Yesterday Apple unveiled its new iBooks 2 platform with an educational slant and the iBooks Author app to help publishers create stunning new digital textbooks. Now those textbook tools have been dissected, and some of the file info points to an iPad 3 with double the resolution of the current model. Read more
And so it begins. The iPad 3 rumour mill is whirring itself into action, with talk of a Retina Display dominating headlines across the tech press. With mention of a device rocking a super hi-res screen in iOS 5 code, as well as analysts claiming Apple has already started work on a 2048×1536 pixel panel for its next gen slate, it seems Cupertino is dead set on making the iPad even sharper.
That’s all well and good. But let’s face it. Slapping on a Retina Display isn’t, and shouldn’t, be priority number one. Users have had the option to jump ship to Android tablets with better panels for almost a year, and sales figures suggest they’re happy to stick with the current iPad’s 1024×768 effort.
The iPad 3’s Retina Display has been the subject of much rumour mongering in recent weeks. But now some concrete evidence of the slate has been dug up in some iOS 5 code, suggesting Apple is at least looking into the viability of a super hi-res version of its best-selling slate.
Saving your cash and holding out for an iPad 3? Well, it looks as if one of the next-generation slate’s key features could be compromised. Reports are emerging that plans for the tablet’s Retina Display have been thrown in doubt. Want to know what’s hampered Apple’s dreams of an eyeball-stroking iPad panel? Read on and we’ll tell all.
Apple has reportedly inked deals with LG Display, Samsung Electronics and Sharp to supply LCD panels for its upcoming iPad 3. The news comes following a lengthy period of quality testing and trial runs which many believe signals a higher resolution Retina display. Unfortunately the report from DigiTimes does not highlight the resolution and instead focuses on the backlight modules and potential rise of Sharp as Apple’s leading panel supplier.
Remember those rumors last year suggesting Yahoo! was hard at at work on an Android smartphone? Well, they’ve materialized in the form of the Sharp Aquos 009SH, better known as the Yahoo Aquos 009SH or Yahoo! Phone. As the first official smartphone released by the search giant, the device will debut on SoftBank in Japan.
It’s only fitting that SoftBank, the owner and operator of Yahoo! in Japan, launches the world’s first Yahoo! Phone in partnership with Sharp. So how exactly does the Yahoo Aquos 009SH differentiate itself from the hundreds of other Android smartphones on the market? It starts with 13 pre-installed applications from Yahoo! Japan covering everything from Yahoo! Calendar to Yahoo! Dictionary.
All that talk of an iPad 3 launch this year may come to nothing. The latest murmurings from the supply chain claim Apple has cancelled orders for the iPad 3 in the second half of 2011 because suppliers simply can’t make enough high-resolution displays to satisfy its demand. That suggests the iPad 3 will not be seen until 2012.
The claims come from DigiTimes which says both Samsung and LG Display have both been unable to reach adequate production levels. Just last month the CEO of LG Display seemed to suggest its high-resolution screen technology with quadruple the pixels found in the current iPad 2 display is destined for the iPad 3.
While it would be remiss of us not to tell you what the Taiwanese tipsters are whispering about, it’s worth noting that this iPad 3 rumour simply contradicts a set of previous rumours. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: the iPad 3 can’t be delayed when Apple hasn’t announced it yet.
Correct us if we’re wrong, but Apple iPad commercials have used doctors, lawyers and various executives to highlight its capabilities, right? According to Ashok Kumar, an analyst at Rodman & Renshaw, Apple is planning a high-end iPad. This premium iPad 2 will not replace the current model, but instead will “probably appeal to the publishing vertical and some other select segments”.