IBLOG SPACE

The display industry is hard hit today with prices dropping and demand down. The companies that were planning to expand have killed those plans and some firms are looking to exit the market. Sony, Toshiba, and Hitachi have all finalized a plan that will see them merging their respective display units. The deal has now been finalized and will result in a new company. The agreement is in place with the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan to integrate all three display businesses. The resulting company will be a semi-public entity and INCJ will hold 70% of the new firm called Japan Display Inc. The three original firms will each have 10% of the merged company. Once merged there will be $2.6 billion in new shares issued to INCJ for its part of the new company. Japan Display has also announced that it intends to buy the small and medium LCD making facilities that Panasonic owns for an undisclosed amount. The plant in question is located in Mobara near Tokyo, Japan and makes in the area

I already mentioned this morning that the 2013 Boss 302 has debuted in LA today. Along with that Boss 302 also comes the debut of the new GT500 for 13 and some new tweaks to the overall Mustang lineup. One of the most interesting tweaks to the overall line of Mustangs for 2013 is the addition of a new gauge cluster that has a 4.2-inch LCD in the center of the gauges that has Track Apps. The apps that show on the LCD allow the driver to get times on the track for things like quarter mile performance, eight-mile performance, and 0-100 times along with 0-60 times as well. The apps also have a feature for showing the g-forces the car is pulling on the track under turning, acceleration, and braking. There is also a brake performance screen that records stopping distances. These will be great for Mustang owners that like to tweak their car to see if they get improved performance out of their rides with changes. Ford has also added a new audio system option to the mix for most mustang models.

If you are a big user of Skype and you want to free your ability to talk from a handset or speaker connected to your computer the Freetalk adapter is for you. This adapter’s official name is the Freetalk Home Phone Adapter for Skype. The device is available in certain areas including the UK for £39.99 and connects to your AC outlet, home phone, and your network. You can still make normal calls on your phone and you can call Skype and mobile numbers using the adapter. The adapter can store up to 100 speed dials and 200 Skype contacts and only needs access to a computer for the initial set up. A broadband connection is required to use the device. All of the cables needed are included in the box. The adapter comes with up to 300 minutes of international talk out of the box and is a good backup for emergency situations. In addition to the adapter, the same company is offering a GE digital cordless expandable phone that has Skype integrated.

I have mentioned that I have a 2012 Boss 302 before and when we covered the Dallas Auto Show a while back we put together a nice video of the 2012 Boss 302 Laguna Seca. I agree with most people in that the 2012 Boss 302 LS cars had some not so great color schemes to choose from. Ford is changing the Boss 302 and other Mustangs up for 2013 and the unveil of the 2013 Boss 302 Laguna Seca was made today in LA. I’m not so sure how I feel about the changes to be honest. The car looks very good from the front, but it looks almost just like a Shelby GT500. If I wanted a GT500, that is what I would buy. I wish it were set apart more from the GT500 style wise. The hood is changed with the power dome leaving and a new vented hood being added. The roof of the 13 Laguna Seca is also body color rather than black. The 13 models get reflective hockey stripe graphics like the 70 Boss 302′s received. The back of the car sees new taillights with LED surrounds. I will definitely need to see those in pers

Google has announced a new plan that will help people that have wireless networks at home or in their offices opt out of being included in the Google Location Server. The GLS is one of the ways that Google helps provide location services to mobile users. When your network is in the GLS listings it can be used to find where a person is when they use location services on a mobile device. Many people out there are very sensitive to having their locations tracked even if it is anonymous. With Google’s problems with its Street View Team capturing WiFi data the search giant is big on offering users more privacy control. To that end, there is a very easy way that Google will overlook your wireless network when returning locations with the GLS. All the user has to do is change the SSID of their network slightly. Google says that to be omitted from the GLS you need to add the _nomap modifier to the end of your SSID. That means if your SSID is wifi, you need to make it wifi_nomap. Google says th

Thieves really suck; I think most of us will agree with that. There are few things worse than people who take the things other people work hard to make or buy in my book. You might recall the sweet Razer Blade hybrid gaming notebook that broke cover a while back. The big feature of this gaming notebook was the touchscreen on the right where the boring number pad would normally be. Razer has announced that on the weekend of November 4 unknown persons or person broke into their San Francisco Bay research facility and made off with a pair of prototype Blade machines. Razer is asking for the help of the geek hoards with finding and getting these laptops returned. The company also asks that you don’t buy these machines online or anywhere else if you run across them. The machines are stolen property and Razer is working with the police to find the thieves and to secure the return of the machines. If you have any information on the theft or whereabouts of the stolen machines, Razer wants you

