Ever since the Steve Jobs biography was released and the comment about him finally cracking the TV, we've heard a ton of rumours about what the new Apple TV will be like and when it will be launching. The latest report now indicates that Apple [AAPL] is actively seeking component suppliers for building a TV. This has been labelled as more evidence of Apple building a TV. Please note that the Apple TV and new Apple TV are different in that the current generation model is a device that connects to a regular TV. The new Apple TV is a whole TV that will have iOS integrated. A mockup/render is found below.
Displays
LoveFilm has announced that the the new range of LG Smart TVs will be able to stream LoveFilm content to viewers. The streaming won't include pay-per-view but will include 5,000 or more films from the library.
When Apple announced the iPad 3, it is expected that the next generation tablet will get a higher resolution screen. Although Apple is likely to keep the 9.7 inch screen size, reports are suggesting that the new device will have a resolution of 2048x1536 pixels.
When the Steve Jobs biography launched last week one of the first things spotted in the book was that Steve said "I've finally cracked it" when talking about an Apple TV.
In the Steve Jobs biography a specific mention about a smart TV is made. Steve said "It would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud. It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it".
Although we wont know for sure that Apple [AAPL] is making a smart TV, this reference from the book along with other bits of information found over the past few months is strongly hinting that Apple could be preparing to introduce the device.
Sony announced earlier today that they will be recalling 1.6 million Sony Bravia TVs soon due to problems where 11 models in Japan had seen some problems. The range of Bravia TVs have a component that in those cases melted down causing damage to the TV although nobody was hurt in any of the incidents.
iFixit has taken apart one of the new Apple Thunderbolt displays. This particular model is the 27 inch, 2560 x 1440 screen. The screen was relatively easy to open and once inside, it contained a surprise amount of chips allowing to speedily connect up via the Thunderbolt Port.
Over at IFA this year a number of new TVs have been announced. The next one is a large 55 inch glasses-free 3D HDTV that comes from Toshiba. The screen is the ZL2 model and is what Toshiba calls the first large-screen glasses-free 3D TV.
LG has announced a new range of TVs called the LG PenTouch. This new range of Plasma screens lets users interact with it by using a special stylus. The idea behind it is that users can browse the internet or draw right on the screen if needed. As well as browsing the web, it also gives the ability to interact with what is on the screen.
Haier is about to introduce a new 3D HDTV that requires no wires attached to it to make it work. To achieve this the company has designed the 3D TV along with radiation free magnetic resonance coupling that allows the TV to be powered without attaching a physical wire to the device.
In the next few months we could start to see smartphones that have screens measuring 5 to 6 inches in size. These new devices will use AMOLED HD screens created by Samsung that are capable of showing HD resolutions. The first device expected, according to OLED Info, is the GT-I9220 which will use a 5.3 inch screen. 7 inch tables with the same AMOLED HD screens will also begin to arrive at the end of this year.
Dell has launched a new 24 inch widescreen monitor that uses IPS technology and has a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels. The screen is the UltraSharp U2412M and retails for a surprisingly low $399. The widescreen format is in a 16:10 ratio. The screen is backlit by LED and with it being IPS it also has a wide viewing angle.
Dell also tout the monitor to be flexible in that it can tilt, swivel and pivot in a number of angles.
