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Apple Netbook Touchscreen Rumors Continue to Gather Steam

rdowty said:
If they don't announce it in time for back to school we probably won't see it until Just before Christmas.
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Maybe.

Of course, there are SO MANY rumors claiming it would be released in our past...and it never was. This mfg./shipping info is a sign of something definite. But, it's only a rumor, never the less.

Logically, this item would be boffo for the kiddies in college. That would make a late August release probable.
 
I've got a feeling that these rumours coupled with the PA Semi purchase last year are going to lead to something big later this year. Like as in iPhone scale of revolution.

I may be, and probably am spectacularly wrong of course!!
 
Andy Ihnatko quotes have been circulating the net today. He is claiming Apple will be entering the E-book market...gearing a new large screen ipod touch for reading comic books and regular books sold through iTunes store.

He also said he hears from time to time the story of large 18-wheelers filled with books going to Apple campus and then leaving empty..and this has been occuring for a while now....but it is rumor he admits. He has not seen it directly.
 
Mockup is nearly perfect.

The photoshop-mockup seen on Frunny's Flickr, as linked to by Engadget are nearly spot-on perfect to me.

*THAT* is what the MacBook Air should have been at launch. Exactly as wide as required for the MacBook keyboard. Exactly as tall as needed for that width of screen at a 16:10 aspect ratio.

I would have pushed the keyboard slightly further 'up' toward the screen to allow for a deeper trackpad, though. Although with a touchscreen, the trackpad would be needed less. (But it would still be needed.)
 
TheSpaz said:
How do you hold a 10" screen and type on it at the same time with 2 hands?
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It would be like an iPhone--thumb typing.

You can have a keyboard on it and place it on your lap, but it is a little inconvenient, that small can sit flat on a table and you use it like you type on a laptop. The best: you can't thumb type with a laptop or type while standing without busting a nut. The worst: not the best for ergonomics if you are seriously typing, and it doesn't have a keyboard to register to.

This device will obviously not be a full replacement to a laptop unless it is meant for a stand and can hook to a full keyboard. Probably will be meant more for reading and gathering data without being awkward or bulky like a laptop.
 
I'm with the group that would rather see a new iPhone. =/

And I hope that if this is true about a tablet/netbook, whatever, that it doesn't take over WWDC as a showcase item. I'd rather WWDC stick to software and iPhone (hopefully new hardware).
 
Winni said:
I couldn't care less. It's impossible to write/type a lot with touch screen devices, so they're basically show-off toys, but not useful tools.
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I agree. For most people, a 10" tablet is a toy. With no tactile feedback, no serious typing can be done.

I think that this rumored product's main purpose will be to drive AppStore purchases. Playing some of those games on the larger 10" screen would appeal to some people—not me though.
 
iOrlando said:
Andy Ihnatko quotes have been circulating the net today. He is claiming Apple will be entering the E-book market...gearing a new large screen ipod touch for reading comic books and regular books sold through iTunes store.

He also said he hears from time to time the story of large 18-wheelers filled with books going to Apple campus and then leaving empty..and this has been occuring for a while now....but it is rumor he admits. He has not seen it directly.
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Very very interesting. 10" seems to be a good side for an e-book reader. It also coincides with statements by Steve Jobs on e-books in the way that things that Apple denies can end up coming true.

Andy Ihnatko said:
“There’s something I keep hearing, and I don’t think I’d rank it as high as a rumor, but it’s an interesting story that I keep hearing, that for awhile, trucks loaded with books would arrive at a loading dock on the Apple campus, and offload big, big, big, big, huge loads of books, and then the trucks would leave empty. And Apple does not have a 100,000-book employee library there on the Apple campus. So one is prone to believe that they’re doing something with these books, such as turning them into text for some purpose we can only guess at. There’s been a long-standing rumor that Apple has been silently preparing to open a bookstore on the iTunes store, and they want to make sure that they have a very large stock of electronic titles when they do open.”
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100,000-book employee library, LOL.

=MuLti-CeLL= said:
I'm with the group that would rather see a new iPhone. =/

And I hope that if this is true about a tablet/netbook, whatever, that it doesn't take over WWDC as a showcase item. I'd rather WWDC stick to software and iPhone (hopefully new hardware).
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Maybe this device is based off the iPhone OS…?
 
iMacmatician said:
100,000-book employee library, LOL.
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The only problem with this theory is the obvious. Apple would not need to scan the books to get the text. The data file would be provided by the publisher, which already has the text. Why would Apple waste all that time and money for a redundant project? Even if you take the rumor at its face, why would Apple hold on to all of those books?
 
I think Apple WILL make a touchscreen eReader/netbook/insertcatchyname and introduce it this year or early next year. The writing is on the wall. They've learned a lot from the iPhone/iPod Touch. There is money to be made with the new device.

I would think that it could be a major force in the eBook market, but not how it currently is. Imagine if you were in college and you could get your textbooks through iTunes? If your art history book had Quicktime VR images of museums and sculptures that you could view. If you could make a note within the book.

It would be a waste if this is all that the device did. I would think that it WOULD run Mac OS X: Snow Leopard as well as possible running iPhone apps. I think that this device NEEDS to run the full-fledge Mac OS X for several reasons, but one major reason: massively increased Mac OS X marketshare to be gained.

