Stay classy Copenhagen.

It’s finally official (I know I’m a little late, shock!). The iPad 3 event had been announced and it will take place at 6pm GMT on Wednesday 7 March 2012 in San Francisco. What can you expect? Well odds are on a new Retina Display, a better processor and most likely an improved camera. Apple’s invite is adorned with the phrase “We have something you really have to see. And touch”. Grammatical inconsistencies aside, this seems to suggest the unveiling of a higher definition display.

Amusingly, Apple, in its usual fiendish way chose to send out its electronic press invited right in the middle of Eric Schmidt’s keynote speech at Mobile World Congress. Report suggest that interest in what Schmidt had to saw quickly dissipated as the audience giggled like excited school girls.

Joking aside, this announcement is likely to be a biggie. With the iPad and iPad 2 still clearly the class leaders in terms of sales, the iPad 3 highly anticipated to by both techies and consumers alike.

As an aside, it has also been heavily rumoured that Apple will unveil a new Apple TV (no not an actual TV, calm down) at the event. Rumours of a 1080p capable device are widespread as stock of existing Apple TVs has dwindled in many retail outlets.

As usual… [please finish this phrase off in the comments section below]

I won’t lie, I smiled throughout this whole video. These four rotored visions of our impending doom are not being manually controlled, they are automated robots programmed to perform for our amusement, that is, for now.

via LikeCool

Bringing a whole new meaning to the term “swingers”.

There really aren’t too many way to explain this. GTA IV was released in 2008 and whilst there’s no denying it was beautiful in its own right, setting the standard for sandbox gaming, things have progressed a little since then. Clearly Rockstar don’t have the time or money to dedicate resource to improving the graphics of the PC version as new hardware hits the market, so these modders thought they’d so it themselves.

Icenhancer 2.0. See the results for yourself.

It’s all but certain that the next iPad will be revealed at some point this March, probably the 7th. Whilst the rumours have been making their usual rounds for the past few months, three more credible pieces of information hit the internet last week from “reliable” sources. Rather than the usual “the next iPad will be capable of producing 3D tactile holographic unicorns” rubbish that so often gets reported, the information here seems not only reliable, but also fully plausible if not likely. Read on to find out what the iPad 3 is likely to be capable of and possibly look like.

The Screen

Since the introduction of the iPhone 4, it has long been the frolicking dream of many an Apple fan that at some point the iPad would sport a similar “Retina Display”, a screen so dense in pixels that would have iridium clutching its crown. Well, if leaked information is to be believed, the iPad 3 will play home to a screen with twice the pixel density of the iPad 2 and a resolution of 2048 c 1536 on the same 9.1″ screen.

To put that into perspecitive, that’s a higher resolution than all but the latest 27″ iMac. Now, not only is this great news, it also seems to be from a very credible source, MacRumors, who weren’t just told this by a factory employee looking for some kicks, they’e actually got their hands on one of the panels. Clearly it isn’t powered up, but microscopic inspection confirms the number of pixes as stated above. Good news, but clearly there’s no absolute guarantee that this panel will make its way into the new iPad. There is certainly a public esire for this to be true but anybody who is familiar with Apple will realise that they play by their own rules, nobody elses.

The Design

Below is a picture of what is supposedly the rear panel of the iPad 3. On initial inspecition you’d be forgiven for thinking that it’s exactly the same as that of the iPad 2, but you’d be ever so subtly wrong. The edges of the panel appear to have a more gradual taper and the size of the camera lens is markedly larger than on the iPad 2 as seen i the compaison shot. What does this mean? Well, the taper probably doesn’t mean anything other than a slightly different form factor and possibily an opportunity for Apple to excite the world by stating that this is the thinnest device in the universe.

The size of the camera lens is however more interesting. There is much talk about what camera the iPad 3 may house as a result of this image, many speculating that it may use the 8-megapixel shooter, made by Sony, and found in the iPhone4S. I don’t buy this argument, in fact, I think it’s more likely that the iPad 3 will have the same 5-megapixel camera as that found in the iPhone 4. Consider for a second that the iPad 2 only had a 1-megapixel camera, even a jump to that found in the iPhone 4 would represent a significant improvement. My opinion on this point is support by my continued belief that a rear facing camera on an iPad is a silly idea in any event. Have you ever seen somebody trying to take a picture with an iPad [embarrassing].

