Sony:
Under the agreement, Samsung will acquire all of Sony’s shares of S-LCD Corporation (“S-LCD”), the two companies’ LCD panel manufacturing joint venture, making S-LCD a wholly owned subsidiary of Samsung. In consideration for the share transfer, cash consideration of approximately KRW 1.08 trillion will be paid to Sony by Samsung. [...]
For Sony, this transaction will enable it to monetize its shares in S-LCD and aims to secure a flexible and steady supply of LCD panels from Samsung, based on market prices and without the responsibility and costs of operating a manufacturing facility. With whole ownership of S-LCD, Samsung anticipates heightened flexibility, speed and efficiency in both panel production and business operations.
That’s about US$940 million. A big chunk of cash Sony desperately needs.
via Engadget. LG Display press release:
The panel adopts an Oxide TFT technology for backplane which is different from a Low Temperature Poly Silicon (LTPS) type generally used in existing small-sized OLED panels. The Oxide TFT type that LG Display utilizes is similar to the existing TFT process, with the simple difference lying in replacing Amorphous Silicon with Oxide. Moreover, the Oxide TFT type produces identical image quality to high performance of LTPS base panels at significantly reduced investment levels.
Compared to a-Si electron mobility is improved by a factor of up to 30x on an oxide TFT backplane. This characteristic is required to precisely control current on a large OLED display. Cost is another factor. Even if it was possible to manufacture a 55-inch LTPS backplane it would be too expensive. Oxide TFT improves performance and lowers cost.
Additionally, LG Display uses White OLED (WOLED). WOLED vertically accumulates red, green, and blue diodes. With white color light emitting from the diode, it displays screen information through color layers below the TFT base panel, which leads to a lower error rate, higher productivity, and a clearer Ultra Definition screen via the benefits of small pixels. Further, it is possible to realize identical colors in diverse angles via color information displayed through a thin layer.
I wish I knew what vertically accumulating RGB diodes means. Maybe it means there are two transparent OLED diode layers with the three primary colors accumulating toward the front of the OLED display, kind of the reverse of what a Foveon X3 image sensor does. Vertical accumulation allows small pixels and “Ultra Definition” (or QuadHD or 4K2K) meaning a pixel format of 3840×2160 or higher. And viewing angles will probably be close to 180 degrees.
Although I’m excited about the possibility of a large OLED TV with deep blacks and an impossibly thin profile (to mount on the wall of course), I’m also concerned about how long it will last. As far as I know blue diode lifetimes are still limited and unlike smartphones we exchange every two or three years we tend to keep our TVs for quite a bit longer especially one that will most likely be very expensive.
Update: LG Electronics announced its 55-inch OLED TV based on LG Display’s panel mentioned above. I’m not terribly excited about the possibility of having to be forced to replace an expensive OLED TV every few years, but here’s another reason for my dampened enthusiasm:
The 4-Color Pixels feature allows for more accurate color depiction by using a set of four colors (red, green blue and white) in comparison to the RGB setup used by other OLED TV manufacturers.
I believe that’s code for RGBW PenTile Matrix. And that means the 3840×2160 or higher pixel format isn’t exactly that either.
via Brent Simmons. Betabeat:
What most users don’t know is that the new features being introduced are all centered around increasing the value of Facebook to advertisers, to the point where Facebook representatives have been selling the idea that Timeline is actually about re-conceptualizing users around their consumer preferences, or as they put it, “brands are now an essential part of people’s identities.”
Google gathers your online activities, analyzes them, and sells to the highest bidding advertiser. Facebook sells you.
Worse, it seems the “top 5%” data users aren’t using that much data at all. As Amit Runchal points out in this post, he got that AT&T warning as well despite being right around the 2GB cap that AT&T offers on their current plans. In other words, it’s not like the top 5% are using 5x the data of AT&T’s current caps, they’re using about that much data, and AT&T is still going to throttle them.
