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Apple Tablet Announcement As Early as January?
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And in January they'll be saying it'll come out at WWDC
That's fine for Apple and the people who wants to buy this. We have to remember that there's going to be the CES event next month showing off all new products including tablets. If people know there are Apple tablets coming out in the summer, it'll reduce the majority of the impulse buys on the rival products. Apple is extremely good at that kind of mind screwing (the reality distortion field does have some truth).
Apple hasn't done anything to increase the anticipation, it's the media and the fans that are constantly hyping stuff that doesn't exist for no reason. People are bored now because there's nothing we can look forward to except for the WWDC.
There will be some media events between Jan and WWDC. Apple always had some kind of media events in the past several years before WWDC. They are not going to skip through to WWDC, that's for sure.
From Wikipedia:
There's nothing to suggest that PA Semi is working on ARM CPUs as they have engineers with experience in all archs.
PA Semi could be producing chips for the iPhone only and not the tablet. Don't forget that Apple has history of producing fat binaries for different arch, so it doesn't matter if it is ARM or x86, the question is what OS will it run. People would like to run whatever app is available, not just what Apple authorize through the App Store.
The tablet isn't going to be running the iPhone OS build. That's for sure. iPhone OS is built on the core of OS X, it's just a custom slimmed down build of it. Apple will develop a custom build of OSX 10.6 for the tablet, the Dock Expose makes a nice way of using the fingers to navigate, including the Expose/Dashboard to act as the Home Screen. There has to be a Finder for the Tablet, something that iPhone still lacks. The tablet should be more multitasking capable than the iPhone OS.
The majority of people who constantly ask about iPhone/OSX builds is wondering about the software limitations, not navigation. Are we going to suffer through App Store approval for the tablet? Can we run Office on the tablet for viewing powerpoints?
its been a long time...
Ive been saying that Apple will do a tablet for the past 6 years.
How many people think it's going to be called iPad!!
let's take a vote!!
Ive been saying that Apple will do a tablet for the past 6 years.
How many people think it's going to be called iPad!!
let's take a vote!!
Why does it have to be an either/or? Why not a hybrid OS? or something totally new?
Watch Apple completely surprise everyone and have it run Windows XP. Jokes!
Same here. It would be sad to have the limits of the iPhone OS on a tablet. But then again, Apple would be crazy not to leverage the popularity of the App Store as a source for the tablet.
I'm wondering if we're going to see full-blown OS X on the tablet but with an ability to run iPhone apps similar to the way early OS X ran Classic OS 9 apps, in an emulation layer of sorts. Apple already has the iPhone emulator in the SDK. I wonder how hard it would be to work that into the tablet.
First of all, I know these guys. I interviewed with Dobberpuhl at DEC Palo Alto, in fact. The key guys worked at DEC, among other places. I have personally designed PowerPC, Sparc, and x86 chips. In any event, there IS something to suggest they are working on ARM.
First, PA Semi, before it was acquired, was definitely working on PowerPC. We KNOW they are not currently working on PowerPC - no way Apple is going back there. What else is there? You mention: Opteron. Opteron is x86. They would need an x86 license from Intel. They don't have one. I also know all the guys who worked on Opteron, because *I* was one of the 18 guys who worked on the first Opteron. No one very high up went over there. In any event, since they have no license, we can rule out x86. (They could, conceivably, use IBM as a fab and be licensed that way - I can assure you they aren't doing x86, though. It's too complicated, too hard to verify, too expensive, too big, etc. And they sure as heck didn't design an x86 in the time since Apple bought them.)
You also mention Itanium. Itanium is an intel chip that NO ONE (other than HP, I guess) has a license to. It's also a dead architecture entirely unsuited to portable applications.
You also mention Sparc. Even Sun doesn't make sparcs anymore (they let fujitsu do it). Sparc is also not suited to portable applications, and, frankly, it offers nothing that ARM or x86 don't already offer, so there's no reason to add a third architecture to their stable.
MIPS? Not used by anyone in portable devices anymore - ARM has pretty much taken over.
So, since Apple already uses ARM and x86, and since x86 ain't likely it, there is pretty good reason to assume it's ARM. ARM is freely licensed, very good for low power applications, and it's possible to get one done fairly quickly by licensing RTL and doing their own physical design.
I didn't mention anything since I quoted it from Wikipedia.
I misspoke, i meant there's nothing to suggest that they are only focusing on ARM chips for the tablets. They are working for sure on ARM for the iPhone. There is no way there's going to be x86 for the iPhone, it doesn't make sense.
My point is, we have no solid proof of anything. We can't assume that the tablet will be ARM CPUs, it could run CULV chips for all we know.
Also don't forget that Apple has a special relationship with Intel, PA Semi could be working with Intel to produce special line of CULV/Atoms for the tablet and Macbook Air. We know that has happened before, there's nothing to suggest that can't happen again. Granted it's not likely, but if Apple can get 6 month exclusive on those special chips before Intel release it for the general public, that's big for them.
Actually there was a big thing to suggest that PA Semi is now working on ARM.
https://www.macrumors.com/2008/09/15/apple-developing-arm-processors-for-iphone/
Lien since pulled his linkedin page.
arn
Tablet Timing for Super Bowl?
If they are planning a tablet for Jan. 19 time frame, then that would make sense if they wanted to make a big splash with a super bowl ad with a reinvented "Think Different" campaign as rumored in a previous post. What better way to reintroduce that campaign than with another groundbreaking product like the mac that was introduced with the now famous 1984 super bowl ad.