Just today, further pictures of the new(ish) form factor emerged which seem to suggest that the iPad 3 will be very slightly thicker than its predecessor.

The Processor

A5, A6, dual-core, quad-core? Until this week, 95% of Apple enthusiast would have waged their active love lives on the iPad 3 touting a shiny new A6 (possibly quad-core) processor. This now seems unlikely. Pictures leaked just this week show what is reported to be the iPad 3′s logic board, surprisingly however, the customary branding on the processor does not say “A6″ but rather “A5X”. Now, there’s probably two distinct possibilities here:

1. Apple really is going to forego releasing the A6 and go with a turbocharged A5, possibly with a more powerful graphics core but certainly if the A5X makes an appearance it will be a beefed up version of its predecessor; or

2. The A5X was being used during testing and the A6 really will debt in the new iPad 3. What’s notable about the logic board leak is that the date of production on the processor indicates that it was born in November 2011. Since then, things could have changed radically.

Either way, you probably shouldn’t be too worried. The A5 alone is no soth and so I don’t expect the iPad3 to have any troules with speed. An A6 would be nice, particularly if it comes with a quadruple chorus of silicone engines, but there’s certainly an argument that this is a little overkill.

So, that’s it. Roundup complete. You can go now. Thank you.

via MicGadget, Cult of Mac, NextMedia and MacRumors

You’re going to need to be in the mood to think for this one. Bear with me, I’ll keep it short and I guarantee it’s sweet.

Researchers at the University of Texas in Austin have figured out how to make real world objects vanish.

Most attempts at cloaking real-world objects to date have focused on using things called “metamaterials” that re-route incoming light around an object I order to make it appear invisible. Think of it like bending the light away from the object and around it. Without light, you can’t see it, simple (ish). This has only worked on some small, and by that I mean already naked eye invisible small objects.

However, the team at the University of Texas have employed a different and more effective tactic using something called “plasmonic materials” ooooooh. Understandably the detail is pretty complex but if you read the following paragraph a couple of times it might start to make your brain hurt a little less:

Essentially, light contains both electric and magnetic fields (amongst other things). When we put an object in front of these fields they become disrupted, the light scatters and we are able to see the object in question. Plasmonic materials are special in that they affect only the electric and magnetic fields of light. Here’s the tough bit; when applied to an object, plasmonic materials somehow (let’s not go into it) present a photo negative of the object in question, therefore the light in essence doesn’t “see” the object as the usual disruption and subsequent scatter is cancelled out by the photo negative effect.

If that hurt out even more simply the plasmonic shell and the object itself cancel out each others’ ability to disrupt light and so you’re left with something that is entirely invisible from all angles. I told you this would be worth it.

The drawback? It’s likely this technology will only work within the microwave spectrum of light and not the visible spectrum. This makes is exciting for scientific applications like its use in electric microscopes, less exciting for you and me and our make believe plasmonic body suits.

I read an article on Gizmodo the other day that fully addressed many of the issues I currently have with the state of the TV industry. Rather than read and regurgitate I’ll let the article do the speaking for itself below, but just a couple of thoughts (I know, yawn). Throughout the past two years, TVs have been saddled with gimmicky half-baked technologies that ultimately detract from the job a good televisions is supposed to do. I name 3D technology as the main, but not sole, example of this.

I’m not interested in Samsung or LG shovelling in their own “smart” interfaces for connectivity, DVR or apps. Most of us have providers like Sky/Cable who already do an excellent job of bringing content to our TVs without manufacturers trying their own hands at it. Leave the content to the content providers (the clue’s in there somewhere). What I want is for my TV to be good at what it was designed for. For it to be visceral and beautiful. Even without glasses I’m not buying into 3D, but show me a 4k or and 8k resolution TV and you’ve got my undivided attention.

