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Maybe the least surprising spec from todays Apple iPad event was the retina display. Nearly all rumors leading up to the March 7th iPad event pointed to a 2048×1536 display and sure enough, Apple came through. The 264ppi screen is second best, only to the iPhone 4S (326ppi) but puts all other tablets to shame.

I’m guessing, Apple’s best marketing technique is going to be people picking up the new iPad, in their retail stores and being mesmerized by the screen. Just like the iPhone 4 and 4S – the tablet will essentially sell itself. Apple…..here…take my money.

Pick up the new iPad and suddenly, it’s clear. You’re actually touching your photos, reading a book, playing the piano. Nothing comes between you and what you love. To make that hands-on experience even better, we made the fundamental elements of iPad better — the display, the camera, the wireless connection. All of which makes the new, third-generation iPad capable of so much more than you ever imagined…

Source: Apple

CNBC is tweeting this morning the alleged specs of the iPad 3 and the location of the Apple event that it will be unveiled. As you can read from the official tweet below, the tablet will have a retina display (like the iPhone 4/4S) or HD, a quad-core processor (A6 or modified A5) LTE connectivity (defaults to 3G) and will be shown off at a NYC Apple event. If Apple can pull those specs off and keep the price at $499 – take my money now! If Apple can pull off those specs and keep the price point at $499 and continue to sell the iPad 2 for $399 or lower – god help the competition.

Your favorite smartphone touch screens and mine are about to get a lot tougher……gorilla tough. Corning Inc, the makers of Gorilla Glass (found on countless consumer electronics, especially smartphones) is about to release Gorilla Glass 2 at CES 2012 on January 13th. So what can we expect from Corning:

Corning Gorilla Glass 2 enables up to a 20 percent reduction in glass thickness, while maintaining the industry-leading damage resistance, toughness, and scratch resistance customers have come to expect from the world’s most widely deployed cover glass. The thinner Gorilla Glass 2 enables slimmer and sleeker devices, brighter images, and greater touch sensitivity. These benefits can provide electronics manufacturers with superior design flexibility as they address consumer demand for increasingly high-performing, touch-sensitive, and durable mobile devices.

So essentially, we’ll be able to get thinner pieces of glass with much stronger breaking points but also have the ability to manipulate (curve) Corning’s Gorilla Glass into new shapes – I hear rumors starting to heat up again about a tear drop shaped iPhone 5. Stay Tuned.

Source: Corning Inc

The chatter is heating up again, this time it’s DigiTimes claiming that supply partners are delivering components to OEMs for assembly of Apple’s next generation iPad. Production orders of Apple’s iPad 2 are starting to slow, which also points to a somewhat immanent refresh:

OEM production of iPad 2 will remain high at 14-15 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011 but decline to 4-5 million units in the first quarter of 2012, paving the way for the launch of the new iPads, the sources noted.

So what’s Apple’s Next-Gen iPad going to have? Rumors point to a A-6 processor (possible quad-core) – Retina display similar to the iphone 4/4S (sharp built) – Better batter life – Possibly a slightly thicker design. Besides those goodies, the rumor mill has been chatting about those specs only, so if Apple has any other upgrades, we’ll have to wait. If you’re in the market for a tablet  and can wait a couple of months, best wait.

Source: Digitimes

If you want to protect your smartphone or laptop, why not do it in an artistic and stylish way. GelaSkins works with hundreds of artists from all over the world, creating amazing cover for all types of gadgetry. Take advantage of these before hipsters get their hands on them and ruin everything for the rest of us.

Source: GelaSkin

The boys/girls over at 9To5 Mac are running a very interesting story concerning the iPhone 5 and it seems the rumor mill is starting to heat up, ahead of the upcoming release of Apple’s next gen handset. We have heard chatter about Apple moving away from the gorilla glass back panel for the iphone 5 and instead, using an aluminum backing – somewhat like the 1st gen iphone. The mockup picture above is a possible example at that metal rear piece. Moving back to the aluminum backing would solve the shatter issues some people were experiencing and strengthening the overall body of the phone but would reception suffer? I would think that with all the fuss over the iphone and antena reception issues, Apple would be sure to test the hell out of the phone, before bringing it to market.

Secondly, there is talk of a bigger screen, so a move away from the current 3.5in display and maybe closer to a 4 or 4.3 inch display. From the reports and rumors we’ve heard, the magic number seems to be 4inches – with the overall body style staying the same except for the display being edge to edge glass. I wouldn’t think Apple would change the resolution, as the current iPhone’s 960 x 640 display is the market leader is quality.

Thirdly, we expect Jobs  & Co to drop that beautiful A5 chip, used in the iPad 2, inside the iPhone 5 – dual core (900Mhz) and 9x better graphics than the current generation iPhone. Of course, we will need a new OS as well and I’m guessing we’ll have  chance to feast on iOS 5.0 during the June launch of the iPhone 5 – next stop, neural interface!

Source: 9To5Mac.com

The Korean Economic Daily is reporting that Apple is in closing talks with Samsung on a partnership worth $7.8 Billion in hardware. If this goes through, Apple would become Samsung’s top partner and top rival – weird. The deal possibly involves hardware such as displays, chip manufacturing and NAND flash memory.

Most blogs have covered this story in terms of possible hardware Apple will release this year and the sheer number of devices that could come from such an investments but I have another idea. Not doubt, Apple will build tons of devices for 2011 and part of their problem in 2010 was component shortages but remember what Apple did between 2005-2009 for NAND memory? Essentially, Apple bought the world’s supply of NAND memory, which limited it’s competitor’s reach – could they be doing the same thing again for displays and memory? I think so. NEXT!!

Source: MacRumors.com

9 To 5 Mac has posted pictures of what appear to be the iPad 2′s display – ordered from ifixyouri. While the resolution is not known this much is: “we cannot tell if the resolution is higher (or “Retina”) but it is definitely higher quality in terms of its build. The iPad 2′s display is also lighter, and over a mm thinner than the current iPad’s display with a smaller surrounding frame.”

I foresee a flood of leaks if parts can already be ordered or had from China, so it’s only a matter of time before we know if the “retina” display rumors are true. Click Here to read the whole article.

Source: 9To5Mac.com

Have you rented Minority Report recently or any other Scifi movie in the last 10 years? You now those cool curved screen that future phones and TV’s have – well Sammy is not only working on it but they’re actually close to releasing next gen AMOLED screens to the public. Check out the press release by clicking here and start selling your old crap to get some some money together because you can bet those flex screens will cost you your first born. Source www.BGR.com
NEXT!!