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Analyst Claims Two Apple Tablets Coming, One With 6-Inch Screen

Well, the War Department is set on purchasing the new MacTablet iProd in September, or she's gonna' go with the Dell NetBook offered through Comcast...(Trying to keep her away from those Comcast commercials is a pain in the neck) 😱
 
hayesk said:
It's faster to type than write.
Click to expand...

It all depends on what you are used to. Stenotypers can type 200-300 wpm or more:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9500E2DD103CE633A25756C0A9649D946396D6CF

(notice the date)

And then there is this:

http://geeks.pirillo.com/video/technology-speed-test-morse

and this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chorded_keyboard

When Doug Engelbart birthed the mouse in his 1968 "demo", he also demoed a chorded (5-finger) keyboard. Quoting the above article: "Engelbart proved that trained typists, after just a few hours of training, could perform more efficiently using a chord keyboard than a conventional QWERTY keyboard."


The point is that the QWERTY keyboard input is a 140-year-old technology designed to slow down the (data entry) typist so as not to jam the type bars (know what these are?) on a typewriter (know what this is?).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QWERTY


I think with a little thought and effort we can use today's technology improve data entry speed and accuracy.
 
hayesk said:
Answer this: why aren't Windows tablets flying off the shelves? Why don't you see students carrying Windows tablets? They exist, but the only place I see them is at my doctor's office.
Click to expand...

Because they are badly implemented. As was:
  • The MP3 player before the iPod
  • The touchscreen cell phone before the iPhone
  • Music Digital Downloads before iTunes
As was said before by me and others; Apple has the experience and the technology to be a market changer in this segment.

Current tablets have a standard OS with no modifications to utilize the touchscreen functionality, except from an onscreen keyboard maybe. All touchscreen tablets are up till now resistive, and not capacitive, requiring the need for a stylus to type.

A capacitive touchscreen tablet with multitouch functionality is a whole universe away from what is on the market now.

In addition current tablets are all swivel screen laptops, which are just as heavy and bulky as a normal laptop. Besides a few small niches such as physicians, engineers and scientists there is no real market for such a device. But make it thinner, lighter and more pretty and it's a whole different ball-game.

Many people hare are too much stuck thinking in conventions, what is here now. We all know Apple is not going to introduce a product that is identical to another that has been on the market for years and is unsuccesful. If they do launch the tablet, it will be totally different from what is on the market now. Just as was the case with the iPod and the iPhone.
 
hayesk said:
It's faster to type than write.
Click to expand...

plain text, yes, so a virtual keyboard is used

laptops are good at taking minutes, but with a tablet you can't draw venn diagrams, mind maps, doodles, hierarchies, flowcharts, anything anywhere on the page in any order as fast as your finger.

Advantage

Really? The people who do this every day don't think they look silly.
Click to expand...

People on penny farthings thought they looked ok, now they look silly.

a lecture theatre of laptops looks odd, kids with a4 pads look more natural.

Its the future - you will get used to it.

Answer this: why aren't Windows tablets flying off the shelves? Why don't you see students carrying Windows tablets?
Click to expand...

The clue is in the question. 😉

Maybe its because microsoft products just aren't that user oriented?

Apple has a reputation for making things that WORK.

They have led the market into userfriendliness with the ipod and iphone - you have seen nothing yet!
 
6 inch tablet actually sounds pretty useful, it would just be a larger more easy to use iphone that could benefit students greatly.
 
peterdevries said:
...All touchscreen tablets are up till now resistive, and not capacitive, requiring the need for a stylus to type.

A capacitive touchscreen tablet with multitouch functionality is a whole universe away from what is on the market now.
Click to expand...

The Dell Latitude XT2 and HP TouchSmart TX2 use capacitive screens from n-trig.

They support full multi-touch *and* stylus.
 
AidenShaw said:
The Dell Latitude XT2 and HP TouchSmart TX2 use capacitive screens from n-trig.

They support full multi-touch *and* stylus.
Click to expand...


