running at Full Capacity: Corning Taiwan’s glass production is running at full capacity to meet customer demand and restore optimal inventory levels. If the LCD TV market continues to grow Corning will consider expanding glass manufacturing capacity including Taiwan’s. In 2009, worldwide glass substrate shipments increased 20% Y/Y to 2.45 billion square feet. For 2010, the world’s largest LCD glass supplier expects shipment growth of 21% Y/Y to 2.8 to 3.0 billion square feet. Corning also shared that glass supply will be tight throughout 2010. LCD TV share of the global TV market is expected to reach 80% in 2010 and grow to over 90% in 2010 according to the company. Corning’s Taichung, Taiwan-based glass facility has been completely recovered from the October 2009 power disruption and currently is running at full capacity. China’s LCD TV demand is expected to reach 37 million units in 2010 and capturing 21% of the global LCD TV market. Next year, Corning expects China to become the largest LCD TV market.

Samsung Follows LG Display to Supply Panels Used in iPad: According to Taiwan-based LCD suppliers, Samsung will be the second LCD panel supplier to Apple’s iPad program following LG Display (LGD). Samsung’s S-PVA (Super Patterned Vertical Alignment) LCD panels will be used. LGD shipped 300,000 – 400,000 9.7-inch IPS LCD panels for the iPad in February and almost 500,000 in March. Sources claim that Samsung’s LCD panels meet Apple’s requirements. I call B.S. And the main reason being that Apple has made it clear that one of the main features of the iPad is the use of IPS LCDs. I am fairly certain Apple will not be making use of S-PVA LCDs in its iPad.

ENGADGET

Flip Slide HD: The Flip Slide HD sports a 3-inch pop-up resistive touch LCD. Other specs include a headphone jack, stereo speakers, and HDMI output. Video capture is the same as the Flip Mino HD at 720p w/o image stabilization. Storage has been increased to 16GB for four hours of video or 12 hours of compressed video storage. Price is US$279.99. Buy through this Amazon link and support DisplayBlog. Thanks!

Neofonie WePad: Neofonie revealed its 11.6-inch WePad in Berlin. The WePad is based on Linux, powered by Intel’s Atom Z450 and will have two versions: 16GB / WiFi for €450 and 64GB / HD for €569. Neofonie promises Full HD support in the larger version. Unfortunately NVIDIA is not part of the video solution on the WePad. Flash is supported on the WePad, which is slated for an August release.

Netflix on Wii: Netflix and Nintendo announced that the discs and service are fully available to all Netflix subscribers. If you have not received a Wii disk you can contact Netflix and request one.

Microsoft Kin One, Kin Two: These two phones are the result of Microsoft’s purchase of Danger. Built by Sharp the two social media heavy Windows Phones sports a custom browser based on the Zune’s. There is absolutely no support for third-party apps. Both sport capacitive multitouch displays with gesture support such as pinch and zoom in the browser. Kin One is square, sports a 320×240 pixel format LCD, 4GB of internal storage, a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash and a full QWERTY keyboard. Kin Two is rectangular, has a 480×320 pixel LCD, an 8 megapixel camera, and 8GB of internal storage. Both feature Bluetooth, WiFi, and 3G. Cloud storage is in: all photos and videos will be seamlessly synced to an unlimited storage account.

Meizu Mbook Tablet: The Mbook from Meizu is an 8.4-inch tablet sporting a 1024×768 pixel format and capacitive touch. Other specs include 3G, WiFi, a 12-hour battery, HDMI out supporting 1080p. No word on the OS, price, or ship date.

Best Buy to Carry Nook on April 18: Best Buy will start carrying Barnes and Noble’s Nook on April 18. The retail price will be US$260.

Archos to Introduce Six Internet Tablets in Summer 2010: Prices will range from US$100 to $350. ARM Cortex CPUs will run between 800MHz and 1GHz while display sizes will range from 3 inches to 10 inches. The six will include support for multitouch and 3G OpenGL.

Hitachi Unveils 3.1-inch 3D IPS Display: Hitachi’s 3.1-inch 3D IPS display sports a brightness of 400 cd/m², a 854×480 pixel format, a contrast ratio of 1000:1, and does not require glasses. This development is interesting in light of Sharp’s recent mobile 3D panel announcement (read Sharp 3D Touch LCD) and the upcoming release of Nintendo’s 3DS at the E3 conference held in June.

Palm Up for Sale: According to Bloomberg, Palm is up for sale. Palm has already retained Goldman Sachs and Qatalyst Partners to search for potential suitors. HTC, Lenovo and Cisco have expressed interest in purchasing the maker of the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus smartphones.

WIRED

Apple Lays the Original iPhone to Rest: The very first iPhone was sold on June 29, 2007, almost three years ago. This iconic iPhone will no longer be compatible with future iPhone OS upgrades, starting with iPhone OS 4.0. This comes directly from Steve Jobs.

Google Android Tablet Imminent: According to the New York Times, Google is working on its own tablet that will sport an e-reader and function like a computer. Google’s tablet is expected to run Android and be intimately connected to the cloud as current Android smartphones are. Integrating Google books, Google Reader, Google Voice, etc. could very well pose a serious threat to Apple’s iPad that is cloud-challenged.

Panasonic Announces Micro Four Thirds Camcorder: Panasonic announced a M4/3 camcorder, the AG-AF100, able to make use of all M4/3 lenses. Video is recorded in AVCHD/H.264 format in 1920×1080/24p. Storage is via two SDHC cards. The AG-AF100 sports a built-in stereo microphone, a pair of XLR inputs, and supports Dolby AC3. Pricing is yet to be determined and will be available by the end of the year.

DisplayBlog is written and produced by Jin Kim. Subscribe via RSS.