A good price for this device would be $699. Between $600 and $800, anyway. Any less is too cheap and would make the high tier iPod Touch look too expensive. Any higher would be too close to the MacBook, and would make the device look really overpriced...though people would still get it.

I don't care what anyone says, the iPhone/iPod Touch isn't a "netbook". It's a very good device, but it doesn't replace a laptop. This "iTouch", "MacTouch", "Touche'", or whatever Apple calls it will be it's own device.

I'd also imagine that this device could possibly have a Mini DisplayPort connector, allowing you to connect it to Apple's displays and use it as a keyboard, while being the computer.

I'd love for this device to have haptic feedback and iSight built in, but lets wait and see.

I do know one thing. When this thing is released, the internet is going to explode, meaning people commenting on it lol.

:apple:
 
I think a 10" keyboard free super ipod touch/iphone running full OS-X is going to be a real winner.

I can't help but wonder if the new bluetooth key-pad less keyboard is designed to be about the same size and to be used with the new ipad (as well as the mac-mini)
 
A 10"-ish tablet running a full version Snow Leopard with a virtual keyboard and the ability to write with a stylus would be insanely useful for students. I doubt it will cost less than a thousand dollars, though.
 
TheSpaz said:
How do you hold a 10" screen and type on it at the same time with 2 hands?
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Buy a special keyboard from Apple with an even special-er proprietary port ;)
Much like the MBA Superdrive that fits in USB but won't run on regular USB :rolleyes:
 
What if.....

What if Apple started focusing all of there energy on one spot at a time. I'm with the group "Apples/Macs just Work". I don't care what it is. iPhone, iPod, laptops, netbook, tablet, or whatever. Just make sure it works before it comes out.

As a side note:

I was also thanking about how we "mac heads" revolve around sites like this one. I don't know of any pc users that check everyday to see if something new came out... I mean maybe reality hit me today.. I mean I'm still gonna check , but it's not like I can afford any of this stuff any way.:rolleyes:
 
my prediction:::::

Apple will introduce iMedia


A new 10 inch diagonal screen aka oversized iPod Touch


iTunes 9 will introduce eBooks, comics, daily newspapers. Buy a yearly subscription for your local hometown newspaper...then download it automatically over night while your device sits on your nightstand and then take it with you to work, school, train, airport. Newspapers will then have new features where if you are interested in a particular story, click on it and videos about the subject pop up such as from CNN, fox news, etc.

Apple will take on the media industry head-on.

just an edit: I know you can just go to CNN.com, Foxnews.com..etc...i am talking about LOCAL NEWS...you know..the kind that have your HS honor roll...HS sports scores...who got robbed down the street...etc
 
Mr9758 said:
A 10"-ish tablet running a full version Snow Leopard with a virtual keyboard and the ability to write with a stylus would be insanely useful for students.
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Only if they text message during classes. Typing notes during class is impossible with a virtual keyboard unless you have super thumbs and writing those long ass papers would take forever. And I doubt Apple will ever have a stylus device.
 
iOrlando said:
my prediction:::::

Apple will introduce iMedia

A new 10 inch diagonal screen aka oversized iPod Touch

...

Apple will take on the media industry head-on.
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Another device with potential, locked down to being nothing more than an (another...) itunes extender, yay!
ps. I don't use itunes
 
Flavioparentiq said:
What about a "domotic" super wifi computer that manages the whole apple house from a single place?
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Imagine typing on your desk. If Apple used the same auto-correction technology as the iPhone, it would be relatively quick (not as fast/convenient as typing on a regular keyboard, of course, but still very useable).
 
netbook Newton

This will be Apple's answer to a netbook, but it won't exactly be a netbook. I am sure it will have the capacity, which is basically Internet and email access. Remember Jobs saying people didn't like netbooks, and if I recall, even saying people did not like touchscreens that much on a PC? I assume he is referring to the iMac "lookalike" with a touchscreen ... Dell or HP, I believe. That kind of makes me think it won't just be a small computer with OS X and a touchscreen. Probably more iPhone-like. Handwriting recognition? Never did catch on, but maybe.

If you read the reviews of Dell and HP's netbooks, the owners say they love them ... I don't know why Jobs says people do not like them! Maybe HE does not. The hackintoshes are popular.
 
ULFoaf said:
This will be Apple's answer to a netbook, but it won't exactly be a netbook. I am sure it will have the capacity, which is basically Internet and email access. Remember Jobs saying people didn't like netbooks, and if I recall, even saying people did not like touchscreens that much on a PC? I assume he is referring to the iMac "lookalike" with a touchscreen ... Dell or HP, I believe. That kind of makes me think it won't just be a small computer with OS X and a touchscreen. Probably more iPhone-like. Handwriting recognition? Never did catch on, but maybe.

If you read the reviews of Dell and HP's netbooks, the owners say they love them ... I don't know why Jobs says people do not like them! Maybe HE does not. The hackintoshes are popular.
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people also loved progressive scan CD players in 1999.
 
...suggests that this is either a fresh repetition of the information by a previous source or a new source entirely.
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Well...duh!!! This is like one of those statements saying: "We can predict with 100% certainty that the answer will be either yes or no" :+
 
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