This is graded on a curve. Meaning no matter how much or little data you use, if 95% of AT&T users used less than you, you’ll be throttled. That’s why it isn’t surprising folks like Amit Runchal are receiving “High Data Usage Alert” notices from AT&T.
My guess as to why AT&T chose this method is no one can refute he is in the top 5% if AT&T says you are. AT&T holds all the cards and can screw you, at will, at any time. Transparency at its worst. The only solution is a system based on discreet limits. For instance, a reasonable suggestion for folks with grandfathered-in unlimited data plans might be a limit of 10GB per month after which speeds will get throttled down to 2G speeds.
According to AT&T about 30% of its customers use an “integrated device”. I’m guessing that means a smartphone. Assuming roughly 100 million total customers, those with smartphones number 30 million. And that means no matter how much data is used on AT&T’s networks “High Data Usage Alert” notices will be sent out every month to 1.5 million customers. What do I think of this? MG Siegler took the words right out of my mouth: “It’s complete and utter bullshit.”
via BGR. Wedge Partners analyst Brian Blair:
Don’t expect a 7-incher. While we believe Apple has tested 7-inch screen prototypes for over a year, we don’t currently expect the company to release anything in the 7-inch size in 2012.
I think a 7-inch iPad can be extremely successful in Japan, South Korea, parts of Western Europe, and San Francisco, Cali. These are places where both men and women carry purses. But I’m with Blair: I don’t think there’s going to be a 7-inch iPad.
via Stephen Hackett. Drew Coffman:
I’m thinking the term “curator” shouldn’t be thrown out just yet. What we know as digital curation is such a unique beast that no other word seems to really fit. Traditional curators are often degree-holding specialists trusted with their materials. Translating this idea to the digital world places emphasis on content that I find very good for web culture. It shows that people place real value in the things they love. However, I think there is a requirement for those who use the term – one must provide some unique context or information when displaying their prized possessions. I have a hard time taking digital “curators” seriously when all they do is throw links together. The why is so important to me when it comes to art.
Why. Good question. For knowledge. For beauty. For truth. And sometimes just for fun.
Earlier today, Samsung revealed that it won’t update the Galaxy S, its most successful smartphone to date, to the latest version of Android. [...] I take grave issue with it. This is a decision based not on technical constraints, as Samsung would have you believe, but on hubris.
Samsung shipped almost 20 million Galaxy S phones and that means there are almost as many pissed off customers.
Update: An alternative view by Matthew Panzarino, The Next Web:
The problem isn’t Samsung, it’s systemic to Android as a whole. The makers of Android hardware see little benefit in updating even devices that are less than a year old. And, though I think it’s a punk move, I don’t blame them. There is little to no return to be had.
Though that may be true, that this is a systematic Android problem, by not taking care of its current customers there will be “little to no” customers who return to Samsung for another round of getting screwed.
Update 2: John Gruber:
One company clearly has more respect for its customers; that company is also clearly more successful. If you don’t see the connection, go ahead and keep your head in the sand.
Shalini Singh, The Times of India:
India has so far been following a SAR limit of 2 watts/kg in accordance with ICNIRP (International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection Association) norms. An inter-ministerial committee has now curtailed the SAR level for mobile handsets further to 1.6 watts/kg average over a six minute period and taken over a volume containing a mass of 1 gram of human tissue. The SAR level shall now be displayed on handsets.
Five safety precautions:
Use a wireless, hands-free system with a low power Bluetooth emitter; ensure that cellphone has a low SAR; keep voice calls short or send text messages instead – an advice that applies especially to children, adolescents and pregnant women; use cellphone when signal quality is good; and finally people with active medical implants should preferably keep mobile handsets at least 15cms away from the implant.
A healthier option than even a Bluetooth headset is the built-in speakerphone, which is what I use whenever possible. And children love to play with smartphones like the iPhone, my kids included. When I let them play with an iPhone I make sure it is in airplane mode and teach them why.
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