“While it’s common knowledge that Apple is a product trendsetter via the iPod, iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Air, its status as a standard setter is not as widely known,” Brooke Crothers reports for CNET.
“Ever heard of Thunderbolt? If you have (many CNET readers undoubtedly have) it’s almost entirely owing to Apple, which has been the exclusive adopter of that interface technology, developed by Intel, on its Macs,” Crothers reports. “While it’s unclear whether Thunderbolt will catch on in a big way, the fact that Apple has first-adopter status is one reason other device makers are taking a serious look at the technology. And recent reports suggest that Acer, Asus, and Lenovo are moving to adopt Thunderbolt.”
MacDailyNews Take: Thunderbolt has already caught on because it is in Macs and where Macs go, Windows PCs follow at a distance. Not to mention that Apple currently moves 5+ million Macs per quarter or that Apple patent applications detail Thunderbolt for iOS devices, or that Thunderbolt simply blows everything else away in terms of speed and simplicity. Thunderbolt will eventually filter down to the Windows PC sufferers (or, if they’re lucky, they’ll have upgraded to Thunderbolt-equipped Macs long before the PC assemblers get around to it).
Crothers reports, “But Apple’s standard-setter status is particularly conspicuous in display technology, according to Richard Shim, an analyst at DisplaySearch. He points to the probable adoption by Apple of Sharp’s IGZO (indium gallium zinc oxide) technology in its future iPads. ‘For Sharp, IGZO is a big deal,’ said Shim, in a phone interview this week. Why? If Sharp can make those displays in commercial volumes for Apple, IGZO may become an industry standard for the next-generation of displays, not to mention a licensing bonanza for Sharp, according to Shim.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Jax44” for the heads up.]
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