Hasta La Gadget!

We don’t have official word from Apple on the subject, but we’re hearing rumors that might explain why some iPad 2 backlights tend to bleed — according to Digitimes‘ anonymous sources, LG Display was “forced to reduce its shipments in the first quarter due to light leakage problem for panels,” and that Samsung took up the slack. That suggests that some of today’s vaunted 9.7-inch IPS displays may be from LG’s faulty batch and some may be slightly superior Samsung screens, but we don’t really recommend you crack yours open on the basis of an uncorroborated rumor (or at all, really) to find out the truth of the matter.

Update: An astute reader reminds us that while LG, Panasonic and Chimei make IPS screens, Samsung traditionally does not. Perhaps Samsung has managed to get its plane-line switching (PLS) displays into iPads instead, as was rumored last month, or perhaps this rumor is simply inaccurate, in whole or in part.

[Thanks, trucker boy]

iPad 2 light leakage due to faulty LG panels? (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 May 2011 18:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sure, you still may not be able to easily find an iPad 2 here in the US, but you can now sleep soundly knowing that the Japanese pen pal you had in elementary school could be rocking one by the end of the week. Amidst all the hub-bub about location tracking and pasty iPhones, Apple let slip that the WiFi iPad 2 will be available in Japan on April 28th, just as promised, coming to Hong Kong, India, Israel, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates a day later, then hitting China on May 6th. Local pricing is not confirmed, but suggested retail pricing matches US MSRPs ($499 for 16GB, $599 for 32GB, $699 for 64GB). 3G models are said to match US pricing as well ($629, $729, and $829), but Apple isn’t confirming when they’ll be available abroad, so at least you still have something over Katsumi.

Continue reading iPad 2 extends its global reign of terror to Singapore, Japan, 9 other countries this week

iPad 2 extends its global reign of terror to Singapore, Japan, 9 other countries this week originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Apr 2011 11:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple just announced its earnings for the second quarter of the year, and it’s once again beat estimates, with it reporting earnings of $6.40 a share, a total of $24.67 billion in revenue, and a net profit of $5.99 billion. As for the sales breakdown everyone’s waiting for, Apple says it sold a whopping 18.6 million iPhones in the quarter (up 113 percent over the previous year, and ahead of estimates of 16 million), plus 4.69 million iPads (actually less than the expected 6.29 million, apparently due to supply issues), and 3.76 million Macs, which represents a 28 percent jump over the same quarter a year ago. Not surprisingly, iPods are the one area that continues to slow, with sales of 9.02 million representing a 17 percent decline over the previous year — the iPod touch accounted for more than half of those sales. One other big bright spot for the company is the Asia Pacific region, where it saw revenue grow a staggering 151 percent year-over-year.

Interestingly, Apple isn’t providing any specific sales numbers for the iPad 2 — it’s only saying that it sold every iPad 2 it could make in the quarter, and that it’s working hard to get it into the hands of customers as fast as it can. It didn’t add much more when pressed on the issue later during its earnings call either, with it only going as far as to say that the iPad has the “mother of all backlogs.”

Update: The company’s press release is after the break.

Continue reading Apple beats estimates with Q2 earnings: $24.67 billion revenue, $5.99 billion profit

Apple beats estimates with Q2 earnings: $24.67 billion revenue, $5.99 billion profit originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Apr 2011 16:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well now, this is interesting. We’ve been hearing a lot of chatter about Best Buy and the iPad 2, rumors that the company was sitting on a giant pile of tablets ahead of some great event. Well, now we have an interesting tip that says the company will tap into that stock-pile ahead of a big Sunday launch. According to the above image, stores will, in general, have a minimum of three slates each — which in many cases isn’t going to be enough. Good, then, that the company has a guide on how to “minimize customer disappoints.” BBY has earlier said that it is fulfilling reservations first, so if you’re still holding your ticket but not a tablet this might be a good time to give your local big box a ring.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Still need an iPad 2? Head to Best Buy on Sunday, Sunday, Sunday originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Apr 2011 19:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple investigating 3G issues on some Verizon iPad 2s, software fix expected soon originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Apr 2011 14:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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