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Apple Tablet Design Reportedly Akin to Flattened First-Generation iPhone

iphones4evry1 said:
Bingo! MacBook Air without a fold-out keyboard! :)



Same here. I don't want 3G on my Tablet! I want Wi-Fi only. I have an iPhone if I need to look something up while walking through the park.
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Agreed. WiFi is a given. Why offer 3G (or any cell coverage)? Just let me tether it via Bluetooth with my iPhone where there's no wireless. Boom! Online.
 
Peace said:
I don't think this device is designed to be used as a word processor. It's a multimedia device designed around multi-touch.

Since it's about the same size as the new wireless keyboard just set it on the keyboard drawer and type using the touch typing keyboard.

And it's so light you can hold it in one hand.
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Seems like that would hurt the mobility aspect of it.

As far as it being so light, it'd better be indestructible too. Hopefully it's too big for the "I dropped my Tablet in the Toilet" threads to appear on Jan 28th.:)
 
CWallace said:
That mockup shows OS X as it looks on the Macintosh. A Home button would be pointless with such an interface, just as it is on your iMac or MacBook.

The latest slate of rumors seem to point to it actually using the iPhone OS and interface, so it would be a collection of "application buttons" like the iPhone. In such a scenario, a Home button would make sense and reinforce it being an "iPhone Plus" as opposed to a "MacBook Minus".
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Very good observation. Well... so it's an iPod Touch that doesn't fit in your pocket, basically. Or an iPhone that doesn't fit in your pocket. Very disappointing, for me at least; I'm sure some people will like it. I'll bet it looks great in person, too.
 
smiddlehurst said:
Optimising the OS isn't the issue, it's the applications that are the problem. Microsoft actually delivered a decent tablet OS back in the Windows XP days and even stuck it on halfway decent hardware from Samsung. Quarter circle keyboards at the bottom two corners for typing with thumbs, stylus for a mouse substitute and it worked well. Right up to the point you tried to use something like word which wasn't built for a 7" screen and stylus control. It went from bad to unuseable in day to day use and, basically sucked.

For that reason the tablet will NOT run OS X. Some idiot would get it, put photoshop on there and bitch like hell about it not working properly and not being able to actually hit what they were trying to use in the interface.
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... which only indicates that it better be very innovative... I understand your idea, though.
 
the first gen iPhone was soooo sexy... i'll be very happy if the tablet looks like the photo above.
 
lilj4425 said:
So how about that AT&T 3G coverage compared to Verizons? Oh wait. Verizon FTW. I hate AT&T. The day Apple moves the iphone to Verizon is the day I finally buy one.

-Ignore this post if you're being sarcastic. :p
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because you will need your tablet in the middle of the dessert while being eating by snakes and searching the web :eek:
 
ggbrown said:
Agreed. WiFi is a given. Why offer 3G (or any cell coverage)? Just let me tether it via Bluetooth with my iPhone where there's no wireless. Boom! Online.
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I guess, in the US, this would be contingent upon AT&T opening up our iPhones for tethering. But, yes, this would be my preference as well.

There's no way in the world, under any conceivable circumstance, that I'm paying for a third data contract.
 
I'd be surprised if Apple did just take the iPhone design and make it bigger - this doesn't feel like something they'd do to a brand new, cutting-edge (if it will do everything the rumors say it will) product. But, those mock-ups don't look too bad and I'll likely fall in love with it anyway once I see the real thing when it's announced.
 
smiddlehurst said:
Optimising the OS isn't the issue, it's the applications that are the problem. Microsoft actually delivered a decent tablet OS back in the Windows XP days and even stuck it on halfway decent hardware from Samsung. Quarter circle keyboards at the bottom two corners for typing with thumbs, stylus for a mouse substitute and it worked well. Right up to the point you tried to use something like word which wasn't built for a 7" screen and stylus control. It went from bad to unuseable in day to day use and, basically sucked.

For that reason the tablet will NOT run OS X. Some idiot would get it, put photoshop on there and bitch like hell about it not working properly and not being able to actually hit what they were trying to use in the interface.
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If the screen is closer to 10" as has been rumored then it is the size of most other netbooks. In that case I think people do in fact run word processors on them. I personally can't see this being a product to replace a laptop if it can't run some sort of Office or equivalent. Products are usually successful if they replace products, such as the iphone replacing a phone + ipod. People generally want less things to carry around.

