Hasta La Gadget!

The iPhone 4 isn’t even officially on sale yet and already there are widespread reports of problems with the new, so-called ‘retina display.’

The iPhone 4 has already been delivered to some lucky customers, and some of them have discovered nasty yellow-brown “stains” on the ultra hi-res screen. These come in the form of a small blob of discoloration in one or more screen corners, as you can see in the photo above from the Apple Discussion forums, posted by user elitemrp.

The problem is echoed across various other sites, including the MacRumors forums, and Jesus Diaz of Gizmodo Tweets that his blog is also being deluged with reports.

Right now we have no direct experience of the problem, or any idea what may be causing it. Our guess would be that it is related to the new production technique Apple is using to bond the glass cover, the LCD panel and the digitizer together into one layered unit, but that’s just a guess.

This could turn into rather a big problem for Apple. If the internet is already this noisy after just a few iPhones were delivered early, imagine how loud things will get when the rest of the 600,000 pre-orders are in people’s hands.

Flawed screen [Apple Discussions]

Some iPhone 4s Experiencing Display Discoloration? [MacRumors]

Uh-Oh – Anyone got yellow spots on their 14 screen? [MacRumors Forums]

See Also:

• Display Expert: iPhone 4 Resolution 'Significantly Lower' Than Retina
• iPhone 4's 'Retina' Display Claims Are False Marketing
• First iPhone 4 Reviews Mostly Sing Its Praises
• Photo Gallery: Hands-On With the iPhone 4

No folks, those mythical N8 review units still aren’t on our doorsteps, but we can offer you the next best thing: a thorough (we mean thorough) overview of the Symbian^3 environment that will be front and center on Nokia’s next great phone. Eldar Murtazin of mobile-review reports on everything from the sophisticated handling of contacts and caller ID pictures, through the noticeable speed improvements, past the limited utility of online widgets that display only two lines at a time, beyond the “weak spot” web browser, and all the way to Symbian’s unhealthy habit of “clinging to continuity.” It’s an enlightening read, which pulls no punches with its conclusion: Symbian^3 is an evolutionary step up from S60 5th edition, which brings nothing new to the market and offers no comparative advantages. Strong words from Eldar, particularly when he doesn’t disclose what build of the OS he’s using; his rationale, however, is that his analysis relates to overarching design decisions and ignores software bugs and version-specific foibles. Make of that what you will.

[Thanks, scotsboyuk]

Symbian^3 reviewed in exquisite and ruthless detail by Eldar Murtazin originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Jun 2010 06:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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J-Cast news is making the provocative claim that SMAP’s era might be finished.

Popular Johnny’s pop band SMAP is comprised of five men whose faces any resident or visitor to Japan will immediately recognize. At least one of them features on billboards seemingly wherever you turn!

J-Cast points to current media musings on the lower viewing figures and dwindling box office for the performers’ recent TV series and films indicate a drop in their star pulling power. Of course, for years fans and commentators have speculated on whether the band will split, especially given all their lucrative careers as individuals. Could they now just simply lack the shine they used to have?

[Pic via Taboo no chou.]

We’ve written before on the issues surrounding Japanese advertising and its lazy, near-obsessive use of celebrities to provide a face for any new product or campaign. Has the SMAP members’ very ubiquity eventually canceled out their own popularity? Japanese bloggers are thinking the almost unthinkable — that even Takuya Kimura cannot muster a veritable hit anymore…

Since they’re theoretically capable of 300 megabyte per second transfer rates, we knew SDXC cards wouldn’t stay slow forever. How will we separate wheat from chaff when faster models do appear, though? You’re looking at it. This week, the SD Association unveiled the UHS-I specification for SDXC and SDHC cards capable of transferring data at up to 104 megabytes per second — reportedly fast enough to record HD videos in real time. Why the association chose the phrasing “up to” is a little iffy, as we thought the point of such specifications was quality control, but considering how many Class 4 and Class 6 SD cards we’ve tossed that didn’t match up to spec, we suppose we’ll make do with a ballpark estimate… until the inevitable UHS-II makes the rounds. PR after the break.

Continue reading SD cards branded with an upper-case ‘I’ are faster, yo

SD cards branded with an upper-case ‘I’ are faster, yo originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Jun 2010 03:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Seems like Harvard wasn’t content with making robotic bees, and has taken its quest for miniaturization right down to the nanoscale level. One nanometer-wide, single-stranded DNA molecules are the topic of the university’s latest research, which sets out a way they can be used to create “3D prestressed tensegrity structures.” Should these theoretical scribblings ever pan out in the real world, we could see the resulting self-assembled nanodevices facilitating drug delivery targeted directly at the diseased cells, and even the reprogramming of human stem cells. Infusing a nanodevice with the relevant DNA data passes instructions on to your stem cells, which consequently turn into, for example, new bone tissue or neurons to augment your fleshy CPU. Yes, we’re kinda freaked out, but what’s cooler than being able to say you’re going to the doctor for a shot of nanotransformers?

Self-assembling nanodevices could advance medicine one tiny leap at a time originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Jun 2010 02:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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