If you have more than one tablet or smartphone that you use on a regular basis and you want a keyboard that will work with just about any of them ZAGG has a new offering you might want to check out. The new keyboard is called the ZAGGkeys Flex. It uses Bluetooth to connect to your device and it has a universal stand that will keep your device standing in portrait or landscape. The keyboard is powered by integrated rechargeable batteries. The keys on the keyboard also have some for using special features of your device. The keys themselves appear to be the chiclet island style that is popular on Asus devices. ZAGG specifically says that the keyboard will work with the iPad, iPhone, Galaxy Tabs, and other tablets and smartphones. The keyboard is a CES Innovations honoree for 2012. It is shipping right now for $79.99. The keyboard measures 9.4″ L x 4.8″ W x 0.65″ H with a weight of 11.3 ounces.

Nintendo has come under fire from animal rights activists, livid that iconic character Mario wears a fur Tanooki suit in Super Mario 3D Land. PETA has launched a minisite titled “Mario Kills Tanooki” – complete with a playable game – to highlight the similarity between the Tanooki suit and the tanuki raccoon dogs who, in real life, are skinned alive. “Tanooki may be just a “suit” in Mario games, but in real life, tanuki are raccoon dogs who are skinned alive for their fur” PETA argues. “By wearing Tanooki, Mario is sending the message that it’s OK to wear fur.” The organization’s mini game involves a retro 2D chase by a skinned tanuki after a floating Tanooki-clad Mario. Nintendo is yet to comment publicly on the allegations, though we imagine the company probably won’t point out that Mario has been bouncing on Koopa for many years without a peep from PETA. We’ve reached out to the company for official word, and will update when we hear back.

RIM has announced its two latest BlackBerry 7 smartphones, the Bold 9790 and Curve 9380, the latter being the first Curve to use an all-touch design. Set to go on sale “in the coming weeks” the two phones each have NFC support; the Bold 9790 pairs a 1GHz processor with a touchscreen and QWERTY keyboard, along with 8GB of integrated storage and a microSD card slot. As for the BlackBerry Curve 9380, that has a 3.2-inch touchscreen and a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash. It’s being targeted at the entry-level and youth markets, with BBM, Facebook and Twitter support baked in along with an optical trackpad. Augmented reality support, using the Wikitude AR app, is integrated with BBM, allowing users to discover which of their contacts are currently nearby and navigate to them easily. The NFC will support mobile payments as well as reading advertising tags and pairing accessories. No word on pricing or which carriers might opt into either BlackBerry at this stage.

Samsung has admitted it had an “informal policy of not suing Apple for patent infringement” so as to protect its supplier role for iPhone and iPad components, alleging that it overlooked Apple knowingly using 3G telecoms tech without first licensing it until the point that the Cupertino company fired off a lawsuit of its own. The Korean company’s legal team claims patent licensing negotiations were underway up until April this year, SMH reports, and that Apple knowingly went ahead and infringed when talks floundered. The Australian court presiding over the 3G patent case has scheduled a full hearing for March 2012, despite Apple’s demands for a later date. “In effect the informal policy of not suing Apple for patent infringement was terminated when Apple sued Samsung for patent infringement in California and then elsewhere … Apple was on notice that it was infringing Samsung’s essential 3G patents from April 2011 at the very least and thereafter proceeded with its eyes wide open to tak

Apple’s rumored 15-inch ultrathin MacBook could hit the market in early Q2 2011, the latest supply chain intel suggests, with mass production tipped to kick off in March. Details on whether the notebook will be classed as a larger MacBook Air or a new, skinny MacBook Pro redesign are unclear, DigiTimes‘s sources maintain, one expected casualty is the DVD burner, as Apple shifts to do away with optical media. According to those insiders, Apple suppliers have begun shipping components for the 15-inch ultrathin model, albeit in small volumes. That fits with previous rumors that suggested it was the MacBook Pro that was in for an Air-style update, though timescales then indicated Apple could have the new model on the market by the holidays. Still, that would put a major refresh in close proximity to the late-October spec tweak of the MacBook Pro line, where Apple added faster Sandy Bridge processors along with some different graphics options. The company has traditionally shown itself loat