If it's nothing more than a more powerful itouch/iphone but still requires a desktop/macbook to sync and be used on the side then it better do a good job of convincing people they need a third product.
 
goobot said:
because you will need your tablet in the middle of the dessert while being eating by snakes and searching the web :eek:
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Desert? I thought it was the rainforest. :eek: Maybe i'll get lucky and Apple will put both the iphone and islate/ipad thing on Verizon. :rolleyes:
 
marksman said:
What the heck do you do to your phone?

I have a 3g since the day it came out and it is not cracked even in the slightest.

Maybe it is because I take it out of my pocket before dry humping?
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Perhaps he was on about this.

I remember it being an issue when I first got my 3G but I never did suffer with it.
 
spice weasel said:
On this week's MacBreak Weekly, Leo and the gang were discussing this. Alex Lindsay said he thinks that the bandwidth cost of downloading whatever content would be included in the price of that content. So a couple of cents or whatever would go to the provider each time you downloaded something. This precludes, of course, the ability to send and receive data for regular surfing, email, etc., which would require WiFi.

Just speculation, but a cool model. Is this what the Kindle does?
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Hang on. Check yesterday's rumor regarding Amazon. There the "couple of cents" was priced at 15 cents per megabyte. Since Kindle content is around 1/3 of 1 megabyte the cost of the "free 3G" adds only about 6 cents to the average book downloaded.

But 15 cents per megabyte is crazy expensive as soon as you apply it to- say- a 2 hour HD movie from iTunes. 15 cents times 2000 = an extra cost to pay for the 3G of $300 (yes, three HUNDRED dollars). Now let's say Apple can negotiate an even better deal than Amazon (just for fun though, because hasn't Amazon in general negotiated better prices for media than Apple?), even if Apple could beat Amazon's negotiators by 50%, that movie still costs $150 for the "free 3G".

Don't expect a "few cents" to apply to media beyond mostly text Kindle-like books. Even an 8gb iTunes Plus song would cost $1.29 for the song and then $1.20 more to cover the 3G bandwith (if Apple can only match Amazon's deal with the 3G providers).
 
GeekLawyer said:
I guess, in the US, this would be contingent upon AT&T opening up our iPhones for tethering. But, yes, this would be my preference as well.
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I didn't realize AT&T hadn't done that yet. That's unfortunate....it's very handy.
 
HobeSoundDarryl said:
Hang on. Check yesterday's rumor regarding Amazon. There the "couple of cents" was priced at 15 cents per megabyte. Since Kindle content is around 1/3 of 1 megabyte the cost of the "free 3G" adds only about 6 cents to the average book downloaded.

But 15 cents per megabyte is crazy expensive as soon as you apply it to- say- a 2 hour HD movie from iTunes. 15 cents times 2000 = an extra cost to pay for the 3G of $300 (yes, three HUNDRED dollars). Now let's say Apple can negotiate an even better deal than Amazon (just for fun though, because hasn't Amazon in general negotiated better prices for media than Apple?), even if Apple could beat Amazon's negotiators by 50%, that movie still costs $150 for the "free 3G".

Don't expect a "few cents" to apply to media beyond mostly text Kindle-like books. Even an 8gb iTunes Plus song would cost $1.29 for the song and then $1.20 more to cover the 3G bandwith (if Apple can only match Amazon's deal with the 3G providers).
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Don't be ridiculous, in general mobile broadband sells data at 5cents per mb or 30$ for 5gb, so we could expect to see the price being something like 6$ per gb. Still extremely expensive though as it would mean that it would be cheaper to buy the DVD than to rent it through this device.

Also, if the rumors of the device coming to Verizon, as well as the iphone is true, you can expect ATT to open up tethering to compete with Verizon, in the same way as they slashed their prices the second Verizon did so.
 
ggbrown said:
Agreed. WiFi is a given. Why offer 3G (or any cell coverage)? Just let me tether it via Bluetooth with my iPhone where there's no wireless. Boom! Online.
Click to expand...

Then you require Tablet buyers to also add an iPhone if they don't own one already. Why not have optional 3G built into the Tablet so that it can appeal to the much bigger market that does NOT already own an iPhone too. Then you can buy an unsubsidized one at the full price Apple will want for this Tablet, and others like me can buy the subsidized one at a cheap (initial) price and use it as both a Tablet and as our iPhone (using headphones/earbuds + mic).

