Greenhorn Nixeus, perhaps better known for media streamers, has jumped headfirst into the display market with the 27-inch IPS Vue model boasting a 2,560 x 1,440 pixel WQHD resolution and priced at $430 — around half what you’ll pay for similar panels. The new model, which the company says will be released on August 21st, seems to be nicely specced with an LG S-IPS panel, true 8-bit color, 6ms refresh, DVI / DisplayPort / HDMI 1.4 connection options and full-portrait tilting. If you’ve been coveting more screen space and pixels, but don’t want to be reduced to bread and water, it’ll go up for pre-order soon.
Wearable electronics needn’t mean Google’s Glass headset, it could also be a t-shirt with an integrated display and camera that gets your clothes online. The handiwork of whiskey brand Ballantine’s and clothes company CuteCircuit, tshirtOS is a programmable, washable shirt with a built-in screen for displaying messages – whether Twitter updates, Facebook wall posts, or Instagram pictures – and the ability to snap pictures itself and push them directly to your photo stream.
CuteCircuit describes tshirtOS as a “wearable, shareable, programmable and 100% cotton tshirt”, and as you might expect there’s some cloud goodness in there too. The shirt itself has a microprocessor, which wirelessly connects to an iOS app; that can then call on the goodness of the internet at large to funnel information to and from your clothes.
Audio playback via a headphone jack is supported, and the company claims that the camera used in tshirtOS is the smallest in the world. In fact, it measures 2.5 x 2.9 x 2.5 mm and comes from Omnivision, though only captures at 32 x 32 resolution; still, the chest display itself only runs at 32 x 32, consisting of 1,024 ultrathin RGB LEDs.
Otherwise there’s an ultra-slim PCB with Bluetooth, USB, an accelerometer and a pair of headphone sockets, while the processor hasn’t actually been decided upon: CuteCircuit has been experimenting with two versions, one an 8-bit processor from ATMEL, and the other a 32-bit ARM Cortex (also sourced from ATMEL). The controller app will be for iPhone 4S and require iOS 5 or above.
It’s not the first we’ve seen of CuteCircuit, which has previously created dresses with integrated phones and ball gowns that have huge quantities of lights stitched through them. The tshirtOS could even stand a chance of being produced, though right now it’s a very expensive prototype. CuteCircuit says it will be monitoring interest before making a decision about a (cheaper) production version.
Apple is working on making the iPad Smart Cover live up to its billing, considering fitting a flexible display and touch-input system to the case according to a newly published patent filing. The concept would turn at least one of the spines of the Smart Cover into a display strip, used to expand the working space of the tablet’s screen and potentially including touch-sensitive controls to navigate media playback and other features without interrupting the currently active app.
The new Smart Cover would attach via magnets as now, but also include a data and power connection similar to the MagSafe socket on MacBook computers. Apple’s application explores various combinations of functionality, from a single strip to all four of the panels being digitally-enabled.
That could mean the Smart Cover could be turned into a keyboard or even, as Apple’s diagram below suggests, a combo keyboard and touchscreen. We’ve seen similar from Microsoft with the Surface keyboard cover, but Apple’s system would go on stage further by implementing a flexible display, too.
Alternatively, the whole inner panel could respond to touch input, turning it into a digital sketchpad of sorts. Those panels might not actually flex to hold the iPad upright, instead having a stiffened keyboard section and a separate folding element to prop the tablet up at a more usable angle.
Of course, patent applications do not necessarily lead to commercial applications of technology, but even if it was limited to touch controls only this seems like a reasonable direction for Apple to go in. We’ve already seen flexible e-paper, such as from Plastic Logic, which would add little to the iPad’s power consumption but still be capable of color images and refresh rates suited to video playback.
In an effort to end today’s dismal earnings report on a high, Sharp’s president Takashi Okuda has purposefully let slip that his company is among those contracted to manufacture displays for a new iPhone. We already have numerous reasons to suspect the iPhone 5 will be announced around September 12th, and Okuda has now corroborated that by saying that “shipments will start in August.” If earlier rumors and component leaks are to be trusted, the screen will be significantly larger (likely around 4-inches) and slightly less rotund than that on the iPhone 4S.
