Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

New Apple 'Communicating Device'?

Originally posted by iSmell
Yeah! Imagine if you had one "main computer" and then multiple users could log in to the main computer from "dumb terminals" and "share time" on the main computer. That would be revolutionary. If this were 1961. But it's not.

PCs (as in personal computers, as opposed to mainframes) are cheap. Everybody gets their own (or two, or three).
Click to expand...


What would be different/revoluationary is if any single user could suck up the performance power of all of the PC's in the house, in the form of distributed computing.

Just think of the distributed computing power potential already demonstrated by "Folding" and "SETI@home" when it comes to doing something like a Photoshop or iMovie filter/render.

You sit in your TV on a real lightweight system, and it just farms the work out to the local PC network for the heavy lifting.

The appearance for the User is that he has a Quad 3GHz workstation that weighs <5lbs and has 5 hours of battery life.


And as you add more users to the network, you add more Xserves to the closet rack.


The model will work - - the real question is, why should you want a super-fancy mini-tablet instead of at least the form factor of a 12" Powerbook?


-hh
 
I like it when we get these types of rumors. Arn doesn't have many details, but he trusts his sources enough to publish it. It reminds me of the 12 and 17 inch Powerbook rumors. :)
 
Originally posted by -hh
What would be different/revoluationary is if any single user could suck up the performance power of all of the PC's in the house, in the form of distributed computing.
Click to expand...
Oh, like what NeXTSTEP was supposed to be able to do in the early 90's? :cool:
 
I'm inclined to believe that it's nothing more than the updated iBook, with the 14" model now sporting DVI out.

That said, my next guess would be a FireWire/USB hard-drive based digicam, either a re-branded Fugi (since the last QuickTake was actually a Fugi), or a homebuilt one.
 
I don't think this sounds like the tablet we've been hearing rumors about. This souns like something else, in addition to the tablet.

The web-cam sounds very likely. Perhaps you can even take it away from the computer and use it to film stuff. But I have a harder time believing this second idea because I don't see why Apple would want to challenge the video camera industry in any way. A webcam would not challenge them, but if you can detach it from your Studio Display and use while you're out and about, then it would be a challenge to them.
 
Re: No PowerPod Possible

Maybe Apple will cooperate with powerpod.com and make a solar powered iPod. That would be cooler than.... me?

Originally posted by BigJayhawk
Although all "Apple Folk" love to use the following analysis . . .

iMac --> PowerMac
iBook --> PowerBook
iPod --> PowerPod

It DOES NOT work as there is already a PowerPod in existence and the name is already registered. This, of course, does not hinder Apple from trying to BUY the name from the company but this does not happen as often as the second company wanting the name just going with a different name.

See www.PowerPod.com for more info.
Click to expand...
 
If they put DVI - out on the 14" ibook, that would be a shame. The one's that really need it are the 12" ibooks and powerbooks.

Except for a hard-core, dual-monitor-using graphics crowd is the SMALLER machines that need to be able to connect to apple monitors. Having a 12" book that I docked up and used with 20" Cinema display would make much more sense than having an already-large laptop monitor hooked to a slightly-larger destop monitor.

Since the specific mention was of powerbooks and the Cinema display (not the Cinema HD), I'm guessing apple has trojan -horsed bluetooth or airport extreme into the latest 20" display and this device will interface that way. Who knows what it will do, though ... maybe its the "rendezvous enabled" iTunes server that has been spoken about. The new iPod will simultaneously drive the the audio though the powerbook and the visuals thru the Cinema display ... so you can browse thru iTunes (app located on the powerbook) via the scroll wheel on the new iPod and see it all happening on your cinema display.


