We all get fooled on a consistent basis. It's just that some decide to be slightly more guarded when it comes to April 1. And yet an anchor at a local Fox news station managed to fall for one of the more technologically inspired ruses of recent memory.
Her fellow workers at Fox 5 San Diego ran a story about a new app that lets you taste or sniff things on your iPhone or iPad. The app was called "Virtual Sip" and the technology behind it was christened "Piezo Electrics." Which, to my mind, sounds like a disreputable electrician in Napoli.
It was all rather cleverly done. First, the station ran a package that showed people sniffing and licking their phones. The anchor who wasn't in on the joke, Shally Zomorodi, looked appalled and said, "Wait a minute...are they licking their phones?"
She was then handed an iPad by a producer and encouraged to try the app. Still, when she didn't seem able to quite get any sniff emanating from it, she was persuaded (fairly easily) to lick it. Even though she had just declared: "I am NOT licking an iPad!"
So she licked and, well, began to realize that she has been had. Truly had, beyond all salvation.
Quite naturally, she stormed off the set, but somehow managed to keep her good humor when others of a greater ego might have lost it beyond recognition. Indeed, on her Facebook page, Zomorodi continues to show that she enjoys an equanimity beyond that of many in the public eye.
Remember, everyone, iPhones and iPads may be worshiped by some. But there is no additional benefit that comes from licking them. Not yet, anyway.
Friday, April 15, 2011
DisplaySearch: Quake hasn't affected some LCD supplies
The supply chain for thin-film transistor LCDs made in Japan hasn't been majorly affected by last week's earthquake and tsunami, according to recent inventory checks by the research firm DisplaySearch.
DisplaySearch said today that the biggest impact it sees from the earthquake on TFT liquid crystal displays--which are used in a wide range of devices, including televisions, monitors, and smartphones--is the possibility of the disaster to "undermine consumer and business confidence."
That psychological impact is already being witnessed in other markets. According to IHS iSuppli, fear of undersupply in the industry following the earthquake has pushed costs of NAND flash memory up 10 percent. DRAM pricing is up 7 percent since the disaster. In that same report, IHS said companies that make LCD components are also eyeing potential slowdowns.
Although DisplaySearch acknowledged that "information is limited" at this point, it said that few TFT LCD manufacturing plants were affected in the devastating earthquake and subsequent tsunami that left thousands dead and caused billions of dollars in damage. The research firm said that Hitachi Display and NEC's Gen 2 plants, as well as Toshiba and Epson's factories, were not damaged by the earthquake. Those plants have, however, stopped production for the time being.
Even so, that pause in production shouldn't affect TFT LCD supply, DisplaySearch said. The company pointed out that Hitachi, NEC, Toshiba, and the others have a "very minor" share in the TFT LCD market.
More sizable competitors in the production of TFT LCD displays were largely unaffected by the Japan earthquake, DisplaySearch found. The company said Sharp's two facilities, Panasonic's factory, and other Japanese producers operate plants outside the affected areas.
That said, DisplaySearch had already been seeing softness in the demand for LCDs prior to the earthquake, and its inventory checks prior to the event indicated that "some slack [in supply] already existed in the system." That extra supply, in addition to the general lack of real damage to the TFT LCD supply chain, makes DisplaySearch rather positive about that market going forward.
IHS iSuppli doesn't see such a rosy picture of the market. Though it agreed with DisplaySearch that LCD production was "not impacted," the research firm said in its own report yesterday that "power supply issues may impact future production and supply of these LCD components."
DisplaySearch said today that the biggest impact it sees from the earthquake on TFT liquid crystal displays--which are used in a wide range of devices, including televisions, monitors, and smartphones--is the possibility of the disaster to "undermine consumer and business confidence."
That psychological impact is already being witnessed in other markets. According to IHS iSuppli, fear of undersupply in the industry following the earthquake has pushed costs of NAND flash memory up 10 percent. DRAM pricing is up 7 percent since the disaster. In that same report, IHS said companies that make LCD components are also eyeing potential slowdowns.
Although DisplaySearch acknowledged that "information is limited" at this point, it said that few TFT LCD manufacturing plants were affected in the devastating earthquake and subsequent tsunami that left thousands dead and caused billions of dollars in damage. The research firm said that Hitachi Display and NEC's Gen 2 plants, as well as Toshiba and Epson's factories, were not damaged by the earthquake. Those plants have, however, stopped production for the time being.
Even so, that pause in production shouldn't affect TFT LCD supply, DisplaySearch said. The company pointed out that Hitachi, NEC, Toshiba, and the others have a "very minor" share in the TFT LCD market.
More sizable competitors in the production of TFT LCD displays were largely unaffected by the Japan earthquake, DisplaySearch found. The company said Sharp's two facilities, Panasonic's factory, and other Japanese producers operate plants outside the affected areas.
That said, DisplaySearch had already been seeing softness in the demand for LCDs prior to the earthquake, and its inventory checks prior to the event indicated that "some slack [in supply] already existed in the system." That extra supply, in addition to the general lack of real damage to the TFT LCD supply chain, makes DisplaySearch rather positive about that market going forward.
IHS iSuppli doesn't see such a rosy picture of the market. Though it agreed with DisplaySearch that LCD production was "not impacted," the research firm said in its own report yesterday that "power supply issues may impact future production and supply of these LCD components."
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