Ips Archive

  • Poll: is your iPhone 4 retina display seeing yellow spots? (update: losing bars in the hand?)

    Poll: is your iPhone 4 retina display seeing yellow spots? (update: losing bars in the hand?)

    Posted on June 23, 2010 | No Comments
    Out, damned spot! out, I say! One; two: why, then, 'tis time to do 't. Hell is murky! Fie, my lord, fie! Reports are coming in from some of those lucky early iPhone 4 users that there may exist a not-so-lucky yellow coloration in the bottom right corner of the IPS LCD. We haven't seen this ourselves on any new iPhones, but maybe you've had different experiences. Tell us, is your iPhone 4 seeing yellow?

    Update: As a number of readers have pointed out, there seems to be an issue with how many bars are displayed on screen -- perhaps even a correlation to how it's being held in the hand. According to Walt Mossberg's review, Apple has acknowledged the issue as something that has to do with "the way the bars are presented, not the actual ability to make a call," and that a fix is forthcoming. Indeed, as noted in our review, we've had "far, far fewer dropped calls than we experienced on our 3GS." We're not seeing very many videos showing more dropped call, but the bar change is interesting. Still, to be sure, we're adding another poll.

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    [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

    Continue reading Poll: is your iPhone 4 retina display seeing yellow spots? (update: losing bars in the hand?)

    Poll: is your iPhone 4 retina display seeing yellow spots? (update: losing bars in the hand?) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Jun 2010 19:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • iPhone 4’s retina display claim put under the math microscope

    iPhone 4’s retina display claim put under the math microscope

    Posted on June 10, 2010 | No Comments
    digg_url = 'http://digg.com/apple/iPhone_4_retina_display_claim_put_under_the_math_microscope'; Samsung might have entertained us with some trash talk about the iPhone 4's IPS LCD yesterday, but this stuff is of a rather more somber variety. Raymond Soneira, president of monitor diagnostics firm DisplayMate, has said that Apple's retina display marketing is inaccurate, because he believes a display that truly makes pixels indistinguishable to the human eye would require a density in the vicinity of 477dpi. The iPhone 4 has 326dpi, and by now you might be surmising that Steve Jobs flat out lied when he said that the iPhone 4's pixels are too small for the human retina to discern from 12 inches away.

    But not so fast, says Phil Plait from Discover, whose résumé includes calibrating a camera on board the Hubble space telescope. He's done the math too and finds that the 477 number applies only to people with perfect vision. For the vast majority of us, Steve's claim stands up to scrutiny; even folks with 20/20 eyesight wouldn't be able to tell where one pixel ends and another begins. So it turns out Apple can do its math, even if its marketing isn't true for every single humanoid on the planet.

    iPhone 4's retina display claim put under the math microscope originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Jun 2010 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • iPhone 4: are you getting one?

    iPhone 4: are you getting one?

    Posted on June 7, 2010 | No Comments
    Now that the dust is beginning to settle on Steve Jobs' WWDC10 keynote, we thought we'd ask the most pertinent question of all: who's buying this new hero mobile device from Apple? We know the company's loyal fan base will not disappoint, but what about you, undecided voter? Did that 960 x 640 IPS screen make you look upon Cupertino's wares with a new level of appreciation? And let us not neglect the iPhone's detractors here -- have they been placated by the inclusion of HD video recording, video chat and a meaty new A4 processor? Tick the appropriate box below, then visit us in the comments and let us know what you thought.

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    iPhone 4: are you getting one? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Jun 2010 18:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • iPhone 4 hits FCC, becomes world’s second announced pentaband 3G phone

    iPhone 4 hits FCC, becomes world’s second announced pentaband 3G phone

    Posted on June 7, 2010 | No Comments
    You really can't fault Apple's timing. While the iPhone 4 may have slipped out in physical form way ahead of its launch today, the FCC docs for it were kept under seal until this very moment. So what do we find out from the disclosure? The Commission identifies the fourth-gen iPhone as model number A1332, and also confirms that it carries a Bluetooth module, that precious 802.11n capability that's still missing from most phones, and -- here's the good bit -- five bands of 3G internet compatibility: UMTS I/II/V/VI/VIII (evidence after the break). Which is all sorts of interesting, since Apple omits one of them -- the 800MHz band VI, most commonly used in Japan -- on the iPhone 4's specs page. Feel free to speculate away on what that might mean. Sadly, the reports grow rather dry from there, with nary a word on how banging the new IPS screen is or how well the FaceTime video chat works -- guess we'll just have to figure those things out for ourselves. Oh, and the first announced pentaband beastie; why it's the Nokia N8.

    Continue reading iPhone 4 hits FCC, becomes world's second announced pentaband 3G phone

    iPhone 4 hits FCC, becomes world's second announced pentaband 3G phone originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Jun 2010 16:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Hitachi working on cheaper, higher quality IPS touchscreens for cellphones

    Hitachi working on cheaper, higher quality IPS touchscreens for cellphones

    Posted on June 1, 2010 | No Comments
    In case you haven't heard, IPS panels are making inroads into the lucrative mobile market this year, and Hitachi's been working behind the scenes on something that should keep that momentum going. In the mainstream, touchscreen IPS displays are currently only available on Apple's iPad (and expected to show up in its next-gen iPhone), but should Hitachi's new production technique pan out, we might be seeing this screen tech in much more affordable devices as well. The company has fiddled with the arrangement of the touchscreen elements inside the panel, which it argues has made them cheaper and easier to produce and replace. All good news, but these things do take a while to filter through into reality, until which time you might wanna sate yourself with the latest desktop IPS displays, those ain't too shabby or expensive either.