That way everyone could buy a Tablet and make it fit their individual situation.
 
furqan8421 said:
If the screen is closer to 10" as has been rumored then it is the size of most other netbooks. In that case I think people do in fact run word processors on them. I personally can't see this being a product to replace a laptop if it can't run some sort of Office or equivalent. Products are usually successful if they replace products, such as the iphone replacing a phone + ipod. People generally want less things to carry around.

If it's nothing more than a more powerful itouch/iphone but still requires a desktop/macbook to sync and be used on the side then it better do a good job of convincing people they need a third product.
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Not the point - it doesn't matter if it's 10" or 20", it's still a tablet with touch input instead of keyboard/mouse, so it would be a colossal failure with a keyboard/mouse-based OS (like standard Snow Leopard) - everyone complaining that it needs to run the full OSX doesn't seem to get why previous tablets failed.

If Apple is smart they'll avoid this problem entirely by including iLife/iWork apps that have been rewritten to be touch-based, and include them as default with the device - tie the data to the cloud (Mobile Me), or wireless syncing to keep the content seamless.

That way you get the best of both worlds - the benefits of a bigger iPhone/iPod, a better media/Internet/game/book/magazine/content device, and a usable replacement for standard consumer content apps like word processing, photos, etc. (but re-written to work well on a tablet, not just ported from the desktop versions, and smart enough to sync seamlessly). Throw in a touch-based GarageBand and I'll buy two...

It doesn't matter what OS variation it runs, as long as the apps are there, and they're written to take advantage of the form factor and input style.
 
Anyone else think those are some big headphones? They sure won't fit in my ears, and I don't think I have small ears by any account.
 
HobeSoundDarryl said:
Then you require Tablet buyers to also add an iPhone if they don't own one already. Why not have optional 3G built into the Tablet so that it can appeal to the much bigger market that does NOT already own an iPhone too. Then you can buy an unsubsidized one at the full price Apple will want for this Tablet, and others like me can buy the subsidized one at a cheap (initial) price and use it as both a Tablet and as our iPhone (using headphones/earbuds + mic).

That way everyone could buy a Tablet and make it fit their individual situation.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what will happen, either they will allow you to tether your current plan to the tablet or offer you the same data deals currently offered. 60$ for 5gb, or 30$ for 5gb when added to a voice plan. Now if only there would be more competition from the likes of Datajack we could start seeing better options for the limits of datausage. Perhaps they should go the route of 3 in Europe and bump the maximum to 15gb so you can actually view some video content, though not too much obviously. That would mean you could do 1-2 HD movies or something like 5-10 standard def movies per month + your regular usage.
 
In the picture it's running OS X. I doubt that will be the case. Some sort of expanded iPhone OS is most likely. Apple will want it tied to the app store - absolutely. They won't allow third parties to distribute their own software. You can bet on it. I don't think we'll see generic OS X MS Word. Photoshop, or Maya running on this thing. Not a chance.
 
JohnDoe98 said:
Don't be ridiculous, in general mobile broadband sells data at 5cents per mb or 30$ for 5gb, so we could expect to see the price being something like 6$ per gb. Still extremely expensive though as it would mean that it would be cheaper to buy the DVD than to rent it through this device.

Also, if the rumors of the device coming to Verizon, as well as the iphone is true, you can expect ATT to open up tethering to compete with Verizon, in the same way as they slashed their prices the second Verizon did so.
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Your quoting monthly contract rates. I was responding to someone wanting "free 3G" downloads (where the download fee to 3G providers is baked into the media... like it is on the Kindle). Of course, you get a better deal from the 3G providers when you lock into a contract with them... that's what they want.

Thus, I expect this Tablet to have contract options just like the iPhone. Yes, I think we'll be able to pay the TOTAL price Apple wants for it without a contract (and without 3G functionality working), and we can optionally buy it for much cheaper up front with a contract (just like the iPhone)

But check yesterday's rumor post in this site yourself: https://www.macrumors.com/2010/01/2...royalty-program-ahead-of-apple-tablet-launch/. 15 cents per megabyte. It does add just a "few cents" for a 400K Kindle book download. But I believe everyone with Tablet ownership dreams imagines downloading all varieties of iTunes & Safari content, which would include big fat movie files, etc.
 
If there is a subsidised price I'm curious what will happen here in the UK. We have now got 3 different providers, O2, Vodafone and Orange, plus Tesco Mobile who run on the back of O2.

Their prices are all almost identical, there is absolutely no competition. Would more than likely be the same for the slate/pad or whatever it will be called. :):)
 
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