Pen/Stylus input for the iPhone is easy: You can build a serviceable, home-made, capacitive pen/stylus with:

-- aluminum foil
-- a thumbtack or brass paper fastener
-- a dowel, chopstick, wood pencil or pen barrel

Just wrap the dowel with the foil and stick the thumbtack through the foil onto the dowel. Make sure there is good contact between your hand, the foil, and the thumbtack.

The reason you need a thumbtack or paper fastener is that the surface area that touches the screen must (currently) be over 10 pixels in diameter to be recognized as a touch (anything less is rejected by the driver). You can get by with a tip about 1/4 inch diameter.

Apple could easily supply a touch-sensitive pen/stylus that transmits a BlueTooth signal. Then, the tablet device could recognize the proximity of the pen/stylus and configure itself to accept a smaller, more precise, touch area.

A couple of dollars worth of hardware and a few changes to the touchscreen driver and voila!
 
AidenShaw said:
The Dell Latitude XT2 and HP TouchSmart TX2 use capacitive screens from n-trig.

They support full multi-touch *and* stylus.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the correction. I still stand by my point though that the reason why these things are not big hits is that they offer no extra functionality than a normal laptop other than that you can move and select stuff with your fingers. They still have a keyboard and are bulky. There is non of the increased portability that a REAL tablet would offer without a keyboard.
 
farmboy said:
How 'bout Touchi. Suits some of the posters anyhow.
Click to expand...

I prefer "inTouch" if Apple wants to proceed down that path (i for Internet, etc.).


However, if Apple's tablet is really to be a game changer and a new category, they will, likely, come up with a name to differentiate it from the Mac and the iPod/iPhone names.
 
Sometimes I visit this website just to vote "negative" on all the Mac Tablet rumors. It's not going to happen
 
I can see apple releasing a netbook/sub-notebook with touch screen capability but I honestly don't see them making a standard tablet design. Maybe a netbook with a 180degree hinge that can fold back on itself to work as a tablet.
A straight tablet design just doesn't make any sense.

I think if there is any truth to there being 2 models then a 6" will just be a top of the iPod line media player.
 
Please lord, just enable the iPhone (and tablet if there is to be one) to support a

**BLUETOOTH EXTERNAL KEYBOARD**

like you can get for a Palm Treo or RIM Blackberry !
 
Archos try to build it first... but using Windowz was a bad idea. I was expecting they use Android as the rumors point out but.... it seems kind of bogus. If Apple make the same mistake and I mean the same Snow Leopard that I use in my MBP, it will be difficult to use it with your finger.


Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch

check a video here:

Tablet in action!
 
mrr said:
Please lord, just enable the iPhone (and tablet if there is to be one) to support a

**BLUETOOTH EXTERNAL KEYBOARD**

like you can get for a Palm Treo or RIM Blackberry !
Click to expand...

The keyboard support for a tablet should be a no brainer - it the logical conclusion of the imac philosophy.

iPhone keyboard?
Maybe a smaller market for that....
 
kildjean said:
We had lunch today with a group of Verizon High Ups, and one of them pulled out a device that is around 10" and looks like a 10" iPhone. He explained that he had it on Loan from Apple.
Click to expand...

I doubt that ATT was stupid enough not to have a contract for any device from Apple that uses cellular data systems
Apple is not about to make a non GSM device. that would be reinventing the wheel.
no way are they just going to loan something out to a 3rd party. not when they make their own people work behind locked doors, have covers over projects etc.
 
mozart11 said:
Oh Yeah - if Apple releases a "tablet" I would me amazed. It's a market that doesn't exist.
Click to expand...

Excuse me, but one-fifth of the world is Chinese and there are a lot of other languages that don't use the QWERTY keyboard! Put together, there are just as many people who don't use the qwerty keyboard as there are that do! You're a frog in a well and all you can see is the well around you...so you make these broad blanket statements based.

Anyone with any innovation or foresight will see a huge market for a tablet that allows these languages to be easily inputted into a computer. If you only knew how cumbersome and unnatural it is at present for the Chinese to be written via a qwerty keyboard!