Adobe has released its Touch Apps suite of five-strong graphics packages intended for Android tablets, each priced at $9.99 in the Android Market. The apps – based on functionality from Adobe’s Creative Suite – wereannounced last month, and include Photoshop Touch for image tweaking, Adobe Ideas for sketching, and Adobe Proto, for prototyping mobile apps and websites. Meanwhile, the company has confirmed that iOS versions are in the pipeline, and has launched a new cloud-based collaboration system. Adobe Collage can be used to create moodboards, useful when planning a project, while Adobe Debut is intended to make sharing and reviewing work more straightforward. Finally, Adobe Kuler offers in-depth exploration of color themes. All five integrate with Adobe Creative Cloud, the company’s web-based file viewing, sharing and transfer system. Working with both the Touch Apps and Adobe’s desktop software, Creative Cloud allows tableteers to open native Photoshop and other files, edit them wh

This week while speaking at this year’s Techonomy conference, DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg told audience members that they’d formulated the solution for real-time rendering of animation for video. Katzenberg told the audience that they’d been working hand-in-hand with Intel in order to rewrite their software to take advantage of scalable multi-core processors, this allowing them to achieve advances that will, for lack of a better term, revolutionize the animation process. While before recently DreamWorks had been considered mostly a story-telling company, Katzenberg now says they’ve becoming “as much a technology company as we are an animation company.” DreamWorks for those of you unfamiliar is a group responsible for such blockbuster digital animation films as Antz (their first animated film from 1998), Shrek, Madagascar, and more recently both Megamind and Kung Fu Panda. As the group certainly has a bunch more films in development and coming soon, everything from How t

The hottest racing game just around the corner is also the next in a legendary series: Need for Speed The Run is blasted out today, not for the first time ever, but certainly in a massively impressive way as we get to see two exclusive autos for the Playstation 3 version of the game and a high-action Michael Bay directed trailer for the game as well! This next generation car jamming game follows racer Jack as he tears across the country from San Francisco to New York in a series of the fastest cars on earth. With the main character voiced by Sean Faris and an in-game $25 million dollar cash prize on the line, can you resist it? First lets have a peek at a couple of cars you can only work out on if you pick up the Playstation 3 version of the game. Both vehicles come with a yellow paint job but feel free to change it up before you go bananas on the streets. The Playstation 3 version of the game has a total of seven supercars that only exist on that version of the game, the first reveale

Developers at Applidium claim that they have cracked open Apple’s Siri intelligent voice-controlled assistant feature to work on any device. Siri is restricted to the iPhone 4S, but has been hacked to work to some degree on the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS. And now, Applidium says that it has managed to crack Siri open to be inserted into apps on other platform such as Android. Applidium developers were able to decipher Siri’s security protocol by setting up their own custom SSL certification authority and adding it to their iPhone 4S to find out the commands that Siri sends to Apple’s official servers. They have released the access tools and given a full rundown of their process. In theory, this hack could allow Siri to be used on an iPad, a Mac, or even an Android device. But the catch is that it still requires the UDID of an iPhone 4S, which lets Apple’s servers believe that the device is authorized. But if Apple decides to block your UDID for suspicious activity, that would also kill yo

This week NVIDIA is letting loose more than one story on how they’ll be inside some of the world’s most powerful computers coming up soon, the latest being an Cray supercomputer deployed by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications to move forward the Blue Waters project. And what is the Blue Waters project, you might want to know? Blue Waters is a project which aims at creating one of the world’s most powerful computer systems, to put it simply, and with NVIDIA Tesla GPUs under the hood, this new Cray supercomputer is set to do the job. The slightly more specific goal of the Blue Waters project is to deploy a supercomputer that’s capable of working on a “diverse range of real-world science and engineering applications” at a sustained performance of one petaflop. Scientists and engineers across the USA will benefit from the eventual products of this initiative, and the whole project is supported by the National Science Foundation at the University of Illinois. NVIDIA chief te

AT&T will be expanding its 4G LTE network to 6 new markets on November 20, when it will surpass its year-end target of 15 markets. Although the number pales in comparison to Verizon’s already more than 175 4G LTE markets, AT&T has been quick to add on new devices, having just announced its second 4G LTE tablet today with the Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 promotion will also kick off on November 20 and includes the option of tacking on a free Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket smartphone for free. And now, if you’re in any of the following markets, you’ll be able to take advantage of this sweet deal: -Athens, Ga. -Atlanta -Baltimore -Boston -Charlotte -Chicago -Dallas-Fort Worth -Houston -Indianapolis -Kansas City -Las Vegas -Oklahoma City -San Antonio -San Juan -Puerto Rico -Washington, D.C. AT&T also revealed new data plans for its LTE tablet customers today, which includes a 250MB plan for $14.99, 2GB for $25, and 3GB for $35. Only the 3GB p

