Technology - Google News

Apple Watch remarkably survives for two weeks at the bottom of a lake - BGR

Posted: 07 Aug 2019 08:07 PM PDT

A pair of Apple Watches was recently recovered in perfectly fine working condition in Connecticut, where they'd spent two weeks at the bottom of a lake in one of the more remarkable stories we've seen so far about the resilience of Apple's signature wearable device.

"One of" being the operative phrase, since it's actually not the most impressive, but more on that later.

The Apple Watch Series 4 is able to withstand water at a depth of up to 50 meters. That helps explains why a police dive team in Brookfield, Connecticut, was able to find the pair of Apple Watches in good condition while conducting a routine training exercise. Afterward, they showed off their find on Twitter:

Our dive team did it again! While conducting training operations in #CandlewoodLake members of the BPD dive team located (2) @apple watches in just under 25 feet of water. They were still operational and returned to their owners ! We were told they have been there for two weeks! pic.twitter.com/h0DJHZEukd

— BrookfieldPoliceDept (@Brookfield_PD) August 7, 2019

(Strange fact: This is actually not the first time Apple Watches have been recovered from that lake.)

We mentioned earlier that this is only "one of" the more remarkable examples of how resilient the watch is. That's because earlier this year we saw an even more dramatic recovery than this one, when a surfer from Huntington Beach, Calif., recovered his Apple Watch a whopping six months after it fell into the ocean.

Not only is the watch resilient, but it's also pretty much unassailably dominant — in its product category, that is. According to new data from Strategy Analytics, Apple shipped 5.7 million watches during the second quarter of this year. That's up a full 50% year-over-year, compared to 3.8 million watches during the same period in 2018. Moreover, Apple's share of the smartwatch market is now close to 50%, up from 44% during the same quarter last year.

"Apple Watch remains a long way ahead of the chasing pack," Strategy Analytics executive director Neil Mawston said in a statement about the numbers, adding that it's "fended off strong competition from hungry rivals" and "remains the clear smartwatch market leader."

Samsung and Fitbit are in second and third place, respectively, after Apple in the smartwatch category when ranked by market share, according to the Strategy Analytics data.

Image Source: PAUL BRAVEN/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

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Nintendo Switch is getting an IGZO display — here’s what that means - VentureBeat

Posted: 07 Aug 2019 03:41 PM PDT

The Nintendo Switch is likely getting some additional stealth upgrades that should improve its display. Japanese electronics manufacturer Sharp says it is providing its IGZO screen to Nintendo for use in its hybrid handheld/home console, according to a Wall Street Journal report. IGZO has a number of improvements over the current tech that Switch is using. Most notably, it is significantly more power efficient.

Sharp and Nintendo are not saying which Switch devices will feature IGZO display tech, but it seems likely that we will see it in both the improved Switch with better battery life and the Switch Lite.

IGZO is a type thin-film-transistor in-plane switching (TFT-IPS) display technology. That's a lot of techno-gibberish. All you really need to know is that IPS is good for mobile devices and monitors. The Switch was already has IPS panels, but they used the old amorphous silicon (aSi) version of the tech. IGZO-TFT IPS panels use indium gallium zinc oxide. Again, what matters here is that these materials are up to 80%-to-90% more power efficient than aSi-TFT IPS. That's going to save the Switch's battery life for more gaming.

As panel-technology website Display Ninja explains, electrons move through IGZO about 20-to-50 times quicker than aSi. That reduced resistance means you don't need as much energy to power the screens. As you might expect, this is a huge benefit to a device like the Switch, which runs on a rechargeable battery.

This new display — along with the more power-efficient Tegra processor from Nvidia — could contribute to why the new Switch devices have such improved battery life over the original model.

Other benefits of the IGZO displays in the Nintendo Switch

But IGZO is not just about better battery life — although Nintendo may focus on that aspect of the tech.

IGZO's faster electrons also means that it can deliver faster response times. This is huge for IPS panels, which have typically topped out at 4ms response times. That's slower than TN panels that can get as low as 1ms response times, which is why those display are common in monitors with high refresh rates up to 240Hz.

Other benefits of IGZO is that it can produce better colors and increase pixel density. Nintendo probably won't take advantage of the latter because the Tegra chip would require significantly more power to render more pixels than 720p. But better color could really improve the image.

Beyond the power consumption, however, the biggest advantage of IGZO is its potential brightness. It can get a lot brighter than aSi-TFT IPS while still using less power.

How realistic is all of this?

IGZO is still not a common display in many devices. But I've actually used one in my Razer Phone 2. This smartphone's IGZO panel is a 5.7-inch screen with a 1440×2560 resolution that can run at 120Hz and reach 300 nits peak brightness.

I run the Razer Phone 2 at 120 frames per second all the time, and its batter is still right in line with other devices that top out at 60 frames per second. The screen is also significantly brighter than my Samsung Galaxy S8's AMOLED.

The benefits of an IGZO display are obvious in a smartphone, and I expect most of that to translate well to the Switch.

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