If they are planning a tablet for Jan. 19 time frame, then that would make sense if they wanted to make a big splash with a super bowl ad with a reinvented "Think Different" campaign as rumored in a previous post. What better way to reintroduce that campaign than with another groundbreaking product like the mac that was introduced with the now famous 1984 super bowl ad.
No, PA Semi cannot be working with Intel to produce a special line of atoms. Because they're not. I know they're not. It's an absolute fact that whatever they are working on it isn't x86. Intel hasn't licensed anyone to do such a thing since it licensed AMD to do so decades ago. That didn't work out very well for them. And Apple wouldn't form a design team just to work with Intel. It would demand a team from Intel work with Apple, and save itself a bunch of salaries. In any event, it will either be Intel Atoms or ARMs from a third party or PA Semi (the latter being a long shot only because PA Semi hasn't probably had enough time to perfect things). Most likely it's ARM, because ARM has sufficient performance and much lower power requirements.
Edit: also, as mentioned above, public resumes and profiles indicate they are working on ARM.
Yes, I remember that one but it's clearly stated iPhone. The question remains if PA Semi are working on ARM chips for the tablet as well?
I agree with you. No question about that. They are working on ARM chips for sure for the iPhone. That's not what I was asking tho. (I know my first edit stated iPhone, i meant Macbook Air).
I'm talking about the tablet, will they be working on ARM chips for the tablet as well? The tablet might actually have higher tolerance for power requirements and performance and might tolerate an x86 chips instead of ARM.
My guess is that PA Semi might not be doing anything for the tablet and remain an exclusive engineering resource for the iPhone type of devices.
Edit: I also want to clear up, I don't mean for Intel to license to PA Semi for anything. I also didn't mean the entire PA Semi team to work with Intel. Is it not possible that Apple could task PA Semi for some of its resources to work on an x86 chipset for the tablet? I don't know much about PA Semi, are they exclusive CPU engineering team or do they have broad area of skills?
OK I shouldn't be telling you guys this because I could lose my job. I work as a security guard at Cupertino and I found some big news! The tablet will be called the "God pad" and will have Steve Job's face engraved on everyone. It will be so thin and small that you wont even see it when you open the box, you just have to trust it's there. Finally it will have enough processing power to communicate with aliens and will wash your car and buy your wife/girlfriend flowers when you screw up. I'm so excited! I saw Jobs floating around on one of these the other day like a magic carpet. Oh yea did I mention it can fly?
If they don't hurry up and release the damned thing, no one will care about it except the ever enraptured media fanboyz...
I'm ready for either a Kindle or a Nook and be damned to wait for some mythical Apple device especially with rumours that it will be a crippled big screened Touch. Hardly seems worth waiting for, what?
Price point is going to be more crucial than an other Apple device I'll wager...
Although flying where you actually want it to will have to be fixed by an update that will require Mac OS X 10.89.3 (Code named 'Stink Bug')!
I'm ready for either a Kindle or a Nook and be damned to wait for some mythical Apple device especially with rumours that it will be a crippled big screened Touch. Hardly seems worth waiting for, what?
Price point is going to be more crucial than an other Apple device I'll wager...
Although flying where you actually want it to will have to be fixed by an update that will require Mac OS X 10.89.3 (Code named 'Stink Bug')!
So you're waiting for January for to told when later in the year this tablet will be released. lol
If I were Apple and were hesitant on the idea of a tablet system, I'd aim low and not waste so much on the R&D and development and then, if it takes off, come up with the next killer product... In other words, come up with something workable that will be killer but not too earth shaking (burn too much money) and then for the next product, if there is a next product, come up with something better and then spend the bucks on R&D... By then, they'd know that it was a sellable product.
It can be argued that the Newton could have owned the world had it been marketed better... The same could happen to the tablet. especially if they wait long enough... They already missed the X-Mas buying orgasm. If they wait for next year's X-Mas season, it'll probably be too late. Especially if the economy continues to die a slow death.
Well, the full OS X Snow Leopard runs pretty darn speedy on a lowly Atom processor...
Let's suppose it won't deliver for many months -- Apple would still need some lead time so developers can write new apps and other content for it and port existing, etc. Come January they can announce it, provide an SDK for it and ship a few months later.
BTW, "Tablet" is a category. There's no way in hell that word will be part of the name. "Slate" is kind of nice, but I'm putting my money on Newton.
BTW, "Tablet" is a category. There's no way in hell that word will be part of the name. "Slate" is kind of nice, but I'm putting my money on Newton.
It would also make a good photo frame when not in its primary use. That would be a neat way to "store" it -- put it in a stand on the counter plugged up to a power outlet. It could sync with iTunes or whatever via WiFi.
For the "kitchen computer," it would be great for a digital recipe book, multimedia player, news reader, etc.
I just hope that it has the capability of playing Kindle books. I bought a few for the iPhone app, and I'm holding off on buying too many before I see how this stuff shakes out. I wish all of the readers could play all of the proprietary formats. The makers could create special features only for the specific players, but you could at least read the darn books on all devices.
You should go nook instead. Supports epub, which appears to be supported by pretty much all the readers except for kindle.
What kind of screen is rumoured? Like any computer screen (and iPhone) I'd imagine it'd get very tiring reading a book as opposed to the e-ink stuff... thoughts? If its got something like e-ink I'd be MUCH more likely to get it (personally)...
Although for general use e-ink might not be so good? perhaps a hybrid.
Although for general use e-ink might not be so good? perhaps a hybrid.
It's a tablet, not a single function reader like Kindle and Nook which means it will NOT have an e-ink screen.
The hybrid you're thinking is called Pixel Qi, definitely worth considering for a tablet since it can switch between an LCD full color to an LCD black/white like e-ink.