Apple Netbook Touchscreen Rumors Continue to Gather Steam

[MacRumors]

Close on the heels of rumors from the Commercial Times on Monday and Dow Jones Newswires on Tuesday, Reuters reports on a source close to touchscreen manufacturer Wintek saying that the company has received orders from Apple for 10-inch touchscreens expected to be delivered in the third quarter of 2009.

Taiwan touchscreen specialist Wintek already makes small screens for Apple iPhones, and has received orders for the larger ones that are roughly the same size as those used in mini PCs, said the source close to the Taiwan firm. He asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

He added that he did not know what the final product would be, or who would make it.

It is unclear whether this is one of the same sources quoted by the Commercial Times and/or Dow Jones Newswires, but Reuters' claim that the source provided the information "on Wednesday", after the previous reports had been issued, suggests that this is either a fresh repetition of the information by a previous source or a new source entirely.

Article Link: Apple Netbook Touchscreen Rumors Continue to Gather Steam

 

[gkarris]

Cool, gonna get one!

iPad!

 

[Sky Blue]

can't wait for everyone to cry about the price when it's released.

 

[gkarris]

can't wait for everyone to cry about the price when it's released.

or the fact it's only $399, with a required 2 year 3G Data contract from AT&T for $35/month...

 

[harryhood]

YES!! NOW I CAN HAVE i EVERYTHING!!

ipod imac iphone ipad iwork ilife IAMOBSESSEDWITHAPPLE NOTHING ELSE MATERSZZ

 

[macrockbuddy]

FAKE!!! haha. . .

 

[Eduardo1971]

Forget the Netbook...can't wait for the second generation iPhone 3G rumours to gather further fuel!

 

[Donz0r]

Steve jobs said after the iPhone came out that they had originally started working on a touch tablet and the iPhone spun off of that. I think this is definitely gonna happen.

 

[Sky Blue]

or the fact it's only $399, with a required 2 year 3G Data contract from AT&T for $35/month...

I reckon $599/$699 w/ data plan.

 

[kolax]

Me wanna see a leaked photie.

 

[gt1948]

rather see a new iPhone

great for all of the business types out there screaming for a netbook. Just an old retired navy type here who would like to see a major upgrade of my almost two year old iphone…

Voice recogntion, longer battery life (current battery life ok) more razzle dazzle; something earth shattering, better speaker capability and a better bluetooth headset (apples' SUCKS)


Apple freak since '84

 

[11800506]

Interesting information. Either theses sources are all getting the information from the same place which would make it unlikely, or they are getting it independently which makes it much more plausible! It will be interesting to see if these rumors do actually come out to something.

 

[robinp]

it seems to me like a lot of Apple's recent GUI choices in Mac OS X have been geared towards the eventual introduction of a touch screen device using the full blown version of OS X. Things like the spring loaded stacks, almost completely useless if using a mouse, but I can imagine they might work quite well for a touch screen device. Also, coverflow appearing almost everywhere. Perfect for a less accurate touch based interface. There are others I've noticed but can't think of them off the top of my head right now

 

[born4sky]

apples' SUCKS ... I want rumors about new iPhone

 

[plumbingandtech]

I'll take two please.

 

[iMacmatician]

Great! It looks like a touchscreen device at least will be released later this year.

The real question is: what will it be like?

it seems to me like a lot of Apple's recent GUI choices in Mac OS X have been geared towards the eventual introduction of a touch screen device using the full blown version of OS X. Things like the spring loaded stacks, almost completely useless if using a mouse, but I can imagine they might work quite well for a touch screen device. Also, coverflow appearing almost everywhere. Perfect for a less accurate touch based interface.

There are a lot of GUI elements that have existed for quite a while and might not be best suited for a touch screen. But if Apple is heading this direction then we would see any necessary changes soon.

There are others I've noticed but can't think of them off the top of my head right now

The off/on slider in the Time Machine System Preferences pane comes to mind.

 

[ChrisA]

Does anyone else here remember the keynote show where Steve Jobs showed off iWeb or Garage Band and made a joke pod-cast talking about a 10" iPod? ("It's going to be really big!") Was that in 2006 or 07? I forgot when it was.

I'd like to find a video clip of that. Seems it was true. He really may have known at the time that a 10" iPod was in the works.

 

[moosecat]

Not-book

I don't know why this information is being packaged everywhere as a "netbook" rumor. I define a netbook as a very small notebook, with features ratcheted down so the price comes down as well.

It makes a lot more sense to me to think that these screens are not going to be used for any kind of notebook, but rather for the iPod/Phone-on-steroids that has been rumored for some time. It would be a tablet, not a netbook. That would make these two rumor threads converge nicely, instead of creating a nonsensical new one about netbooks.

I can't imagine Apple will release a product as mundane as a 9" or 10" notebook computer, even with a touchscreen.

 

[o0samotech0o]

i reckon..

I reckon it'll be purely touch based.

Maybe like a smaller version of the multi touch tables we've seen floating around.

-Sam

 

[Lesser Evets]

If we assume the resolution density is like the iPhone, this new device should be around 1400x900.

That would be incredibly nice resolution for a handheld device. Kick ass, in fact. It would trounce the current crop of products in the netbook range, and it would be keeping with Apple's one-up-manship.

If this is a tablet with that resolution, and it has stylus recognition, I'd buy it for $2000.... assuming it runs a full/near full OSX and can run Photoshop. Watch it be just a larger version of the iPT with some small improvements.

 

[gkarris]

I don't know why this information is being packaged everywhere as a "netbook" rumor. I define a netbook as a very small notebook, with features ratcheted down so the price comes down as well.

It makes a lot more sense to me to think that these screens are not going to be used for any kind of notebook, but rather for the iPod/Phone-on-steroids that has been rumored for some time. It would be a tablet, not a netbook. That would make these two rumor threads converge nicely, instead of creating a nonsensical new one about netbooks.

I can't imagine Apple will release a product as mundane as a 9" or 10" notebook computer, even with a touchscreen.

Yes, Apple is all about "upscale" - I just don't see how people think that Apple could compete in the $299 NetBook space...

 

[nagromme]

I believe, EVENTUALLY, we will see:

* A MacBook with a smaller screen than the Air (full OS X)

* A touch device with a bigger screen than the iPhone/iPod (iPhone OS X)

But I think they'll be two SEPARATE devices. One of them (or both) might possibly be coming sooner rather than later. My random guess: the touch device comes first, while Apple "waits and sees" about netbooks.

A touchscreen ON a netbook would make a device with too many compromises at too high a price, I suspect. Low computing power on the iPhone OS platform is fine, but add a full keyboard and the "look" of a laptop, and people would expect "real" Mac software to run with real Mac performance.

But we'll see what Apple comes up with. Maybe none of the above.

 

[8CoreWhore]

A ten inch Touch with 3G data. A 10" touch? Let the jokes begin.

 

[SleepyHead157]

this is good news. I would love an in between device. It could come in handy as an ereader too.

 

[dernhelm]

Atom-based - NVIDIA chip set. Ultra-high resolution display.
No optical drive (of course). SSD drive / 2 GB Ram.

Pure touch? Probably.

This would be an ultra-cool device, but will have to retail under $600 before I could even consider it.