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Apple Purchased iSlate.com in 2007. Apple's New Tablet Called iSlate?

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,489
30,728


With rumors of the Apple tablet reaching new highs, MacRumors has found evidence of that Apple acquired the domain name iSlate.com presumably in preparation for the new device.

The iSlate.com domain was originally registered in October 2004 by a comany called Eurobox Ltd. It since changed hands to Data Docket, Inc. in 2006. In 2007, however, the domain was transferred to registrar MarkMonitor.com. MarkMonitor handles domain name registrations and trademark protections for many companies including Apple. As typical, however, the name of the actual registrant was initially hidden to obscure the identify of the actual owner. Up until this point, one could still easily dismiss all this as a simple coincidence.

However, after further investigation of the domain name registrant history, it seems Apple's name was temporarily exposed as the actual owner of "iSlate.com" for several weeks in late 2007. It was changed back within a few weeks, but MacRumors has found the historic record proving Apple ownership of the iSlate.com domain:


231621-historic.jpg


Historic Whois record for iSlate.com
iSlate.com currently points to no website. Apple is rumored to be announcing an Apple tablet in early 2010 and given this evidence "iSlate" seems a likely candidate for the device's name.

Thanks to Mark Gurman from AppleRejectedMe.com for first pointing us in the direction of iSlate.com


Article Link: Apple Purchased iSlate.com in 2007. Apple's New Tablet Called iSlate?
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2009/12/24/apple-purchased-islate-com-in-2007-apples-new-tablet-called-islate/
BJB Productions

BJB Productions

macrumors 65816
Nov 10, 2008
1,314
136
iSlate..I don't know..That sounds pretty good, although it also could kinda sound like "iRock" or "iStone" don't want to sound stone age. :)
 
J

J the Ninja

macrumors 68000
Jul 14, 2008
1,824
0
It's better than "iTablet", "MacBook Nano" or recycling "iBook" (there are some of those still in service, after all).

Good scoop, Arn. :)
 
ntrigue

ntrigue

macrumors 68040
Jul 30, 2007
3,805
4
Jason Chen talked about the name 'making sense.' I feel Slate is perfectly applicable. The 'i' makes sense in front of phone but slate should be it's own.

I'd buy a Slate.
 
H

hwhalers

macrumors regular
Nov 23, 2009
226
0
People register domains like it's going out of style. Particularly corporations. Hell, Verizon owns 'verizonsucks.com'. I know people with tiny companies that own dozens of vaguely related domains simply because they don't want a potential competitor or disgruntled customer with ill will to gank it and use it against them. I think Apple owning iSlate.com means very, very little.
 
S

Skoal

macrumors 68000
Nov 4, 2009
1,770
531
WOW, that would be a terrible name.....For anything! And yes the I prefix is getting real old!
 
cmaier

cmaier

Suspended
Jul 25, 2007
25,405
33,471
California
Probably nothing. They needed to protect the i* names for trademark reasons, and registration costs pocket change.
 
K

klrobinson999

macrumors 6502a
Dec 28, 2008
566
328
The editor of the NY Times DID call it the 'Apple Slate'.

They will never get the domain name for slate.com, since that's an on-line magazine (originally started by Microsoft, ironically).

The Apple Slate sounds nice. iSlate just sounds...stupid.
 
Z

zedsdead

macrumors 68040
Jun 20, 2007
3,402
1,147
I think the name Slate is better than iSlate, but whatever. Sounds better than most of the names being tossed around.
 
S

str1f3

macrumors 68000
Aug 24, 2008
1,859
0
iSlate isn't totally horrible. Would have liked iPad better. It doesn't have the same ring as iPhone. Anyway what's in a name?
 
Revelation78

Revelation78

macrumors 68000
Dec 18, 2008
1,508
11
North Carolina
cmaier said:
Probably nothing. They needed to protect the i* names for trademark reasons, and registration costs pocket change.
Click to expand...


