Hasta La Gadget!

These photographs, leaked by the iFix Your i iPhone 4 repair service, purportedly show a new LCD panel for the iPad 2. The surprises are almost on-existent: The size and resolution are the same (gleaned from parts numbers) 9.7-inches and 1024 x 768 pixels, and the unit is both lighter and 1mm thinner than the current screen.

The bezel, too, has been shrunken slightly, but that will likely just allow for a change in the shape of the case edges or just more space inside, rather than a smaller bezel on the finished iPad – one of the problems with the Samsung Galaxy Tab is the small bezel, which forces you to cover the screen with a thumb just to get a comfy grip. And those hoping that the new screen would be less reflective will be disappointed. It’s as glossy as the current one.

The part number for the current iPad screen is LP097X02-SLA3. The new one carries the number LP097X02-SLN1. Both are IPS, or in-plane switching models, giving the wide viewing angle familiar to iPad users.

Like I said, no surprises here. Anyone thinking that Apple was suddenly going to conjure millions of 10-inch retina-display panels that are cheap enough to put in a $500 computer have been smoking something dangerous for their health.

iPad 2 LCD Screen – This just in! [iFix Your i and 9to5Mac]

Photos: iFix Your i

See Also:

• Photos: Are These iPad 2 Cases?
• Rumor: iPad 2 Has Bigger Speaker, Flat Back, Smaller Body
• FaceTime, PhotoBooth and Camera Icons 'Confirm' Dual-Camera iPad 2 …
• Rumor: Apple's iPad 2 Lands April 2011

Here’s an interesting little note from Apple’s record-breaking Q1 2011 financial sales call: according to CFO Peter Oppenheimer and acting CEO / COO Tim Cook, the company’s made a two-year, $3.9 billion deal with three suppliers to secure a “very strategic” component for its products. Cook wouldn’t identify what the component was, citing competitive reasons, but he did say the arrangement was much like Apple’s famous deals to source iPod flash memory that date back to 2005. According to Tim, “We think that was an absolutely fantastic use of Apple’s cash, and we constantly look for more of these, and so in the past several quarters we’ve identified another area… these payments consist of both prepayments and capital for processes and tooling, and similar to the flash agreement, they’re focused in an area that we think is very strategic.”

Importantly, Apple paid out $650m under its agreements for this mystery part this past quarter, and it’s planning to spend another $1.05b in payments next quarter, so this is already happening in a big way — and frankly, we’re dying to know what it is, since Apple has a long history of squeezing the market for components it wants. Our best guess? High-density displays for the iPhone and iPad — we’ve heard some rumors of deals with Toshiba and Sharp, but that’s just conjecture, and we don’t know who the third vendor is. We’re digging, but in the meantime listen to Peter and Tim in the clip after the break.

Continue reading Apple’s invested in a ‘very strategic’ $3.9b component supply agreement, but what is it?

Apple’s invested in a ‘very strategic’ $3.9b component supply agreement, but what is it? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Jan 2011 19:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We love all the little goodies that come out of iOS developer builds. It’s been only a day since 4.3 hit the scene and already we’ve seen hints of future iPhone / iPad models, a Find My Friends feature, and now more hints of a camera for the next iPad. Which, of course, is far from the first time we’ve heard iPad and camera in the same utterance (cases, mockups, paperwork, even more code). Today’s revelation comes in the form of shutter screens and camera / video icons care of 9 to 5 Mac, but here’s the catch: to believe these imagery to be the real thing is to also accept that the iPad 2 might have the same 1024 x 768 display, given that’s what these pictures are optimized for. You didn’t really believe the iPad 2 would have a 9.7-inch, 2530 x 1897 resolution retina display… did you? Well, it’s only speculative, anyway.

More iOS 4.3 digging hints at new iPad 2 camera, same 1024 x 768 display originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Jan 2011 22:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Thimble is a Bluetooth finger-glove that hooks up to your smartphone and works as a Braille display. By pulsing Braille shapes onto the fingertip via an “electro-tactile grid array”, all kinds of messages can be conveyed to the user.

But that’s not all. The concept design, by Erik Hedberg and Zack Bennet, also has a camera inside to scan words in the real world and transcribe them into Braille, along with a microphone for voice control. Thus the user can ask where they are, the phone will provide the location via GPS and the Thimble will read out the answer. Here’s a slow-moving video showing how it would work.

The phone, in this case, is an iPhone, as iOS already has great accessibility features for the sight-impaired, and already works just fine with existing Braille displays. Hedberg and Bennet are “working on a patent”, and as the product is actually fairly straightforward, we’re hoping to see real, working versions in the future.

Thimble – There’s a Thing for That [Vimeo via DVICE]

See Also:

• Braille
• Hydraulics Could Enable Fullscreen Braille Display
• Award-Winning Braille Bracelet Looks Good, Feels Even Better …
• Video: iPhone 4 Native Support for Braille Displays
• Braille Cellphone Could Allow SMS For The Blind

In London, it’s hard to find a restaurant without a gimmick. And Inamo has probably the biggest gimmick of all. If you’re a hungry, tech-loving nerd, that is.

The restaurant, which just launched a new venue on London’s, tries to do away with almost all waiterly duties, apart from actually carrying plates around. A projector sits above each table and turns the table into a computer-screen (the projector is hooked up to a Windows XP machine). Using a touchpad, you can browse the menu and place your orders, and when you select a dish, a picture of it is projected onto an empty plate already on the table.

Whilst dining, you can choose various “wallpapers” (table-cloths?) to be displayed on the table, and there are even some games, although not any you’d actually play – the folks from UK tech blog Pocket Lint headed over to a pre-launch party and report that one of the games is Battleship. Really?

When you’re done, you can order up the check and call a cab, all from the comfort of your table.

I just hope the bosses at Inamo have some fallback plans. Tech has a way of failing in the catering industry (I was in the game for 15 years), and that’s robust, purpose-built gear. Imagine the poor customer trying to place an order and getting the dreaded Blue Screen of Death. On the other hand, at least a PC can’t come to work drunk.

Inamo hi-tech restaurant hands on [Pocket Lint]
Photos: Paul Lamkin / Pocket Lint

See Also:

• 'Table Connect' Turns iPhone into (Fake) Big-Ass Table
• Microsoft Surface
• Video: Command and Control Robots with Microsoft Surface
• D&D + Microsoft Surface = Unheard-of Levels of Radness