My Thoughts on Technology and Jamaica: SHARP and JDI making 5-inch 1080p Smartphone Screens - Here Comes the Boom as 1080p Screens, Quad-Core the next Big Thing for Apple iPhone

Monday, October 8, 2012

SHARP and JDI making 5-inch 1080p Smartphone Screens - Here Comes the Boom as 1080p Screens, Quad-Core the next Big Thing for Apple iPhone


“By providing ultra-detailed LCD panels to support the growing worldwide demand for Smartphones, Sharp will contribute to Smartphones with increasingly higher quality images”

Excerpt from a Statement from SHARP Corporation of Japan on the development of 5” Screens for 2013AD

The Apple iPhone Event that went down on Tuesday September 11th 2012AD introduced a great smartphone with a slew of improvements as chronicled in the article “Apple takes wraps off iPhone 5, 4-inch screen and all”, published September 12, 2012 10:15 AM PDT by Don Reisinger, CNET News. So far, Apple’s much anticipated upgrades fizzled slightly as far as many were concerned as I was looking for new products to “wow” but felt little of that old Apple CEO Steve Jobs spirit.



So it may not surprise you that next year, 2013AD, Quad-Core going to be the rallying point for Smartphones as in the case of the HTC’s One X+ Quad-Core JellyBean-filled Tasmanian Devil of a Smartphone as stated in “HTC's new One X+ boasts quad-core chip, Jelly Bean”, published October 2, 2012 5:33 AM PDT by Don Reisinger, CNET News.

What should surprise you , however, is that smartphone makers are already gearing up for 5” Screens!  Production is already in high gear since the end of September 2012AD at SHARP Corporation of Japan’s Mie Plant No. 3 in Kameyama, Japan to makes these beastly 1,080x1,920 LCD screens, which boast resolutions as high as 443 ppi (Pixels per Inch), as noted in the article “Sharp screens to bring HD-LCD pixels to Smartphones”, published October 1, 2012 6:40 AM PDT by Charlie Osborne, CNET News.

As if that were not enough, JDI (Japan Display Inc), a consortium of Japanese component Manufacturers Sony, Toshiba, and Hitachi,  has recently announced on Friday October 5th 2012AD that they too had begun manufacturing 5” Smartphone screens with resolutions of 1,080x1,920-pixel and boasting incredibly sharp 443ppi view as stated in the article “In 2013, we'll be singing about 5-inch Smartphone screens”, published October 5th 2012 11:48pm PDT, by Christopher MacManus, CNET News.

Here’s the Press Release, if the word of CNET News is not good enough for you:  Japan Display to Start Mass Production of Full-HD LCD Modules for Smartphones – 5.0 inch module with 1080x1920 pixels 443 ppi for high performance information content”. Both SHARP Corporation of Japan and JDI are prepping these 5” 1080p Smartphone screens for a 2013AD debut on a smartphone coming near you.

Smartphone maker, start your engines….

To give you an idea of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2011) that this development in smartphone display tech puts any bold and daring Smartphone maker into packing a 1080p 5” screen, scope out the screen component specs set in a nice little list:

1.      JDI and SHARP Corporation of Japan’s 5” 1,080x1,920-pixel Display - 443ppi
2.      Apple iPhone 5 - 326ppi
3.      Samsung Galaxy SIII - 306ppi
4.      Apple iPhone 4S - 264 PPI

Effectively 1080p resolution in a screen the size of a Smartphone, making your just-upgraded-to-4” Apple iPhone 5 look a bit technologically backward!  For reference, the 9.7” Apple iPad and the 3.7” Apple iPhone 4S defines the Retina Display Club with a 2,048-by-1,536 pixel density, yielding two hundred and sixty four) 264 PPI. So albeit Retina Display is all the Rage in the Smartphone world with its Retina Display, it’s not true 1080p, long the standard in the HD (High Definition) TV world.

