• iPhone 5 to get Metal Back with Antenna Apple Logo?

    // Gradly // Apple, blog, iPhone, News, Rants & Raves, Rumors, Tech. No Responses

    Apple is reportedly planning to switch from the glass-backed iPhone 4 design to an aluminum chassis for the iPhone 5, in an attempt to bypass issues with cracking and scratching, together with paint finishes. According to Macotakara source, the new metal backplate will have a resin Apple logo integrated with the WiFi, cellular and other antennas, apparently replacing the edge antennas found on the current iPhone 4.

    The glass design of the iPhone 4, the sources suggest, has left Apple frustrated with its durability and weight. Problems, meanwhile, with the antenna design – the so-called antennagate issue – forced Apple to offer free Bumper cases to address reception complaints.

    Finally, the issues surrounding the much-delayed white iPhone 4 have, it’s been suggested, been a result of painting difficulties experienced in the manufacturing process, something a shift away from glass would address. The report also tips the same dual-core Apple A5 processor as found in the iPad 2, and an unveil – as generally expected – in June or July this year.

    Of course, Apple could also be looking beyond aluminum to Liquidmetal, the technology it invested in last year and which is currently only used to make the SIM removal tool. Liquidmetal is billed as scratch, corrosion and grease proof, and as strong as titanium but uses a third of the material.

    [via MacRumors]

  • The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Extended Blu-ray Details Revealed

    // Gradly // blog, Movies, News, Rants & Raves No Responses

    Amazon US now have Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings Extended Edition trilogy on Blu-ray available to pre-order. The box set will set you back $83.99 (£51.44) and you can pre-order it here.

    Check out below the full listing of what you might find on the discs. You might want to book a couple of weeks of work when this does arrive as I think that’s how long it might take you to get through it all!

    Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

    • Over 30 minutes of footage incorporated into the theatrical release of the film
    • Commentary by Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens
    • Commentary by the design team
    • Commentary by the production/post-production team
    • Commentary by 10 actors, including Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen
    • Easter egg: MTV Movie Award Spoof (The Council of Elrod)
    • Costa Botes Documentary: The Fellowship of the Ring: Behind the Scenes
    • The Appendices, Part 1: From Book to Vision (on DVD)
    • Peter Jackson introduction
    • J.R.R. Tolkein: Creator of Middle Earth
    • From Book to Script
    • Visualizing the Story
    • Designing and Building Middle Earth
    • Middle Earth atlas interactive
    • The Appendices, Part 2: From Vision to Reality (on DVD)
    • Elijah Wood introduction
    • Filming The Fellowship of the Ring
    • Visual effects
    • Post-production: Putting it all together
    • Digital Grading
    • Sound and music
    • The Road Goes Ever On…

    Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

    • Extended edition of the film, incorporating 43 minutes of footage incorporated into the film
    • Commentary track by writer-director Peter Jackson and writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens
    • Commentary track by the design team
    • Commentary track by the production/post-production team
    • Commentary track by 16 cast members, including Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Andy Serkis, John Rhys-Davies, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Bernard Hill, and Miranda Otto
    • Easter Egg: MTV Movie Awards clip (Gollum accepting award)
    • Costas Botes documentary: The Two Towers–Behind the Scenes
    • The Appendices, Part 3: The Journey Continues
    • Peter Jackson introduction
    • J.R.R. Tolkein: Origin of Middle Earth
    • From Book to Script: Finding a Story
    • Designing and Building Middle-Earth
    • Gollum
    • Middle-Earth Atlas interactive
    • New Zealand as Middle Earth (map with video location)
    • The Appendices, Part 4: The Battle for Middle Earth
    • Elijah Wood introduction
    • Filming The Two Towers
    • Visual effects
    • Editorial: Refining the Story
    • Music and Sound
    • The Battle for Helm’s Deep is Over

    Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

    • Extended edition of the film, with 50 extra minutes incorporated into the film
    • Commentary track by writer-director Peter Jackson and writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens
    • Commentary track by the design team
    • Commentary track by the production/post-production team
    • Costas Botes documentary: The Return of the King: Behind the Scenes
    • The Appendices, Part 5: The War of the Ring
    • Peter Jackson Intro
    • J.R.R. Tolkien: The Legacy of Middle-earth
    • From Book to Script
    • Designing and Building Middle-earth
    • Home of the Horse Lords
    • Middle-earth Atlas: Tracing the Journeys of the Fellowship: interactive map
    • New Zealand as Middle-earth: interactive map with on-location footage
    • The Appendices, Part 6: The Passing of an Age
    • Elijah Wood/Sean Astin/Billy Boyd/Dominic Monaghan intro
    • Filming The Return of the King
    • Visual Effects
    • Post Production: Journey’s End
    • The Passing of an Age
    • Cameron Duncan

  • iPad 2 Speed Test shows it’s 4x Faster than Original iPad

    // Gradly // Apple, blog, iPad, Rants & Raves, Reviews 3 Responses

    CNET.co.uk did some Javascript benchmarks on the new iPad running iOS 4.3 and compared them with other iOS devices and a few Androids.

    The results are pretty impressive.  Where the iPhone 4 and iPad lagged behind both Android devices using iOS 4.2, popping iOS 4.3 with the new WebKit 2 browser engine in the devices dropped more than half of their rendering time.

    As you can see, the iPad 2, with its more powerful processor, and perhaps helped by some additional RAM, is over 50% faster than the previous iPad.

  • Feel the Height of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa The Tallest in The World

    // Gradly // blog, Photography, Rants & Raves No Responses

    Incredible views of Dubai’s many new skyscrapers, from the viewpoint of its many new skyscrapers.

    Download The Full Size Image Here

    [via: wonderaday]