    Hitachi working on cheaper, higher quality IPS touchscreens for cellphones originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 14:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Dear Hollywood: Wanna stop BitTorrent piracy of your TV shows? Make them available overseas in a timely manner!

    Dear Hollywood: Wanna stop BitTorrent piracy of your TV shows? Make them available overseas in a timely manner!

    Posted on October 5, 2009 | No Comments
    What's wrong with sites like Hulu? Well nothing, per se, except for the fact that they can't be used anywhere outside of the Unites States. As if other countries don't want to watch... um, really great shows like “Extreme Makeover” and “The [American] Office”! Perhaps that's why, then, BitTorrent site EZTV has seen traffic double, mainly from non-American IPs, in the past year? For whatever reason, people want to watch these shows, but since there's no legal outlet to do so, well, it's not exactly hard to configure uTorrent or Transmission, now is it?

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  • iida Ply and Prismoid: Japan gets two new designer cell phones

    iida Ply and Prismoid: Japan gets two new designer cell phones

    Posted on September 9, 2009 | No Comments
    Japan's No. 2 cell phone carrier KDDI au is stepping up its efforts to promote its iida sub brand of designer cell phones (here's my photo report of some iida concept phones from back in April). Not only did it present its robotic cell phone Polaris today, it now gives us another two (more conventional) phones. And these you can actually buy soon (if you live in Japan).

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  • Don’t condemn AT&T too quickly for blocking 4chan (now with AT&T’s official explanation!)

    Don’t condemn AT&T too quickly for blocking 4chan (now with AT&T’s official explanation!)

    Posted on July 27, 2009 | No Comments
    To quote Grandpa Simpson, “Oh, bitch, bitch, bitch.” Today I woke up to reports that AT&T was being Evil, blocking access to certain sections of 4chan, which you'll see described as anything from a “Wild West” to a “hornet's nest.” (That blocking has since stopped, by the way.) I like to describe it as the last honest place on the Internet. People are creative like that. Anyhow, before you e-riot or whatever, consider this posting by an admin at unWired, another ISP that was blocking access to 4chan.

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  • The Gadget Club is on hold for now

    The Gadget Club is on hold for now

    Posted on July 24, 2009 | No Comments
    So I'm putting a hold on the Gadget Club contest for now. I've notified a person that he won this week, just to get it out of the way. See, I got this email from an entrant.
    Hey, I want to withdraw from the contest. The contest (and me along with it) have gotten a little out of hand. I submitted something because it seemed like a fun contest. After I found out I was in, I worked my social networks in a get-out-the-vote campaign. I was kind of miffed when I saw the guys scripting the votes and your reset of the votes seemed like your threw out the baby with the bath water. I decided to not spam my social networks for a second go. When I grumbled to someone yesterday, they suggested I use mechanical turk to put them back. I figured I had 150 legitimate votes thrown out, so I put that up on mechturk. Dirty, yes, but I thought both should have been DQed. Now the whole thing is grimy, and I just want to forget it happened. If you let the contest go and I end up with the most votes, I don't want the prizes, or I'll donate the cash value. Interesting social experiment.
    Essentially two people tried to game the contest, one contestant was disqualified and the voting was reset, and one contestant got angry. I see his point but please, guys, see mine: we do contests for you. CG doesn't get any cash for these giveaways. I do them so you guys can get some cool stuff. I like you guys. I really do. But I've found over the years that you guys don't do creative contests. I could basically say "Comment and you'll win a robotic goat" and you'll comment until your fingers bleed. However, when I ask "Just make something cool - doesn't have to be professional" it's crickets.

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  • Gadget Club Entrants: The first round UPDATE

    Gadget Club Entrants: The first round UPDATE

    Posted on July 23, 2009 | No Comments
    We received about 20 entries in the Gadget Club contest so far - not a huge number but impressive enough to offer some hearty competition. So I present to you, dear readers, the first five contestants in our Gadget Club contest. It was hard to pick just five and the remaining entrants will go back into the pool next week. Please go through each one and assess it for value, salability, and funitude. Remember: the contest is running for two more weeks and any entrants not chosen here will be added to the pool next week. Head over to the main post to read the full rules and conditions and good luck! I'll count the votes this Friday at noon Eastern. UPDATE - I just reset the poll. ProProfs has a method to watch the IPs and we had a bit of a run on the PSI gadget. Please avoid this in the future. I'm not your Dad.

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  • Panasonic Japan announces new VIERAs with built-in HDDs

    Panasonic Japan announces new VIERAs with built-in HDDs

    Posted on June 2, 2009 | No Comments
    Panasonic launched the VIERA R Series today in Japan [JP], consisting of a total of seven new plasma and LCD TVs. The first TVs of the series will be available over here starting July 1, with Panasonic not yet saying anything about sales in overseas markets.

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