Inside Foxconn's deadly iPad factory after the blast

As reported at EETimes, three workers died and 15 more are injured as a result of an explosion at a iPad manufacturing factory in Chengdu, China, belonging to Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn, Apple's close OEM partner. The cause of the explosion, which happened on the evening of Friday, May 20, is reported to have been a combustible dust mixture in a duct. CNET has some full reporting on what observers found as they entered the plant after the deadly blast. Some observers believe that the incident could cost Apple upwards of 500K tablets.

Tablet HDTV display glimpsed at SID 2011

Samsung is unveiling a prototype 10.1-inch, high-resolution LCD designed for tablets at the SID Display Week 2011 International Symposium this week at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The manufacturer claims the prototype is the first 300-dpi, high-resolution display in the 10.1-inch tablet format, as reported by InformationWeek. While it is still a prototype, Samsung expects the screen -- which requires 40% less power than traditional RGB displays -- to be commercially available for HDTV tablet applications later this year.

Gigabyte turns up on-board mSATA connections

UK tech blog bit-tech reports that motherboard house Gigabyte is positioning a line-up of future Z68-based motherboards that include an onboard mSATA connection, allowing the user to plug a small SSD card directly into the motherboard. Pretty convenient. Eleven motherboards based on the Z68 Express chipset were introduced this week, and more are on the way, according to Tech Connect Magazine, including four model that include an extra connectivity option, an mSATA port. Ah, the motherboard wars...gotta love 'em.