Edit: and maybe one more outlandish idea. Hughes electronics already has ip over satellite ("Direcway" service) and has announced its "Spaceway" service to be commercially available early next year. Maybe the new iPod device will actually include a receiver that lets you browse and download (read purchase) songs FROM ANYWHERE .. w/o having to be connected to a standard internet device. Hmm ... if they were smart they could incorporate an XM radio into the device and/or a DirectTV reciever and let you instantly watch telivision programs on the Cinema display with the device acting as the tuner AND feeding the TV signal directly to the Cinema display
 
Originally posted by krusty
Edit: and maybe one more outlandish idea. Hughes electronics already has ip over satellite ("Direcway" service) and has announced its "Spaceway" service to be commercially available early next year. Maybe the new iPod device will actually include a receiver that lets you browse and download (read purchase) songs FROM ANYWHERE .. w/o having to be connected to a standard internet device. Hmm ... if they were smart they could incorporate an XM radio into the device and/or a DirectTV reciever and let you instantly watch telivision programs on the Cinema display with the device acting as the tuner AND feeding the TV signal directly to the Cinema display
Click to expand...
"and all that from just an 18 inch satellite dish!"
 
Originally posted by Freg3000
I like it when we get these types of rumors. Arn doesn't have many details, but he trusts his sources enough to publish it. It reminds me of the 12 and 17 inch Powerbook rumors. :)
Click to expand...

Definitely agree. Trusted sources, which are trustworthy even when their info is outlandish or vague, are what makes MacRumors a great rumor site. I appreciate Arn going out on a limb that is actually a solid brach like this. The other element that makes MacRumors great is the fact that Arn re-posts (some would call it rip off or regurgitate, I think it's helpful) rumors from every other Mac rumor site there is.

Escher
 
Yes! YES! THAT'S IT!

Originally posted by JtheLemur
It's either:

1) Robot Monkey that can store photos and videos

Yeeeeeha.
Click to expand...

Of COURSE it's going to be a robot monkey! Gosh ! How obvious! It just goes to show that the best answers are usually the most simple ones -- the ones that escape most people's awareness because it's just so intuitive!

YES! That's it! (thatsitthatsitthatsit!)

Of course, Monkeys, even Robot Monkeys are also infamous for $#!++ing all over the place... the walls, the ceilings; the floors, so, we're really not too far off the mark here given the other rumors dealing with communication devices! :D
 
Meeting the criteria of the opening message, more or less, said object could be:

iTablet (if you consider thin client tablet does NOT equal PDA somehow, due to size) Well we can only hope...

or

TV Tuner, i/o ala Eye TV (but why would Apple do this?...)

or

WebCam

What could apple do with a web cam, that you couldn't do with the other webcams on the market, at least, not too easily? (I have a firewire cam that works with OS X, but almost anyone that has dealt with webcams and apple for since OS 9 knows it can be a bumpy ride)

Well, they could make certain it is well integrated, that is, it just works. With iChat, as well as iMovie etc... and sound of course for teleconferencing.

Is the mention of a powerbook or cinema display a form factor thing (clipping to something less than an inch thick), or a matter of connections to the monitor (USB or firewire)? Do the cinema displays have firewire ports? Would such a cam be wireless in anyway? Or chargeable as a portable cam about the house? How about built in Airport?
 
Wireless transmitter?

Since Apr. 28 is going to be music oriented, I have a feeling it's probably some sort of wireless transmitter that will allow you to to connect your iPod or iMac to your home stereo.
 
Set Up The Monthly Withdrawals

Seriously, the stranglehold that Apple keeps on information not leaking out sorta makes some of these products announcements anticlimactic with regards to their rumors. Instead, I propose that Apple just take a flat $50 out of my bank account every month and let me use their new killer devices on sort of a lease situation. This way, they get paid and I get to pay for something before I even know what it is. At first, I thought this new rumor might be like an iVid or some sort of VIDiCHAT/pseudo-TiVo handheld, but now it's probably something less than great and weak because the product never lives up to hype. Apple sure doesn't know how to market their products when the rumorsites promote devices that everyone wants and the company delivers an aluminum rehash. Damn them.
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: 802.11b AP for iTablet

Originally posted by eric_n_dfw
What about the Airport Extreme card in (or available to) most Mac's today? (And sure to be added to the iMac, iBook and 15" PowerBook soon)
Click to expand...
But the Airport Extreme card doesn't have base station or access point functionality. It would need a larger antenna and a more powerful transmitter, methinks.

Also, it could use an entirely different protocol than 802.11a, b, or g. It could just use the 2.4ghz band for data communication, but use a proprietary protocol.