I would agree here, myself. iSlate is still better than iTablet; though either name could be discarded for the better. MacTablet has my vote until I see or hear of a better name.
 
arn

arn

macrumors god
Staff member
Apr 9, 2001
16,363
5,795
cmaier said:
Probably nothing. They needed to protect the i* names for trademark reasons, and registration costs pocket change.
Click to expand...

well, not if you buy it from an existing owner.

arn
 
milbournosphere

milbournosphere

macrumors 6502a
Mar 3, 2009
857
1
San Diego, CA
I'm conflicted on this name. I am hoping that the tablet, if/when released, would be available without contract lock-in. This diminishes my hopes a little bit. I would think that if this was designed as a more fully featured device, it would carry the "Mac" prefix carried by Apple's computing products (with the exception of the iMac, but that's been around for a decade). With this name, my impression is that the tablet might not be as fully featured as I had hoped; it could possibly be sold under a contract plan, as with the iPhone and AT&T. Hopefully this isn't very bad news. Of course, this is all ramblings based off of a domain name registration. Regardless, I'm crossing my fingers.
 
ArtOfWarfare

ArtOfWarfare

macrumors G3
Nov 26, 2007
9,558
6,058
I hate the name.

How about an iTab? iTap?

idk, I want it to start with an i prefix with a T immediately following... and maybe it should end in an X?
 
S

str1f3

macrumors 68000
Aug 24, 2008
1,859
0
Revelation78 said:
I would agree here, myself. iSlate is still better than iTablet; though either name could be discarded for the better. MacTablet has my vote until I see or hear of a better name.
Click to expand...

Except that from all evidence this is not a Mac though I hope it has more of the capabilities of the Mac OS.
 
I

iMacmatician

macrumors 601
Jul 20, 2008
4,249
55
milbournosphere said:
I'm conflicted on this name. I am hoping that the tablet, if/when released, would be available without contract lock-in. This diminishes my hopes a little bit. I would think that if this was designed as a more fully featured device, it would carry the "Mac" prefix carried by Apple's computing products (with the exception of the iMac, but that's been around for a decade). With this name, my impression is that the tablet might not be as fully featured as I had hoped; it could possibly be sold under a contract plan, as with the iPhone and AT&T. Hopefully this isn't very bad news. Of course, this is all ramblings based off of a domain name registration. Regardless, I'm crossing my fingers.
Click to expand...
It just told me that it'll probably be under the "i" family of devices and run iPhone OS (using corresponding hardware) instead of being under the "Mac" family of devices (using corresponding hardware). Agreed that an "i" device won't be as fully featured as a "Mac" device, but I don't think that necessarily means a contract.

ArtOfWarfare said:
I hate the name.

How about an iTab? iTap?
Click to expand...
iTap sounds like an Apple faucet.

ArtOfWarfare said:
idk, I want it to start with an i prefix with a T immediately following... and maybe it should end in an X?
Click to expand...
iTax?
 
J

J the Ninja

macrumors 68000
Jul 14, 2008
1,824
0
ArtOfWarfare said:
I hate the name.

How about an iTab? iTap?

idk, I want it to start with an i prefix with a T immediately following... and maybe it should end in an X?
Click to expand...

No, that is almost worse than "i". Apple pulls out the "X" or the word "Pro" whenever some product is too badass/hardcore for an "i"

-Mac OS X
-Quicktime X
-XCode
-XGrid
-XServe
-Somewhere in Final Cut (actually Compressor) is "CompressorTranscoderX"
-There's a rumor about "Aperture X"
-"Xmac"
-Final Cut Pro
-Logic Pro
-MacBook Pro
-Mac Pro
-Soundtrack Pro
-Quicktime Pro
 
3

3282868

macrumors 603
Jan 8, 2009
5,281
0
Well, I know opinions are like a**holes, everybody has one lol, but here's mine.

iDon't like it. MacTab or MacAnything would be a better option in my opinion. Then again, I also didn't like the rudimentary "iPhone" when it was announced. For a device that is more than a "phone", I thought iMobile would have been better.
 
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