If you’ve been following the Apple vs. Samsung case even casually, you’re probably aware that today marked the start of the patent trial in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, with Judge Lucy Koh presiding. And while the proceedings themselves won’t necessarily justify an Olympics-level play-by-play, several interesting bits are sure to come to light. Today’s nugget relates to Samsung’s tablet roadmap, revealing that a Retina-like tablet may be in the works. The P10, as it’s been labeled internally, packs a 2,560 x 1,600-pixel, 11.8-inch display, along with WiFi and LTE connectivity. Details are thin beyond that, and it’s still possible that Samsung may not have a high-res tablet for us this year — though with the company’s mysterious New York City event coming up in two weeks, followed by IFA later in the month, there are plenty of opportunities in August alone for such an official reveal.
Apple has applied for yet another patent with the US Patent Office, but instead of smartphone-related features, this patent covers high-resolution display in video glasses. The timing may seem suspect, what with Google’s current Google Glass push going strong, but Apple has actually been filing patents related to video glasses since 2006. Indeed, this is nothing new for Apple, and with this latest patent application, it seems that the company is getting closer to achieving what it ultimately wants: bringing a retina-like display to the smaller screen you’d find in video glasses.
PatentlyApple points out that this display would feature both a smaller screen and a smaller battery than the ones featured in the iPhone, something that could cause some challenges for Apple if it’s looking to boost pixel density in the heads-up display. Also worth noting is that fact that Apple’s patent application states “other embodiments may take the form of other types of display devices such as television sets, computer monitors, projection systems, and so forth,” so it isn’t looking to restrict this technology to just video glasses.
With as strange as that patent drawing pictured above looks, it’s important to keep in mind that this isn’t a design patent. Apple likely just came up with some concept drawings to submit with the application, and will probably work a little bit harder on the design of final product before shipping it. Still, this is a pretty exciting development, as it seems that everyone wants a bit of the video glasses pie. Stay tuned, because this could get interesting very quickly.
The mobile device world has gone resolution crazy thanks in part to the high-resolution Retina screens from Apple. Now that the iPhone and iPad have high-resolution and high pixel density screens, you can bet other manufacturers are looking for similar screens of their own for mobile products. A report has surfaced from Korea claiming that Samsung has managed to reach an impressively high pixel density on an OLED display.
According to the report, Samsung has hit 350 ppi on an OLED display using Fine Metal Mask technology. Samsung had previously used L ITI technology to hit such pixel densities on portable displays. If the report is accurate and Samsung was able to hit the 350 ppi mark using Fine Metal Mask, it would be able to roll out the process to its current AMOLED facilities.
There has been no official confirmation from Samsung that it has hit this milestone. However, if it’s true, we could see significantly higher pixel density OLED screens coming to smartphones soon. Apple’s Retina display has a pixel density of 326 ppi for comparison.
ASUS continues to update its VG monitor series, and this time it’s got something a little more impressive than an integrated IR transmitter. According to FlatpanelsHD, the VG278HE has knocked through the 120Hz barrier that most monitors come up against. The 27-incher can be configured to a buttery smooth 144Hz for 2D and 3D gaming, while inputs include HDMI, dual-link DVI and VGA. The monitor also supports NVIDIA’s 3D Vision 2 — but you’ll have to buy the rest of the parts separately. We’ve reached out to ASUS about pricing and availability, but until we hear more, you’ll just have to imagine those breezy refresh rates. Update: ASUS told us we can expect to see the display hit shelves sometime in Q4, but noted that pricing has not been finalized.
Apple has started shipping a different Thunderbolt Display SKU to its stores and Official Resellers. The new SKU is largely the same as the old one, which suggests that the differences between the two products aren’t going to be very substantial. 9to5Mac discovered the change, pointing out that the Thunderbolt’s SKU has been changed from MC914LL/A to MC914LL/B and noting that this switch is only a couple of days old.
So, what does the change signify? Apparently, the change is due to the fact that Apple is now shipping MagSafe to MagSafe 2 converters with the Thunderbolt Display in the box. Indeed, all signs point to that as the change, with Apple’s store listing for the Thunderbolt Display updated to show that MagSafe to MagSafe 2 converters are now included in the purchase price. That isn’t exactly a big surprise, considering that Apple has already been providing the converter free-of-charge to those who purchase the Thunderbolt Display in its stores, and has been doing so since June 11 – now the company is just providing one in the box rather than on the side.
Since Apple hasn’t outright confirmed the meaning behind the change, there’s still a chance that the SKU switch could mean something different (or something more). Still, the evidence strongly suggests that the converter is the reason behind the change, and even if it isn’t, the similarities in the SKUs signify that the change is nothing major.
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