When HP first launched its 10-inch TouchPad webOS tablet, it was planning a follow-up with a smaller 7-inch model called the TouchPad Go. Unfortunately, with HP’s abrupt decision to scrap the entire webOS ecosystem back in August, it’s unlikely that we’ll be seeing the TouchPad Go hitting the market. But we do get a glimpse at what could have been with several photos of the device surfacing today. The photos come from Chinese site Palm Joy, revealing a device with the same 4:3 aspect ratio display as its 10-inch brother but it slightly thinner and also has its dedicated home screen button located on the long-side. It’s said to be 3G-capable and features a 1024 x 768 resolution screen, a 1.5GHz Snapdragon processor, 32GB of Sandisk internal storage, a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera and a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera with LED flash. It also has GPS, Bluetooth, and NFC. HP’s suppliers are believed to be stuck with excess TouchPad components following the company’s decision to cancel

This week it appears that Google is nearly ready to start shipping out those Galaxy Nexus devices as the source for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich has been posted and is now available for download by anyone and everyone. The version that’s been posted is the same that we’ve seen sitting on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus when checking the device out in Hong Kong and London last month, and we expect it to be the same as what’s shipped with the Galaxy Nexus inside THIS month. Have a look at the source for yourself today! Google notes through mister Jean-Baptiste Queru that at the Android Open-Source Project git servers you can now freely download the source code for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. To access the build, head tosource.android.com and follow the given instructions. What you’ll have to be aware of here that at least in the first few minutes and hours of this announcement being sent down, there’s going to be a massive demand for the files and you’ll likely not have a chance to grab a

Despite a still nascent 4G LTE network, AT&T is already gearing up to receive a 4G LTE version of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 8.9 tablet. The carrier made the announcement today that the slate will be arriving in stores and online starting November 20. It will be AT&T’s second 4G LTE-equipped tablet following the HTC Jetstream. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 measures just 8.6mm thin and features an 8.9-inch 1280 x 800 resolution display, a dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm processory, 1GB of RAM, and 16GB onboard storage. The tablet will also feature a front-facing 2-megapixel camera along with a rear-facing 3.2-megapixel camera with LED flash. It will come running Android 3.2 Honeycomb underneath Samsung’s custom TouchWiz UX. AT&T is offering the tablet for $479 with a new two-year contract, but is adding a special incentive. For a limited time, the carrier will include for free a 4G LTE-equipped Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket smartphone if you sign on for the tablet. However, a new two-year

Verizon isn’t stinting on 4G LTE smartphones, and hot on the heels of the DROID RAZR comes the HTC Rezound. Where Motorola chased slimness, HTC has targeted all-round top-flight features of the sort we’ve not really seen from the company in some time. So, the Rezound packs a 720p HD resolution display, speedy dual-core processor and a slick unibody chassis in its quest to be the best LTE smartphone around. Does it all add up, or has HTC bitten off more than it can chew? Check out the full SlashGear review after the cut.

Lenovo is planning to release a new version of its 13-inch ThinkPad X1 notebook that will be able to dual-boot Windows 7 or a special instant-on operating system, which could be Android, Splashtop, or some other operating system entirely. Plans for the new notebook, which will be called the ThinkPad X1 Hybrid, were revealed from a leaked PDF slideshow that was intended for only Lenovo’s channel partners. The ThinkPad X1 Hybrid is expected to offer up to 10 hours of battery life for surfing the web and about 8 hours of battery life when it comes to watching videos. This is a big improvement from the slightly over 4 hours you get with the current ThinkPad X1. The ThinkPad X1 Hybrid is expected to arrive sometime this month. Additionally, the PDF revealed that Lenovo is planning to release super thin ThinkPad Ultrabooks by mid-2012 right around the time Intel will be releasing its next-gen Ivy Bridge chips. Lenovo will also be launching an 11.6-inch ThinkPad X130e as a sequel to its X120e

