Not to be outdone by the BlueRay / HD DVD wars

The video/display/graphics industry has a new standard out now called DisplayPort. This competes with HDMI, but is backed by VESA. ATI has a group of low end cards out now, [phoronix.com] which hardly seems worth the effort. And if you're a Linux fan there is no support yet for DisplayPort, but open source drivers are allegedly in the pipeline... one of these years.

I am not familiar with any technical advantages of the new standard, nor why anybody would want to switch necessarily. No benchmarks for them yet, either. So I'm fairly mystified as to why ATI would think there is an advantage in there somewhere.

We'll see.

Dell's Hot Monitor Is Now Available: Second Morgage Needed

Dell has teased us with this beautiful 22-inch LCD monitor for some time now, always saying that it is just a concept design and not for sale. Well it seems that they've changed their minds about it all, and this baby will be shipping in a few days from now. The 1680x1050 (WSXGA+) with the built in speakers that float in the crystal settings has a webcam, DVI, HDMI connectivity, TrueColor Technology, 2 ms response, and a 2000:1 dynamic contrast ratio.

But you better bring you long pants for this one, because it's going to set you back $1199. Which is a little crazy considering that Dell has 22-inch LCD monitors with the same resolution for $300. But if you're interested in picking up one of these, you're most likely a baller, and that $1200 price tag is just a joke to you anyway.

It's nice to see that Apple isn't the only company interested in a good design.

[Dell via Gizmodo]

Apple iMac Display Problems Reported

Over the last month, questionable upgrade pricing (Apple OSX Leopard: More Angry Customers), censorship (Mac OSX Cracked for PCs/More Update Woes (Is Apple Now Censoring Tom's Hardware?), and a bug-ridden operating system (Update: More Leopard Problems Plague Apple). While they represent problems for Apple, they are certainly surmountable for a mega corporation. But a new development may not be so easy to repair: Multiple sources indicate that at least some 20 and 24 inch iMacs sold since their debut August 7, 2007 may have shipped with defective displays.

The problem shows as a change in the display of colors from the top to the bottom of the iMac screen. When looking at the display from a typical front viewing angle a solid colored background appears normal at the top of the screen and gradually changes color as your eye approaches the bottom of the screen. At the bottom of the display, the color appears faded or washed out. Medium blue becomes light blue, and light colors become white.

OK, it doesn't seem like a major problem, but I guess if I paid that much for an iMac, it better be damn near perfect.

Read the full article at Tom's Hardware.

iPhone To Have Extensive Battery Life/ Glass Surface

Looks like Apple is really making a huge gamble on the iPhone. The Cupertino-based company just upped the ante on the iPhone by claiming its battery will provide up to eight hours of talk time. Previously, Apple said that the iPhone would only have around five hours of talk time, making this a welcome announcement to all potential owners.

Jobs also says that the iPhone will get 24 hours of audio playback time, seven hours of video playback, or six hours of Internet use. Guess that GPRS connection really drains the battery.

Also announced was that the iPhone would have a glass surface. Instead of plastic, Apple decided to give the iPhone a layer of strong glass from end to end. Dubbed as “optical-quality” glass, Apple says it will help keep the iPhone scratch-resistant. No word on shatter-resistant.

All that’s left now is to wait 11 days until it launches. Can you feel the excitement?

Read the rest after the jump. [PR Newswire]

Sony's Flexible, Full-Color OLED Display

Sony unveiled a new screen that will forever change the future of electronic devices. This new 2.5-inch OLED screen is made of a glass substrate that allows you to casually bend the screen.

This technology may be seen in magazines as advertisements or on the back of a cellphone for viewing movies. It uses organic TFT technology to keep clarity in-tact and to retain its 0.3mm thickness.

The screen has a resolution of 120×169 pixels and weighs only 1.5 grams.

Extremely impressive!!!

Imagine if this became a low-cost media solution years down the road.