A tablet that works well and integrates smoothly into Mac OS would fill a fantastic need!

In our generation, the Chinese economy will be the largest economy in the world. This country has only recently come into money and its people are ready to snap up anything and everything. Sell one cell phone/tablet to every person in China and you are a multi-billionaire. (not all will buy but I'm just getting at the potential market numbers)
I'm not a Chinese national, btw. I just live in the country.
 
dicklacara said:
I've finally figured out what Apple should call this new category/game changer:

Handy

Don't laugh, it grows on you!
Click to expand...

Wouldn't work in all countries, as in Germany (and other german-language countries) "Handy" is the synonym for "Cellphone" - so the iPhone is a "Handy" already...
 
Things are beginning to make sense...

There's been a lot of discussion of the different size touch screens for a tablet; the necessity (or lack of) a full QWERTY kb; and the OS (iPhone OS X vs Mac OS X).

Previously I posted that a pack of 3x5" index cards was about the right size for a device with a 6" diagonal (approx) display that would slip into a shirt or pants pocket. This size would give a 800x480 pixel display if it used the iPhone resolution of 163 ppi.

But it would still have a smallish touch screen kb.

Now look at what Nokia is doing with this [display] size:

http://www.electronista.com/articles/09/08/19/nokia.n900.reviewed/


By enclosing the 800x480 display in an expanded case they have allowed room for a slide-out QWERTY kb. Whether this is full-sized or somewhat under-sized is difficult to tell. And while you may be able to stuff it into a pocket, it appears very bulky.

*

Then there were discussions about a larger, say, 10" diagonal screen size. Someone posted that folding an 8.5x11" sheet of paper in half yielded a surface that would support a screen with an (approx) 10" diagonal.

For comparison, I have a hard-copy of Grisham's book "Bleachers" which is just slightly larger and about 5/8' thick... a very comfortable size. It is a nice size display for reading (books) and easily supports 16:9 or 16:10 video. While it wouldn't fit into a standard pocket, it would nicely handle a full-sized QWERTY kb on the display (move a few keys).

So, maybe, this size solves a lot of user needs/complaints for a full-sized kb.

*

Then there is this:

http://www.macnn.com/blogs/2009/07/29/stunning-nano-phone-surfaces-in-patent.html


If I understand this correctly, it may offer the best of both worlds for a tablet:

1) front surface, full-screen touch display with capability to type or draw with fingers or stylus

2) back surface, full surface touch area with pressure sensitivity and haptic feedback.

I wonder how feasible it would be to hold the device, by the edges, with 2 your palms and touch type with your thumbs and fingers, on the back.

Grab a copy of Grisham's book and try it!

*

Oh, and you could have something approximating a full-size QWERTY kb on the back of that 6" tablet... or even the current-size iPhone.

*
 
I WAS the one said:
Archos try to build it first... but using Windowz was a bad idea. I was expecting they use Android as the rumors point out but.... it seems kind of bogus. If Apple make the same mistake and I mean the same Snow Leopard that I use in my MBP, it will be difficult to use it with your finger.


Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch

check a video here:

Tablet in action!
Click to expand...

I don't know what you mean by saying that using windows was a bad idea, that tablet looked perfectly functional to me. Even had a nice little stand!

I just don't think you can tell me that's a bad device.
 
dicklacara said:
Apple could easily supply a touch-sensitive pen/stylus that transmits a BlueTooth signal. Then, the tablet device could recognize the proximity of the pen/stylus and configure itself to accept a smaller, more precise, touch area.

A couple of dollars worth of hardware and a few changes to the touchscreen driver and voila!
Click to expand...

I've always wondered about this. Does a pressure sensitve tablet really require a special monitor and digitizer like Wacom uses? I always thought it would be relatively easy to design a bluetooth pen with a dynamic nub that recognizes how hard or soft the user is pressing down. It could transmit the data through bluetooth.
 
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