Apr 9

-Apple’s A5 chip beats Nvidia’s Tegra 2 silicon to the graphics punch. Apple advertises the A5 silicon as being twice as fast than the previous generation with up to ninefold jump in graphics performance. But how was Apple able to beat Nvidia’s graphics wizards at their own game? Apple’s chip is two and a half times larger than Nvidia’s. More precisely, the A5 measures 122 square millimeters versus 49 square millimeters for the Tegra 2 chip. No matter what people think, size matters. The Tegra 2 chip is manufactured on the 40-nanometer process, while the A5 is fabbed on Samsung’s 45-nanometer process. As a result, features on the Apple chip are physically larger.

-Apple's second patent surprise of the day is all about Apple devising a next generation iPhone that would effectively offer us a smart hybrid display "E-Ink display" that could switch between a standard LCD and an e-Paper display. E-Ink displays have been popular on early eReaders such as the Amazon Kindle. E-Ink displays are unbacklit high resolution displays that offer superior readability in direct sunlight. Fans of e-Ink also claim the displays are less fatiguing on the eyes over long periods of reading. In fact, it's so smart that the display could actually subdivide itself into quadrants that could intelligently switch display types depending on the content that the user is running.

-It’s been shown that tots take to iPads like ducks to water. One school district in Maine will hand them out to 5-year-olds in the hopes of boosting reading skills.An iPad pilot program in Auburn, Maine will put them in the hands of kids in certain classrooms in May and all six elementary schools in the district next fall.Officials hope to improve literacy rates from 62 percent to 90 percent in two years with the iPad scheme. The school committee recently approved spending of about $200,000 for 285 iPads for both students and teachers.

-Did Apple learn its lesson after the iPhone 4 was ‘stolen’ from a bar last year and ended up in the hands of Gizmodo? We know the iPhone 5 exists in Apple’s pipeline, but right now it appears the vault has been sealed tight as nobody is talking.Analyst Brian White with Ticonderoga Securities believes that the iPhone 5 could still launch in June/July, according to an AppleInsider report. White says Apple is keeping its iPhone 5 plans especially secret to prevent a falloff in demand."Apple is keeping its iPhone 5 cards extra close to the vest on this launch to avoid a falloff in iPhone 4 demand ahead of a refresh, especially given the February launch of the CDMA iPhone 4 with Verizon."So, what do you think?