Interestingly the screens for the new Apple iPhone 5 are being manufactured by SHARP Corporation of Japan, as stated in the article “Apple finally receiving iPhone 5 screens from Sharp, says report”, published September 13, 2012 9:32 AM PDT by Lance Whitney, CNET News and “As iPhone 5 looms, Sharp's screen production falters”, published August 31, 2012 4:23 AM PDT by Charlie Osborne, CNET News the main reason why the Apple iPhone Launch is juxtaposed in this blog post.

Also, I had speculated earlier on my blog that the Apple iPad and the Apple iPhone may also be getting the RJ63YC100, a 12.1 Megapixel Smartphone Camera component Developed by SHARP Corporation of Japan as reported in my blog article entitled “Sharp develops world's thinnest 12.1 Megapixel Camera - Apple iPhone 5 and Apple iPad 3 in Sharp's focus”.

As a way quick comparison, the improvements to the Apple iPhone 5 as noted in the article “iPhone 5 Editor’s Take”, published September 12, 2012 9:35 AM PDT, CNET News can be broken down as follows:

Body

1.      Anodized Aluminum Body
2.      112 grams, 18% lighter than the Apple iPhone 4S
3.      Dual-Core A6 Processor from the Apple iPad

Screen

1.      4” 1136 x 640 Resolution Capacitive Touch LCD Screen
2.      16:9 Aspect Ratio
3.      326 Pixels Per Inch

Wireless Technology

1.      4G LTE and Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n support)
2.      Bluetooth 4.0

Performance

1.      8 megapixels Rear-Facing Camera (3264x2448 pixels Resolution)
2.      8 hours of 3G talk time
3.      8 hours of 3G browsing
4.      8 hours of LTE browsing
5.      10 hours of Wi-Fi browsing
6.      10 hours of video playback
7.      40 hours of music, playback
8.      225 hours of standby time.

SHARP Corporation of Japan being the supplier of the Apple iPhone 5 Screens is not a recent development. Rather, it comes in light of the Apple Inc’s recent pyrrhic Court victory against Samsung Corp of South Korea on allegations that Samsung copied their designs and were thus subsequent awarded of US$1.05 billion as recorded in my blog article entitled “Apple win US$1.05 billion in Patent Infringement Case against Samsung - Jurors in a Premium Rush to Limit Innovation in Product Design”.

Apple no doubt is attracted by SHARP Corporation of Japan impressive track record of innovation and research and the fact that like Samsung, they are component makers, but based in Japan. Trust issues between the two former partners is now an issue, and after this legal spat which is still ongoing between to two former partners, it can be said that Apple has made the right decision to switch to SHARP Corporation of Japan and gradually move away from Samsung Corporation for future components for their products.

SHARP Corporation of Japan’s handiwork can be seen in the quality of the higher resolution Retina Display Screen on the Apple iPhone 5 people had been waiting on from 2011AD. Back then Apple disappointed many with the Apple iPhone 4S launched at the Apple Event on Tuesday October 4th 2011AD.

Only the death of Apple CEO Steven Paul Jobs on Monday October 3rd 2011AD, a day before, overshadowed the launch and possibly propelled many to buy an Apple iPhone 4S in memory of  Steve Jobs as stated in “Steve Jobs died of respiratory arrest, tumor”, published Monday October 10, 2011 8:00pm EDT, Reuters.

So it was no surprise that the line for the new Apple iPhone 5 was of gargantuan proportions both in the US of A and Worldwide as noted in the article “iPhone 5 launch draws fans worldwide”, published Friday, September 21, 2012, The Jamaica Observer and “iPhone 5 lines cropping up across country, overseas”, published September 19, 2012 11:36 AM PDT by Greg Sandoval, CNET News.

This was the Apple iPhone that many had been waiting on from last year 2011AD and these Apple-starved Sheep’s Line and Fanboy’s antics to avoid the pre-order jam online even made the local newspapers as noted in “New iPhone hits market September 21”, published Thursday, September 13, 2012, The Jamaica Observer.

So much pent-up demand for the product showed on Friday September 21st 2012AD, with Apple breaking the previous year’s Apple iPhone 4S Records with two million (2,000,000) pre-orders in less time than it takes the Earth to rotate on its axis as stated in “Phone 5 preorders top 2M in first 24 hours, shattering record”, published September 17, 2012 5:43 AM PDT by Roger Cheng, CNET News.

