Apple Placing Orders for Tablet Components? Connectors, 10-Inch Screen

[MizuInOz]

Practical Application of iSlate or iTablet - etc...

I have a company with over 250 employees and we are 100% Apple. (they a;; have iPhones that the company pays for).

If this puppy is real, I can see using it to replace laptops in meetings and exchange ideas with electronic white boards, share notes, use the "cloud" in our system to amalgamate ideas and then pass the leapfrogged ideas back and forth AND all real time. And do it with handwriting recognition that automatically converts to - or let's say marker type face (a little dig at Apple there - worst type face for the iPhone - IMHO).

I have been hoping for a tablet form for a long time. We use a programme called LabAssistant and I have always said that it would work best on a tablet - like a clipboard.

Price points and form factor (screen size) will not be a consideration as long as we can use a real OS not an paired down version of 10.6

There are some benefit to a tie in to the Apple Store (iTunes) but I do not think that is limited to a particular OS. It (the store) is a transfer agent that allows you to download and then install in multiple formats and OS's. Think about it.

Cheers from Downunder.

 

[Thex1138]

Sooner Rather Than Later

Long time to wait for my iSlate... s'late in 2010... I want to spend in Q1 twenty-ten not late in the year!!!

 

[walnuts]

Nothing wrong with the iphone OS, specialized apps make it more usable than regular osX. 10" is a bit big though, i'm hoping for a smaller device.

A tablet with the iPhone OS, even with specialized apps, wouldn't be enough. User-controlled multitasking (more than one app at a time) and file management are a must for me (and I suspect others) to get anything more than the iPhone I already have. Whether this runs a stripped down OS X or an enhanced iPhone OS, "Finder" would be its killer app.

 

[shaolindave]

i want to make a game for this thing.

 

[Anaxarxes]

...

interesting device. But I still doubt that iSlate would be the name.

iSlate sounds like ISOLATE. The first thing that comes to my mind is maybe Apple is working on an anti-virus/anti-spam/anti-privacy software that's called iSlate? Why not?

 

[Ultranote]

third way

what do people expect it to perform??? Someone else can do what ISLATE could by his phone.

Why thinking it will perform like a giant iPhone? It's a lot more likely that it will run iPhone apps within a touch-friendly new GUI allowing deeper interactions than on a phone.

And why want a full blown Mac OS X GUI on it? Mac OS X isn't very usable on a 10" screen. What you need are apps tailored for the new GUI and the possibility to tap into the existing ecosystem.

No reasons to despair:

-iPhone OS and Mac OS X are subsets of OS X, imagine a third way taking both sides into account.
-dual core ARM CPU with some homebrew magic makes sense for power efficiency (everybody will moan if it only has 2h of battery life) and help the tablet stay cool. Ever pushed an Atom netbook to its limits? Felt the heat? And it might be more powerful than an Atom.
-Remember Steve Jobs insisting on the fact that OS X is CPU-independant by design during the Intel switch keynote? Recompiled relevant apps could still be adapted to a new GUI framework.

 

[Yixian]

Q3?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?

 

[Ultranote]

Q3?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?

The Digitimes article about FoxConn, the biggest supplier, actually goes along with the Q1 release: January demo, March/April release.

 

[peterdevries]

I think we can safely say Apple are going to be releasing a tablet/slate/touchscreen device, surely? I think we have gone past the rumour mill as there's so much evidence to back up claims. Kinda. lol.

I am presently typing this on a MBP which cost me £1,300 and I'm looking at it thinking, what do I use this thing for? The answer is basically to go on the internet. I think I have opened word twice in all the time I've had it. Oh, and photoshop for messing with family pics. And watching films.

With this in mind it strikes me that a tablet would be absolutely perfect for me. I could sell the MBP for hopefully the same price as a new tablet. I wonder how many other people are in this boat? I mean, what percentage of people who have desktops/expensive mac laptops actually use them to their full potential? Or is it more the fact that people simply use them as glorified web browsers? Google Chrome OS is a classic example of big tech companies recognising this also.

"Come in here, dear boy, have a cigar, you're gonna go far!" (Pink Floyd)

Totally on the money. You got it.

 

[Yixian]

A Q3 release after a January announcement would be the biggest load of bullcrap...

March/April imo.

 

[Compile 'em all]

Okay, this is confusing. Is it 7" or 10"?

 

[DaveDaRook]

personally i think q3 is not going to happen!
reason: waaayy to late.

So if the announcement is in january, then we can prepare for a late Q1 or early Q2 release.


...whats way more interesting and a deal or no deal for me is: will it have an OS with something like the finder, where i can use usb-sticks, maybe attach a keyboard to use word/letters on it.....

what do you think about it?

 

[peterdevries]

A 10" screen would open up the door to many developers that would consider the small iPhone or 7" screen to small for their apps. Most OS X applications would work just fine on a 10" screen.