I would highly recommend that you read the full text of the Gizmodo article below to discover what’s in store for us in 2012 and onwards, but long story short it’s a return to basics. Much, much higher quality pictures at resolutions of up to 8k. Give me that, and I’ll gladly put up with the side-loaded bloatware that sadly probably isn’t going anywhere any time soon.

“The televisions that are going to be invading our living rooms in 2012, the ones that Samsung and LG and the rest have been trotting out this week at CES? They’re the most exciting gadgets of the year, and not because of any apps or gimmicks or third dimensions being shoved down our throats. In fact, they’re wonderful in spite of all that.

The TVs of last year were boring and reliant on cheap tricks.

They were supposed to be smart—which translated to awful glitchy menus we didn’t need and a heap of apps we already had. They were so 3D—which meant bulky eyewear, sore retinas, and sparse content. 3D is a dud, mostly, and “smart” TVs have been garbage, entirely. Companies decided TVs weren’t about watching things on TV. Companies really screwed up.

TV had lost its way. TV was boring. TV is back.

This year’s TVs tout the pointless features of the past, yes.

But the off-key bells and whistles are an afterthought. Why? We’re too busy gawking at how fabulously amazing the pictures are.

OLED, 4k,  Crystal Display,  8k. A supernova of new technologies that aren’t trying to make you tweet while you’re watching 3D Scooby Doo. This new wave of displays are pointed at one thing: looking good.

Pornographically good. Samsung, LG, and Sony aren’t trying to make your life better, easier, or more connected. These screens exist for one reason only: to stroke your eyeballs with stupidly sharp pictures, stratospheric HD resolutions, and colors that look so realistic, you might literally want to have sex with an LCD panel. Teensy-thin levitating rainbow portals into another dimension. Our Casey Chan had the world’s  first ocular ejaculation.

We’ll be watching these TVs in our underwear pretty soon.

The TVs of our near future aren’t great because of any feature list, but because of phenomenal picture quality. Streaming conveniences and great interfaces are nice, but they should always be secondary. Far, far secondary. A TV should make pretty pictures like a rocket should be fast, like a spoon should hold cereal, like a rare bird should sing exotic songs. Make TVs do what they’re meant to do, and make them do it really, really well.

In fact, make every gadget do what it’s meant to do, and make them do it well. Purge the gimmicks. Purify the things we buy. Earn our thousands. We don’t need our hardware to multitask just because it can. I don’t want a tweeting toaster or Netflix in my dishwasher. I want technology that does what it’s supposed to do, and does it better than anything else ever has before.

Samsung’s OLED TV is simply the best digital image I’ve ever looked at in my life. Sharp’s 8k set is the most awesomely overwhelming gadget I’ve ever been in the presence of. Biblically so. Being able to type that with sincerity is so, so, so refreshing. Beautiful TVs are a pure, wonderful thing.

We’re sick of smart, sick of overcomplicating, sick of lag and promises that don’t work out. Gadgets should make us happy. Looking at a big, gorgeous TV makes us happy. We need more of this, and we need it soon: companies showing us things that make us happy.

That’s rarer than any exotic bird.”

via Gizmodo

I didn’t know it, at least until Antonio De Rosa showed me, but this is what my brain thinks (hopes) the iPhone 5 looks like. Introducing the iPhone SJ Concept.

Via iDownloadBlog

What say ye Sony? Oh, that’s a no then. Sony’s Kaz Hirai puts the kibosh on a Playstation 4 announcement at this year’s E3.

Addressing reporters at CES, Kaz stated “…we are not making any announcements at E3.” in response to questions centring around the reveal of the Company’s next games console. He re-iterated that Sony is working towards a 10 year life cycle for the PS3 which would see its funeral arrive in 2016. However as previously stated, there’s likely to be some overlap between the the PS3 and whatever Sony decides to call the next iteration (my money’s on ‘Playstation 4′ but that’s probably a long shot). Of course, all this doesn’t guarantee Sony is telling the truth. via Engadget