This is all pure pie in the sky speculation... To be honest with you, I have no idea what it is, those were just a couple of guesses I had.
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: 802.11b AP for iTablet

Originally posted by illumin8
But the Airport Extreme card doesn't have base station or access point functionality. It would need a larger antenna and a more powerful transmitter, methinks.
Click to expand...

Survey says ---- BZZZZZT!

System Prefs -> Sharing -> Internet tab

Sharing your internet connection using your airport card is essentially the same thing as using your card as a base station. This was re-introduced in 10.2 (used to be called software base station in OS 9).
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: 802.11b AP for iTablet

Originally posted by nickgold
Survey says ---- BZZZZZT!
Click to expand...

:eek: i just read that as family fued came on.....freaky. why cant those kinds of odds happen when i play the lottery:confused:
 
Re: Wireless transmitter?

Originally posted by bryank1
Since Apr. 28 is going to be music oriented, I have a feeling it's probably some sort of wireless transmitter that will allow you to to connect your iPod or iMac to your home stereo.
Click to expand...

Dude, we can hope, can't we? If Apple made that, it would be killer.

Maybe it would be a receiver to attach to your stereo that would communicate with your computer via AirPort. That would make me happy.
 
The reason that I believe it has to deal with PowerBook's and cinema displays (and hopefully iBook displays too), is because it is some type of device that clips onto your monitor. It may be made to hook onto a PowerBook monitor with no special attachment, and the cinema display may have a special thing that hooks up to the powerbook attachment on the device, and then hooks onto the cinema display...

The only problem, is that something like this would make things more complicated, and less simple. Why have a little thing that clips onto your screen when your computer could do it on screen, without the extra hardware?

Obviously, this device will work mainly away from the computer.

I'm thinking Bluetooth connectivity, for whatever it is.


I hope that it's not too expensive, and that it's something I can use, because I'd buy one in no time...

Come on Apple, don't let us down...
 
Originally posted by Awimoway
I don't think this sounds like the tablet we've been hearing rumors about. This souns like something else, in addition to the tablet.

The web-cam sounds very likely. Perhaps you can even take it away from the computer and use it to film stuff. But I have a harder time believing this second idea because I don't see why Apple would want to challenge the video camera industry in any way. A webcam would not challenge them, but if you can detach it from your Studio Display and use while you're out and about, then it would be a challenge to them.
Click to expand...

You know, I just thought of this, and it may seem stupid, but what if it's a webcam/microphone, that you can hook up to your Mac and use it with that, and then plug it into your iPod and use it on the go, having the iPod store the data? I think I would actually pay for that. I could record/film lectures on the go... It seems a bit out-landish, and not like something Apple would do, but you never know...
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: 802.11b AP for iTablet

Originally posted by beatle888
:eek: i just read that as family fued came on.....freaky. why cant those kinds of odds happen when i play the lottery:confused:
Click to expand...

OK, here's a deal -- How about you buy a lotto ticket right after I email you a string of lotto numbers -- if you get lucky, I'll take a 50 percent cut.

;)
 
Re:BigJohn

BigJohn:
"Apple sure doesn't know how to market their products when the rumorsites promote devices that everyone wants and the company delivers an aluminum rehash. Damn them."

The audience that rumor sites attract has to be pretty small compared to the overall userbase of Apple, so I wouldn't go so far out as to damn them for their marketing decisions. I am sure they have highly educated marketers that fuss over these types of issues for their job, lets leave it up to them to come up with a sound decision on whether or not a secretive product launch would would be profitable/effective.

::Class::
 
Re: Set Up The Monthly Withdrawals

Originally posted by bigjohn
Apple sure doesn't know how to market their products when the rumorsites promote devices that everyone wants and the company delivers an aluminum rehash. Damn them.
Click to expand...

It's one thing to post on a rumor site that some new gadget will have feature x, y, and z that everyone is dying to have. It's quite another thing to actually design, build and market this new product at a price that's both affordable (for us) and profitable (for Apple).

For example, I want a combination iPod/TiVo/XM radio/cell phone/4.0mp camera. That would totally rock!! (Don't anyone be disappointed when it doesn't come out next week.) :p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back