It’s so weird to have the word ‘phone’ as part of a phone operating system. Here’s an example: The HTC Schubert is a Windows Phone 7 (WP7) phone. I guess I should use the more-accurate term ‘smartphone’: The HTC Schubert is a Windows Phone 7 (WP7) smartphone. That’s a bit better, but still. Anyway, there’s a video of the HTC Schubert on 247 Windows Phone. You can see it right here (the video is only 1:11 long despite the entire video lasting 3:19; there was an upload error):

Although I’m still interested in Android news, I’m getting a little tired. Android 2.2, a.k.a. Froyo, is just being implemented to Android smartphones and there’s already 3.0 on the horizon. Can we get on a schedule? I feel like I’m being bombarded with OS updates. I’m ready for something new and different, like WP7. Unfortunately, aside from using a bit more text, WP7 is starting to get old already. I was hoping for some exciting hardware too, but the HTC Schubert just reminds of the iPhone 3GS with its overall shape and metallic border. Or is it just the Nexus One redone. Either way the hardware is, to say the least, less than inspiring. But I should be.

The HTC Schubert is a unibody design crafted from a single block of aluminum. Sure doesn’t look that way. The display is most likely not OLED since Samsung is hoarding all of them for its Galaxy S smartphones. A LCD is quite likely.

NEC’s E231W is a 23-inch LCD monitor sporting a LED backlight and a pixel format of 1920×1080. Display specs include: 250 cd/m2 of brightness, and a 1000:1 contrast ratio. NEC states a 25000:1 dynamic contrast ratio but you can completely disregard that spec as pure marketing fluff. I like the 4-way adjustability: height, tilt, swivel, pivot. Connectivity options are: DisplayPort, VGA, DVI. The E231W consumes just 28W of power and is priced at US$299. Available in late August. Source: NEC

Chen-Lung Kuo, former vice president of sales of Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO), will plead guilty to for participating in the LCD price-fixing conspiracy from April 2004 to December 2006, according to the US Department of Justice on August 4th. Kuo, a Taiwan resident, has agreed to serve nine months in jail, a US$35,000 fine and to assist the department in its ongoing investigation. More than US$890 million in fines have been charged against 19 executives and eight companies.

According to the Sherman Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a US$1 million fine for individuals, the maximum fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine. Source: Digitimes

PCMag: Canon’s head of image communication products division Masaya Maeda:

There is a consumer need for good-quality cameras to be made smaller. We will meet this need. … It’s not a question of whether or not you have a mirror.

Mirror-less DSLR from Canon? Maybe. More likely is an even smaller DSLR than the smallest the company offers now.

HP’s Mini 5103 is the successor to the 5102 and is a 10.1-inch netbook geared toward business folks. Optional features include: up to 128GB SSD, Broadcom Crystal HD video accelerator, and a touch display. As far as I can tell the Mini 5103 isn’t a convertible so my question is why would you want touch capabilities on a regular netbook? Source: HP

Asustek will launch an 8-inch e-book reader sporting a 64-grayscale reflective LCD instead of the usual E Ink-type display according to Digitimes. The Asustek ebook reader will not use a backlight unit. Chimei Innolux (CMI) will provide the LCD, which uses a special process to improve the reflective qualities. The grayscale ebook reader will be launched in October 2010 for a price below US$599.

Asustek’s offering should be much less than $599 because the industry’s leading Kindle has a 9.7-inch DX that goes for just $379 and I don’t see much benefit in having fast response times when it comes to reading books unless you’re trying to develop a multimedia ebook platform, which the iPad dominates and starts at just $499.

Dell’s UltraSharp U3011 has not been announced but there has been leaks. The 30-inch LCD monitor sports an IPS LCD panel featuring a 2560×1600 pixel format. The H-IPS panel supplied by LG Display (LGD) is an 10-bit LCD with these specs: 1000:1 contrast ratio, 370 cd/m2 brightness, 7ms response time, 178-degree viewing angles, billions of possible colors. Connectivity options include two HDMI, two DVI, and one DisplayPort.

Apple’s 30-inch Cinema HD Display costs an astounding US$1799 and the new 27-inch LED Cinema Display (here are my initial thoughts) with a 2560×1440 pixel format is a much more affordable $999. In my opinion, Dell will have to price its 30-inch a lot closer to the 27-inch from Apple to be competitive.

This picture of the next-gen iPod touch on Wired inspired me to write this post. First, I don’t think the 2010 iPod touch will use a two-year-old industrial design. Second, there will mostly likely be a front-facing camera.

I might not need to upgrade to an iPhone 4. I certainly wouldn’t miss the enormous monthly fees from AT&T. I want to jailbreak, unlock myself. And the next iPod touch, I’m hoping, will allow me to do just that. Here are my predictions:

iOS 4: With multitasking Skype can be run in the background. I’m almost always around a WiFi connection so I’ll be able to make free phone calls to my Skype buddies and for very little call anyone in the US and the world over. I’ll save hundreds of dollars per year.

Two Cameras: Since the iPod touch, when connected, is always on WiFi I think it is a no-brainer to integrate the front-facing camera for FaceTime. The camera on the back should be the same five-megapixel backlight-illuminated image sensor that’s in the iPhone 4. And that should be awesome for photographs and 720p videos. I won’t have to bother getting another compact digital camera.

A4: The iPod touch will be insanely fast. I think it’ll be even faster than the iPhone 4 since it doesn’t have to deal with all that cellular stuff. If the next iPod touch uses the revamped design, it will be thinner and should last longer.

Retina Display: What can I say about the Retina Display that hasn’t been already said. The 2010 iPod touch with a Retina Display will be simply awesome. The iPod touch could easily be used as an ebook reader since the battery will last quite long. I think iPod touch apps optimized for the Retina Display will blossom when the next-gen iPod touch comes out. The iPad has a pixel format of 1024×768 and the iPod touch with the Retina Display will sport 960×640. There’s not that big a difference. The only difference is size: 10.4 inches versus 3.5 inches. I predict those who have good eyesight and prefer portability will get the iPod touch over the iPad.

I think the iPod touch is the real smartphone. With the features listed above the next-gen iPod touch has what it takes to challenge the way we communicate. The day we become free to communicate anywhere and anytime without being chained to blood-sucking wireless carriers will be a wonderful day.

Sanyo’s VPC-CA102YL is a waterproof camcorder that captures 1080/60i HD video encoded in MPEG4 AVC H.264. The VPC-CA102YL (is it that difficult to make model names that are easy to remember?) can also take 14-megapixel photographs. The viewfinder is a 2.7-inch LCD. Other specs include: f3.5-3.7 6.8-34mm lens, 5x optical zoom, waterproof to 10 feet, USB, mini HDMI, SDXC card slot. Available in September for US$349. Source: Sanyo

PS: I want a waterproof iPhone.

Is this a real Windows Phone 7 from ASUS? Engadget‘s Vlad Savov seems to think the display tech is OLED. My question is: where is ASUS getting these OLED panels from since there is a major shortage thanks to Samsung Mobile Display hogging all of them for its own Samsung-branded smartphones? Pantech is moving from OLED to LCD due to the shortage (source: TFTS). HTC is doing the same for Desire and Nexus One (source: TechRadar).

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