You can argue about the restrictions Apple poses on applications distributed through the iTunes store, but the added marketing and fuss-free distribution model could pull a lot of developers in.

 

[zedsdead]

A Q3 release after a January announcement would be the biggest load of bullcrap...

March/April imo.

I agree. Didn't Jobs say after the iPhone was released that he never wanted to release a product that far in advance again.

 

[MatthewCobb]

Bring On The Elevator Pics!

 

[Ironduke]

A tablet with the iPhone OS, even with specialized apps, wouldn't be enough. User-controlled multitasking (more than one app at a time) and file management are a must for me (and I suspect others) to get anything more than the iPhone I already have. Whether this runs a stripped down OS X or an enhanced iPhone OS, "Finder" would be its killer app.

Finder?

finder Blows.

The spotLight in iphone OSonly needs to be enhanced for the tablet.

 

[TeamDNA]

I look forward to seeing an Apple tablet finally hit the market, although iPhone OS on it will be a massive fail and opportunity missed imho.

Also, I'll be curious to see 6 months down the line what sort of problems have been reported with the 1st gen.

Yeah right apple knows what they are doing. And dont worry apple doesnt take your opinion so it doesnt matter..

 

[ksgant]

According to the report the company is likely to begin shipping in the 3rd quarter of 2010.

Translation: Won't see this until probably spring of 2011.

Finder?

finder Blows.

The spotLight in iphone OSonly needs to be enhanced for the tablet.

Meaning let it run more than one app at a time?

also kainjow, if I wanted one post I would have done it. Your hosting site charge per post of your users or something?

 

[JonB3Z]

Okay, this is confusing. Is it 7" or 10"?

Couldn't it be both? Why not have two models that are basically the same except for size? It's an approach that has worked well for laptops, why not for tablets?

 

[skate71290]

Well yes I do love the iPhone OS.. I develop for it. But still it has some limitations.

I'm not really interested in just a bigger iphone. I would like to be able to run multiple iphone applications side by side. So maybe for each application have a choice of running it full screen or iphone size, and then be able to pop up two apps together, eg a calendar and and e-mail.

They have to make this function different from the iphone otherwise people will be choosing between the two, and I bet Apple really want people to buy both.

---Zed

nie thoughts running apps side by side - kind of like having spaces on a single desktop (if that made any sense lol), plus i hope thye put iwork on it - or at least charge us for it to put on it... perhaps with our existing software. would love to play COD5 Zombies on it lol... in addition this tablet will not compete with the iPhone as they will not put SMS/Voice Calls/Whatever on the tablet, and i dont understand how they are going to put 3g on it... it better be released everywhere simultaneously otherwise not going to be a happy bunny... like when the iPhone was released in America and not the UK

 

[Ironduke]

Meaning let it run more than one app at a time?

thats fine but the current situation with finder is that it quickly gets out of hand and breeds like rabbits

 

[zed2]

nie thoughts running apps side by side - kind of like having spaces on a single desktop (if that made any sense lol), plus i hope thye put iwork on it - or at least charge us for it to put on it... perhaps with our existing software. would love to play COD5 Zombies on it lol... in addition this tablet will not compete with the iPhone as they will not put SMS/Voice Calls/Whatever on the tablet, and i dont understand how they are going to put 3g on it... it better be released everywhere simultaneously otherwise not going to be a happy bunny... like when the iPhone was released in America and not the UK

It really needs 3G. If it's a mobile device. But I agree not happy when US had iPhone before UK. Also it would be interesting if they bind it to phone company or release it unlocked.

Maybe this sub will help keep the price down

 

[Sparced]

If they announce the iSlate on January 26th and say it doesn't come out till July at the earliest then it will harm the sales of not just MacBook Pro that's due an update but all portable products. The difference with the iPhone was that it gave people time to hold off buying a competitors phone and wait for Apple's instead.

I think they need to start shipping this thing in March/April. Any longer and the student population wont be in any hurry to pick one up if the reason for splashing out is to help with their studies. May as well pick one up in September for the start of the new term when the new OS is more stable and more apps to choose from. Maybe a better deal too.

 

[Master Chief]

Noted.

Good joke! Have you ever owned an Apple product? They are scratch magnets.

That's why I want them to do something about it. And yes... almost $44000 and counting (having children who just love Apple products helps spending my hard earn cash).

 

[zed2]

I think they need to start shipping this thing in March/April. Any longer and the student population wont be in any hurry to pick one up if the reason for splashing out is to help with their studies. May as well pick one up in September for the start of the new term when the new OS is more stable and more apps to choose from. Maybe a better deal too.

Yup couldn't agree more... the competition is already building tablets and netbooks.. Apple can't afford to announce and show it off to everyone and then not ship for 6 months.

---Zed