Redmond Pie: Sooner or later the iPad will replace your MacBook. You can already use an external keyboard with the iPad. The only thing missing was the mouse. Well, using the BTstack application on a jailbroken iPad will get your Magic Mouse connected to the iPad. There is a bit of lag, but I’m guessing we aren’t too far off from a near-perfect implementation. And in the fall, courtesy of Apple, the iPad will be getting multitasking abilities via iPhone OS 4.0. With the iPad you even get a better display (plus multitouch) than any MacBook currently available.
Maxwell C. Shay: Oh, and you can also connect an external hard drive to the iPad via the Camera Connection Kit.
There’s more: the ClamCase. It is a combination of three things: a Bluetooth keyboard, a case and a stand. It is CGI-only at the moment but if all goes well should be shipping in Fall 2010.
Just in via MacRumors: Printing for the iPad will come.
At just US$149.99 the Kobo from Borders is a no-frills e-reader for quite a bit less than Amazon’s Kindle or B&N’s Nook. The Kobo is available now and will begin shipping on June 17th. I’m not liking the blue d-pad but for the price I shouldn’t be too picky, I guess. Source: Borders
If you want to find the perfect case for your iPad ipadcasefinder.com is the place to go.
According to a person familiar with the matter, the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission are locked in negotiations over which of the watchdogs will begin an antitrust inquiry into Apple’s new policy of requiring software developers who devise applications for devices such as the iPhone and iPad to use only Apple’s programming tools.
The iPad is Apple’s. The iPhone OS that runs on the iPad is Apple’s. What Apple wants to do with what Apple owns is Apple’s business. I guess the Department of Justice or the Federal Trade Commission isn’t busy enough with important matters or maybe they want to get on the case of another great American company in the hopes of leaving a lasting, most likely negative, mark.
Food for thought. Michael Gartenberg in 1,000,000 iPads. 28 days. First Take:
The reason Apple was successful was they optimized for the form factor.
The very essence of Apple’s success with the iPad is being questioned by government institutions that know nothing about optimization.
I think I may have THE solution: Develop a special government-only version of the iPad that allows for developers to use any programming tools they wish. These special apps must pass one test: it must be compatible with all currently available portable devices ensuring platform neutrality and experience suckiness.
The price of just $29.99 for a Palm Pre Plus with unlimited personal hotspot service that gets you a MiFi-like experience is quite tempting. But bear in mind you’re not going to come out of a Verizon store with a Palm Pre Plus after spending anything close to $29.99. I live in California so the sales tax is an absurd 9.25%. But in the case of the Pre Plus that doesn’t mean 9.25% of $29.99. Oh no. The amazingly convoluted tax code in California (as well as the rest of the US) taxes you on the full retail price for mobile phone sales with a contract. Isn’t that beautiful. The full retail price is $599.99 so that means the tax you’ll be paying is $65.55. The total out-the-door cost of a $29.99 Palm Pre from Verizon will be $95.54. I wonder if there are any other products or services where you pay taxes from the full retail price even when discounted. Sales tax based on the full retail price even when discounted sounds fishy to me. Source: Verizon
I have thought the iPad would mostly be used in places or situations where there is almost always a WiFi connections: cafes, libraries, at home, etc. And it is at those places where you would want to read a book, surf the net or watch TV. I also thought because of those reasons the WiFi version of the iPad would be the dominant seller. I guess I was only half right.
ABC’s current iPad app only works connected to WiFi and the company is prepping a version that will work over 3G. Possible places where you would want to watch TV on your iPad over a 3G connection: bus, train, WiFi-less cafes, libraries and homes. These reasons and probably the convenience of an always-connected iPad led to over one million iPads being sold in just under a month. Source: SAI
Update: The 3G-enabled ABC iPad app is already available for download at the App Store. That was quite fast.
The Desk Phone Dock for the iPhone looks marvelously classic and modern at the same time. I am sensitive to reports showing dangers of extensive usages of mobile phones so I’m liking this for health reasons too. I hope Kee Utility Inc. makes this, soon.
The US District Court for the District of Delaware found on February 16, 2010 that LG Display (LGD) infringed four AU Optronic (AUO) patents. Those patents are:
These patents cover LCD panels for TVs, monitors, notebooks, digital signage and mobile phones. The dispute between AUO and LGD goes back to 2006. The patents focus on technologies that improve response time and reliability. According to AUO there are a lot of products currently being sold in the US and will be seeking injunctions preventing products that use infringing LGD LCDs from being exported to and sold in the US. There is a risk that the 9.7-inch IPS LCD panel made by LGD that goes into Apple’s iPad infringes one of AUO’s four patents. Source: Digitimes
The only 3D movie that I’ve seen is Avatar and I really enjoyed the experience. But I also have read that James Cameron did a superb job in integrating 3D into Avatar, avoiding a lot of the reasons why Ebert hates 3D.
Revenues decreased 6.04% Q/Q and increased 40.37% Y/Y to KRW6.85T (about US$6.14B). Samsung focused on 40-inch and larger LCD TV panels, LED-backlit panels and models with 3D and 240Hz in Q1 and will continue to do so in 2010. Source: Digitimes
DisplayBlog is written and produced by Jin Kim. Subscribe via RSS.