The laptop mods keep coming but this one might be our favorite so far.
The new Crux Case Loaded comes with an extra battery and working bluetooth trackpad and will be available in July for $250. Older models without are a somewhat more reasonable $150.
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/16274294 w=670&h=377]
Apple knows what it is doing in suing Samsung, right?
We hope so.
The soon to be biggest phone maker in the world, who has been making phones and patenting its technology since before Apple was making iPods, is suing Apple in the US after suing Apple abroad last week. The move is in obvious response to Apple suing its biggest parts contractor for allegedly copying its iPhone and iPad designs with its Android phones and tablets. Samsung received the second-highest number of U.S. patents last year after International Business Machines Corp.
The lawsuit intensifies a legal dispute that began when Cupertino, California-based Apple sued Samsung earlier this month, claiming the Galaxy products “slavishly” copied iPad and iPhone technology and design. Samsung, which is also a supplier of some Apple chips, retaliated last week with lawsuits in Seoul, Tokyo and Mannheim, Germany.
In the U.S. complaint, Samsung accuses Apple of violating patents that “relate to fundamental innovations that increase mobile device reliability, efficiency, and quality, and improve user interface in mobile handsets and other products.”
The patented technology includes ways that a phone allows calls and Internet surfing at the same time; improvements in how text messages and attachments are sent; reductions in interference among mobile devices; and increases in the capacity of mobile networks, according to the complaint
Good times.
Floorplan comparison: Apple’s A4 chip (left) and the latest A5 processor (right)
Reverse engineering wizards over at Chipworks put the A5 chip under a microscope. Yes, it’s a Samsung – confirming our hunch. The experts came to this conclusion by putting the chip under a microscope and examining dielectric layers and the shape of the transistor gates. The teardown analysis also revealed a die almost twice the size of the A4 chip from the previous-generation iPad and iPhone 4, the 45-nanometer manufacturing process and other interesting tidbits.
same numbers!
We’re not sure if this has already happened, but EETimes reports on the rumors that Apple has shifted its A5 production from Samsung to TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company). Since no one has seen a real A5 processor yet, we don’t know if Apple has already switched.
Perhaps most damning, the art that Apple has put out on its A5 Chips is actually just an A4 Chip with ‘A5’ superimposed over top(!) See same part numbers around the edges above. Does this mean that Apple has something to hide? (They always do)
The move would make logistical sense as Apple’s current (former?) partner in processor manufacturing, Samsung, is increasingly becoming a competitor in both iOS devices and in PCs. Apple was supposed to take $7.8Billion in parts from Samsung this year. Might be time to adjust that estimate.
With little or no fanfare, Apple and TSMC have recently entered into a foundry relationship, sources said. As reported, TSMC will make the A5 dual-core processor on a foundry basis for Apple’s iPad 2. That can be read here and here.
We reported on Apple’s move to Qualcomm (from Infineon) who use TSMC’s process for GOBI chips in October.
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Welcome to the new media order, as described by Nielsen — a new world in which US mobile phone Web users almost eclipse the number of US homes with a TV; a world in which Apple’s iPhone accounts for three of the top ten smartphones used and more.
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Perhaps you’ve been wondering if Apple will feel much impact once those Android and Chrome-powered tablets ship in 2011 — now a pair of reports suggest the magical iPad is set to maintain dominance for some time yet.
Report one tells us LG Display shipped 1.5 million iPad panels in November, while Samsung delivered 1.2 million units, suggesting Apple might have sold nearly three million iPads this month.
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We all know this is set to be an iOS Christmas — now it is interesting to discover that Apple’s iPad is so popular there’s an increasing wave of two or more iPad households, according to reputable research from YouGov.
Researchers found nearly a fifth (17%) of Apple iPad owners state that there is more than one tablet in their household, either owned by themselves or another family member.
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En7cdBhlrGU&w=640&h=385]
(I checked the date. It says today.) The NYTimes says that Microsoft is going to announce some iPad competin’ Slates at CES:
Next month, at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Microsoft will present a slew of new slates that it hopes will offer some competition to the Apple iPad, which has quickly become the leader in this market.
According to people familiar with Microsoft’s plans, Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive, is expected to announce a number of these devices when he takes the stage at C.E.S., showcasing devices built by Samsung and Dell, among a number of other manufacturing partners.
This apparently has been an anual event since 2000.
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