No.
In an interview last week with Forbes, Microsoft Chief Research and Strategy Officer Craig Mundie said that Siri’s capabilities are not Apple-specific, and notes that Windows Phone’s similar “Tellme” technology has been functional for over a year.
You can watch Forbes’ Eric Savitz interview with Craig Mundie on YouTube.
John Gruber on Tellme:
Not bad at all — but not Siri.
Tellme ≠ Siri.
According to The Verge:
via John Gruber. Christian Zibreg, 9to5Mac:
Both VIA and HTC share the same owner, Formosa Plastics Group, a Taiwanese conglomerate whose diverse interests include biotechnology, petrochemical processing and production of electronics components. The entity is owned by the Wang family. The wife of VIA Technologies’ CEO is Ms. Cher Wang, chairperson and co-founder of HTC. In July, VIA Technologies, the original owner of S3 Graphics, won a lawsuit against Apple over infringement of two of S3 Graphics’ patents in Mac products.
Plan A: Transfer S3 from VIA to HTC. Hit Apple hard. Plan B: Let’s not implement Plan A.
via Steve Silberman. Susan Kare was responsible for the icons in the early days of the Macintosh. One look and you can’t help but think limitation catalyzes creativity. There’s lot’s more brilliant sketches. And if you’re interested in purchasing Kare’s icons she sells limited edition prints at Susan Kare Prints.
The S95 gets a slight edge in terms of image quality, but the S100’s wider lens, faster performance, and video recording are all solid tweaks on top of the S95.
This is a case where specs matter less than expected. The S100 has better specs, but the S95 captures better images. Of course if you own an iPhone 4/4S this is of little relevance.
Upon receiving the unit, it was clear that the new screen had a yellower tint than the cold blue of my 3GS. While a warmer hue could have been good news, this seemed a bit too yellow, making for a sickly, washed-out look that I noticed every time I moved to my iPad 2 and 3GS (it’s not as if you can calibrate these iDevice screens).
I think it’s about time Apple allows access to those parts of iOS so color calibration can become a reality. All of us have preferences for a particular white color temperature. Different folks, different strokes. But there are discreet differences in our general preferences for white color temperatures based on geography, which in turn is based on real temperatures. Folks in cold temperatures generally prefer warmer white colors while those bathing in the sun prefer a slightly cooler color temperature. And then there are millions of gradients within the edges of the white color temperature spectrum based purely on taste.
Color calibration would also be important for anyone who needs accurate colors on their iPhones: photographers, cinematographers, designers, etc. As the camera on the iPhone become more capable in capturing images and videos the need for precise tuning of color becomes more important and more needed.
Oh, and there’s another thing: Pollicino noticed “light leaking through the top of the screen”. That’s unacceptably shoddy quality. His iPhone 4S might have been the few duds that came out of the factory on Monday, but manufacturing tolerances might be in need of tightening.
Richard Shim, DisplaySearch Senior Analyst, in an interview with Brooke Crothers, CNET:
It’s happening–QXGA, 2048×1536. Panel production has started [for the next-generation iPad]. There’s three suppliers.
Those LCD manufacturers are LG Display, Samsung, and Sharp.
I would imagine there would be concerns about [adequate] supply given the resolution of the display but you’ve got three different suppliers at this point. They should have enough to launch the product
Apple’s iPhone or iPad launches are not regular launches and more like blockbuster movie launches. Millions of 9.7-inch 2048×1536 IPS LCD panels will need have been manufactured, integrated into iPad 3s, distributed and stocked. And that’s just at launch.
Shim expects the iPad 3 will be ready to be shipped in January with volumes ramping up in February and March. I think that’s a bit early and expect launch to be in March. And the time between announcement and launch has been shrinking. It was mere days for the iPad 2. So when I say I expect the iPad 3 to launch in March I’m also saying I expect the announcement to be made around that time.
LGD, Sharp, and Samsung have all been working toward perfecting the iPad Retina Displays for a while. Limited production runs have been going on for some time, but maybe the three are at the starting point of ramping production.
Like many others I have been waiting for the iPad to undergo the same Retinal metamorphosis the iPhone underwent. The visual experience on the iPad 3 should be simply amazing.
Qualcomm MEMS Technologies, Inc. (QMT) a wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, and Kyobo Book Centre, Korea’s largest seller of books, today announced the retail availability of the world’s first e-reader to include mirasol display technology.
Note the 4:3 aspect ratio. E Ink Kindles are also 4:3 and so is the iPad. But unlike them the Kyobo e-Reader packs a resolution of 223 ppi. I expect a pleasurable reading experience.
Mirasol attempts to combine the responsiveness of color LCD and the long lasting, power sipping E Ink. Did Qualcomm succeed? Close, but not quite. A Mirasol based e-reader or tablet lasts as long as one based on E Ink with video capable fast response times. That alone is an accomplishment, but the problem is color. Compared to LCD color is far from vibrant.
For those wanting their tablets to last as long as E Ink, Mirasol is disappointing because of its pale colors. On the other hand, for those wanting E Ink with color, Mirasol looks pretty good. Page turns are instant, video playback is possible, and you get some color.
Compared to the $99 Kindle Touch, the $199 Kindle Fire and the Nook Tablet, the Kyobo e-Reader seems a bit expensive at ₩349,000 or about US$300.
Update: Netbooknews:
The colours on the display were decent though could have been more vibrant and they viewing angle left a lot to be desired as I’m sure you’ll notice in the video below. The reds especially seemed to in need of a little bit of a boost and if you think back to the canned demo’s we saw at the beginning of this year you’ll quickly realize that the colour saturation is much lower.
The fact that the device has a glossy display certainly didn’t help when checking colour brilliance in direct sunlight. It is worth noting that the display doesn’t need to be glossy and we hope that future iterations take note that mobile devices, especially ones that require sunlight to light up the screen shouldn’t have issues with glare.
A glossy reflective display is asking for trouble: trouble reading that is. This is a first generation Mirasol-based e-reader, so let’s hope Qualcomm moves in the right direction with more brilliant colors in a matte display.
via John Gruber. MG Siegler:
So no, there’s no Facebook Phone. Until a year from now when there is one. Consider it fait accompli.
I remember a hardware device linked to a single, but very popular, online service. What was it. Oh yes, the now defunct Twitter Peek.
via Ben Brooks. Ron Johnson, J.C. Penny CEO and former Apple VP for retail, in an interview with Harvard Business Review:
People come to the Apple Store for the experience — and they’re willing to pay a premium for that. There are lots of components to that experience, but maybe the most important — and this is something that can translate to any retailer — is that the staff isn’t focused on selling stuff, it’s focused on building relationships and trying to make people’s lives better.
From my personal experiences at Apple Stores the one thing that could make my life even better is if the stores themselves were bigger, much much bigger.
iFixit: The good folks at iFixit tore down the Nook Tablet and found the display. The LG Display manufactured 7-inch IPS LCD is the LD070WS2-SL02. Some specs of the LD070WS2-SL02:
Like the Kindle Fire, the Nook Table’s viewing angles at 170/170 are a bit less than the usual (178/178) for an IPS LCD.
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