SHARP Corporation of Japan, the maker of these new 5” behemoths is none other than the company for which I am a TES (Technical Engagement Specialist) at ACCENT Marketing Limited in New Kingston. I wish I could tell y’all more about SHARP Corporation of Japan’s products and what I actually do, but due to the fact I had to sign some 18+ Contracts just to get this most coveted of jobs with its cool Police-esque title, my lips are sealed as to what SHARP Corporation of Japan products I answer calls.

All I can say, as I had said in my Geezam blog article entitled “Convergys heralds Age of Empire for Call Centers and Jamaica’s Adoption of Flexi-Work and Tele-Working”, is what is publicly in the News. For instance, it’s well known that SHARP Corporation of Japan is the maker of the only 90” 1080p AQUOS Television set as reported in the article “Sharp unveils the enormous 90-inch AQUOS LED”, published June 18, 2012 By Mike Flacy, DigitalTrends.

They are the envy of other HD (High Definition) Television Set makers; envy as SHARP Corporation of Japan managed to get the TV Screen that large and still boast impressive 1080p resolution and black levels.

The picture on this Television Set is so crisp and sharp (no pun intended), that even people from the other Accounts on ACCENT Marketing routinely come to the 3rd Floor of the Baxter Building as we so fondly call our headquarters JUST to watch TV on it. Among the TES on SHARP and the Sharpettes (sexy femme fatale Females working as TES on the SHARP Account), the AQUOS is our pride and joy.

Despite the frequent VTO (Voluntary Time Off), back-to-back calls (raaaahhh!!) and lack of overtime (or a pay increase for that matter!), the Big Screen makes us dream of better times in the future when we’ll have money to be able to afford to kick back in front of such a large Football and Video Gaming Screen.

So the fact that SHARP is making 5” Screens for production is no surprise to the many TES on SHARP Account at ACCENT Marketing Limited who are fans of Apple. Logically, if SHARP Corporation of Japan can manage to make the AQUOS at 90” with 1080p resolution, then it’s only a matter of scaling the technology down to size to make a Smartphone with the same pixel density and resolution as a HD LCD TV set.

We also know that SHARP Corporation of Japan is betting big on the AQUOS line of Television Sets as well research into new components such as the 5” 1080p Screens for Smartphones. This as there is now the possibility of job cuts and sale of factories to stay competitive and nimble against more agile Component Suppliers and Consumer Electronics makers such as JDI consortium as noted in “Sharp to cut 10,000 jobs, sell factories to Foxconn”, report says, published September 26, 2012 8:33 AM PDT by Don Reisinger, CNET News.

This SHARP Corporation of Japan manages to achieve by using advanced Screen manufacturing techniques based on CGS (Cesium Gallium Silicon) Technology. A modified manufacturing process to achieve the Pixel density for Smartphones which TV watchers have long enjoyed:  True 1080p Displays with Crisper more realistic HD images.

So it’s a strong possibility that the next Apple iPhone, the Apple iPhone 6, most likely to be launched in November 2013AD, may in fact be boasting:

1.      5” LCD Screen 1,080x1,920-pixel with a 443ppi
2.      12.1 Megapixel Camera as I had predicted in my blog article entitled “Sharp develops world's thinnest 12.1 Megapixel Camera - Apple iPhone 5 and Apple iPad 3 in Sharp's focus”.
3.      Quad-Core A7 Processor (just to up the Ante a bit!)

This as with SHARP Corporation of Japan being Apple manufacturer of the Screen and makers of the 12 Megapixel Smartphone Camera, an upgrade to a 5”, Quad-Core, 12.1 Megapixel Camera is on the cards.

This as if Apple’s not packing the heat in 2013AD, then their competitors Smartphones running on Google Android 4.0 codenamed “Jellybean” will definitely be bringing the heat by 2013AD.  SHARP Corporation of Japan, JDI and other component makers are the armourers making these incredibly amazing components for our favourite tech toys.

These Japanese Tech titans will definitely be ramping up Production in Japan to meet the demand, heralding Here comes the Boom (2012) for Smartphones.

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