What’s purported to be a snapshot of RIM’s very first BlackBerry with the company’s new QNX-based OS, also now known as BBX, has emerged. The handset is codenamed “London” and is scheduled for release sometime in June of 2012. The source of the image also revealed the specs for this all-touchscreen device that’s certainly cosmetically a huge departure from RIM’s traditional BlackBerry styling. The London will allegedly sport a dual-core 1.5 GHz TI OMAP processor with 1GB of RAM, and 16GB of onboard storage. It will also feature an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. The chassis is said to be thinner than that of the iPhone 4 and about as big as the Samsung Galaxy S II. The device can also be stood straight up on one side, suggesting a rather boxy design. The design of the London features aluminum accents and an angular look that’s reminiscent of the Porsche Design P9981 special edition BlackBerry. It’s possible that this is a prototype designed by Pors

Even though you’ve been told over and over again that there are absolutely and positively no more HP TouchPad devices out there on the market, you can always trust a group like TigerDirect to wrangle up the rest of the stragglers, this week selling the infamous tablets out for $149.99 after a $150 rebate. Of course you’ll have to lie down $299.99 to get the tablet, then will get the rebate cash back eventually, but look! It’s a TouchPad and you can buy it! This tablet, for those of you that don’t know, became rather undeniably well priced once HP decided it would no longer produce it or any other webOS mobile operating system devices earlier in the year (note that they’re still considering the sale of webOS as recently as November 8th). Once the announcement was made, HP quickly reduced the price down to $150 and promptly sold the devices like they were giving them away. The situation quickly escalated once it was shown to be possible to load Android onto the tablets, and now they’re d

Everything appears to be turning up Apple as a couple of reports from analysts NPD Group and IDC find both that the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 3GS were the top two selling mobile phone handsets in the USA in the third quarter of 2011 while their operating system, Apple’s iOS, has been found to be the number one result on developer’s interest lists. You can’t deny that Apple’s interest in mobile devices has and continues to be one where a near-perfect hardware and sales model appears to have been the key to success. As you’ll find in two reports released this week on the matter, there’s really no doubt that the iOS team is doing something right. First take note of the IDC report which finds iOS continuing, as they say “to reign at number 1.” IDC’s quarterly Mobile Report shows 91% of respondents saying they were “very interested” in developing for the iPhone. In addition, 88% of respondents for this quarter’s report said the same thing about the iPad. The number one most significant announ

Despite news to the contrary, it appears that all four big music labels here in the USA will be onboard with Google’s new Music store, that is if screenshots that’ve appeared just this morning via TechnoDroidVE are to be believed. What you’re about to see here is a set of what appear to be screenshots of Google Music or Google’s Music Store, whatever it’ll end up being called, it appearing very much to be a continuation of what Google has in place with its Android Market, complete with a wide selection of artists on all four giant music labels rather than missing Sony and Warner – we’ll find out exactly what the true situation is this Wednesday at the “These Go to Eleven” event in California. What’s most important in these screenshots is the fact that, first, the track prices are very comparable to iTunes. Two: that it appears that there’s a wide range of artists on board including such big names as Green Day and Shakira. Then there’s the fact that those two artists are signed to label

It has become fashionable to praise Apple’s serene iPhone ads and rail against its competitors advertising, with Verizon Wireless’ obnoxious DROID and LTE ads drawing particular ire. In case you don’t watch any television or live outside the U.S., the Verizon Wireless ads include women battling cyborgs (this has to do with smartphones how, exactly?), people skydiving and firebombing cities with lightning balls (shouldn’t Homeland Security be intervening?), and unidentified objects slicing through cities (not an ad for a disaster movie, but a visual pun for the DROID RAZR). Meanwhile, Apple’s ads calmly explain the latest features and apps, sometimes with bold adjectives (“magical,” much?) but an even tone and methodical manner. There may be fanbois hyping Siri, but its ads just show what she can do (when the server is up). I’ve been calling Apple’s iPhone ads “30 second tutorials,” and they’re fantastic. They not only show you what the iPhone can do for you, but how easy it would be fo

This week the kind folks at Apple have granted the masses access to their iTunes Match program, one that will allow users to subscribe for $25 USD a year and match up their physical music collection with the iCloud, giving them access wherever they go to their entire collection. You the user can get access to iTunes Match by downloading a simple software update to your iTunes application via the iTunes download page you’d normally use to do so. While this program had originally been intended for mid-October, several beta tests throughout the month have yielded a final release date of now, now being of course mid-November 2011. At the moment only users in the USA are allowed to use the service, but users around the world can download the new version of iTunes via Apple’s iTunes 10.5.1 download page. This service will allow you to import all of your music to the iCloud where iTunes will either provide the highest-quality version of the tracks available or will use the version of the musi