Hasta La Gadget!

Samsung told The Korea Times on Monday that it will end its LCD panel supply relationship with Apple as of next year. That’s according to a “senior Samsung source” who declined to be identified, citing insufficient margins owing to Apple’s supply pricing strategy. Samsung’s role in Apple’s LCD supply chain has dwindled, with the Korean company reportedly cut out of iPad mini production, but Samsung’s decision to pull the plug may have been a pre-emptive strike by the parts manufacturer owing to a declining relationship between the two.

Samsung is said to be fielding more orders from its consumer electronics division, as well as from Apple competitor Amazon, in volumes that could make up for the loss of Apple as an LCD component customer. Apple was Samsung’s top customer according to NPD DisplaySearch for the first half of the year, but Apple began cutting its LCD orders back in September and was reportedly shifting order volumes to LG and Sharp, as ongoing patent disputes worsened.

Pricing on Apple’s latest iPad display had caused Samsung to earn only half as much per pixel on its production compared to previous models, so narrowing margins clearly had an impact on the decision, but this also can’t help but look like a case of Samsung ending a relationship that was already on the rocks to begin with. Apple was already clearly trying to reduce its reliance on its rival’s component supplier arm, as indicated by changes to the way it designs its processor and sources RAM and NAND flash chips, but this may accelerate Apple’s intended timeline.

Apple is a massive customer of LCD panels, and is set to become an even more demanding customer with the impending probable launch of the iPad mini. Earlier, there were concerns about whether or not Samsung’s display supplier competition could produce adequate volumes to satisfy its needs, but Sharp seems to have recently gotten its act together, and others like Sony have reportedly joined Apple’s stable of potential supply sources.

The question will be whether or not the timeline Samsung gave of next year will give Apple enough time to stabilize its alternate source. Still, it looks like both have been preparing for this moment for a while, so we could see each walk away relatively unscathed.

It’s one thing to spend a ton of money on your gadgets, but it’s yet another to have to turn around and spend another small fortune on all the accessories that go with it, and I have to say that it seems like all those cases and covers, no matter how bejeweled they may be, are just ridiculously overpriced.

Well, finally comes an online retailer that seems to make sense. Welcome Applehour.com to the scene and check out what they have to offer: Aluminum iPhone cases for under 2 bucks, leather iPad cases for under 10? Stand’s and USB’s for less than a buck. They even have a very familiar looking Horn Stand for your iPhone for $1.69! I’d like to say I don’t know how they do it, but to be honest, its easier to wonder how a little piece of plastic that snapped onto my phone was ever worth 25 bucks!

AppleHour.com is both a retailer and a wholesaler and they are based in Hong Kong and Guangzhou. They offer Chinese goods at the lowest prices possible, and they ship worldwide. They also operate an official eBay store. They have their own factory  that produces mainly Apple Accessories, PC and laptop items, and Applehour.com operates well over 3000 square feet of warehouse space offering direct shipping.

I’d really like it to be a good deal, I’d love to be able to get some cute stocking stuffers and office gifts and still look like a big spender. The caveat here is, I’ve never purchased anything from these guys, if you have, let us in on the quality. Wouldn’t be nice if it was the same plastic accessories for an acceptable price? or are we already accustomed to spending too much money on nothing?
[ Applehour – iAccessories CHEAP? copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

The cassette tape was a popular medium back in the 80s and early 90s, and served as one of the main platforms for distributing music. Today, the cassette is all but living as other types of media have taken over since then. However, researchers have developed a prototype that is able to store 35TB of data onto a single cassette tape.

Researchers from both Fuji Film and IBM were able to take a cassette tape that measures about 4 inches x 4 inches x 1 inch and stuff 35TB of data into it onto the magnetic tape that has been coated in particles of barium ferrite. News Scientist refers to this as “a new wave of ultra-dense tape drives.”

However, don’t expect these high-density casette tapes to reach your local store, though. They’ll be made with servers in mind, and would only be available to large companies who have huge server farms, like Facebook, Google, Apple, etc. Plus, these tapes are currently only being developed for the $43 million IBM computer that will run the upcoming Square Kilometre Array telescope (SKA).

The SKA, which will be the world’s largest radio telescope once it’s complete in 2024, will be able to push out a petabyte of data per day (approximately 1 million gigabytes). Obviously, this would be a huge task for today’s paltry hard drives, and the researchers are working to shrink the new cassette tape system even further, by attempting to squeeze in 100 terabytes per cassette.

[via New Scientist]

Image via Flickr

Cassette tape prototype able to store 35 terabytes of data is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Microsoft has already packed Windows 8 with a bunch of apps from the get-go, but one thing we haven’t heard too much about is the company’s Skype app for the new operating system. That all changed today, as Microsoft has officially unveiled its Skype for Windows 8 app, detailing all of the new features in a Big Blog post. Needless to say, if you’re a Skype user who will be installing Windows 8 at the end of the week, you’re in for a lot of new features.

First and foremost, Skype will be getting its own Live tile on the Start page, allowing you to launch the program with a single click (or touch, if you’re using a touch screen). The Skype Live tile will display missed messages or calls right there on the Start page, so you can easily see if someone is trying to get in touch with you. Once you launch Skype, you’ll see your recent calls and messages displayed next to your favorite contacts.

With Windows 8, Skype will always be running in the background, so you’ll be able to get message and call alerts on the desktop even if you’re using a different app or program. Skype has also launched a special full-screen mode with this version of the app, and checking out the video below, we have to say that it looks perfect for touch screens. The new Skype also comes with support for the Windows 8 People app, allowing you to integrate all of your Skype contacts and get in touch through the app, which acts as something of a digital address book.

As if that weren’t enough, Windows 8 users also have the ability to snap Skype to the left or right of their screen, so they can continue the conversation as they look at another app. All in all, it looks pretty cool, and it will be available on the Windows 8 Store on October 26 – the same day the new OS launches. Still on the fence when it comes to Windows 8? Have a look at our review to see what we think about it!

Skype comes to Windows 8 with all new app is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

As much as we love the Arduino Uno, it’s not the most powerful of hobbyist microcontrollers. Fortunately, the folks in Turin have just put the finishing touches on a 32-bit upgrade with buckets of potential. At the heart of the Arduino Due is an 84MHz Atmel CPU, based on ARM’s Cortex M3 Architecture, which is capable of being the brains inside your own flying drone or homemade 3D printer. It should start trickling out onto shelves from today, setting you back $49, but hey, that’s a small price to pay to automate your drinking adventures.

Continue reading Meet the Arduino Due, the 32-bit board that’ll let your projects fly (really)

Filed under: Misc

Meet the Arduino Due, the 32-bit board that’ll let your projects fly (really) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Oct 2012 09:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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