Apple Tablet Design Reportedly Akin to Flattened First-Generation iPhone

[dernhelm]

No 3G!

3G is useless to me. I hope they offer it without 3G (and at a commensurate discount).

Probably won't happen though.

 

[JohnDoe98]

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 from much cheaper up front with a contract.

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.

Your right.

 

[mrgreen4242]

<snip>you'll pay Apple monthly to get service. </snip>

This is something I've been thinking for a long while as well. If they bundle this with MobileMe for basic 3G (or even 1x/EDGE) cell access to email, iTMS, some select sites (wikipedia, to take a page from Amazon's book, and maybe a news site who is paying Apple for the placement, some limited version of a social networking site - Facebook or Twitter, etc) and leave complete internet access for WiFi only, it would no longer compete with the iPhone as a mobile internet interface, and still be a great additional tool for people with cell phone data plans. While I have ZERO desire to pay another monthly fee, a reasonable annual fee (~$100?) would be more palatable.

Please somebody explain to me how your supposed to hold this thing? While using Multi-Touch? While typing???

Well, I see a few different options:
1) the split thumb keyboard like MS demoed recently
2) one handed gestures + the same gestures with your "off hand" thumb on the screen (effectively doubling the number of gestures available)
3) small iPhone like keypad which you can position anywhere on the screen for one handed use (this is the least effective, imo)
4) tethered BT keyboard
5) "full" touchscreen keyboard when you set the device down on its back

 

[paradox00]

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.

Then think of it as a convergence of a netbook, ereader, and a pad of paper then. Students would carry less if their textbooks were on a tablet, even less if they didn't need a binder full of notes. The tablet will definitely have a word processor, the app store already has some and I suspect that tablet versions of the iWork programs will ship with the device.

That is just one example, the tablet, like an iPhone would mean different things to different people. Of course no one should expect iPhone like sales.

 

[skellener]

Tethering is what I was hoping for, even at an increased cost, so that I could get rid of my Verizon 3G dongle. Someday...

I expect iPhone tethering to be part of the announcement for those of us in the US. The tablet is most likely one of the reasons AT&T hasn't announced it yet.

I can't see the tablet being an only Verizon deal. Do they really expect people with iPhones currently to pay for two contracts? Most likely we'll see a tablet with 3G and a tablet without 3G both of course with WiFi (basically just like the iPhone and iPod Touch paradigm) but the tablet will have 802.11n. Possibly even a way to tether the tablet to your iPhone regardless of carrier so even if the Verizon deal goes through, you could tether to a new iPhone with them or a current gen 3G/3Gs with AT&T.

 

[Bevz]

The more I read the more I'm being put off. At the moment all the rumours point to just a bloody big iPhone. I've already got an iPhone what do I need another for? Hopefully it's just the hardware that's similar and the software will be cool... Sadly my dream of OSX on a tablet is fading fast if even half the latest rumours are true, this device isn't aimed at me
ironically if it did look like the picture I'd buy it...

 

[BJB Productions]

Thats one good render..I thought it was real at first..I just don't see apple going with such an iPhone look. But we'll know soon enough.

 

[Hitch08]

I hope there will be a WiFi-only version (or mode) available. I'm not interested in another 3G device.

I agree. My AT&T bill is North of $225 a month and I just can't stomach the idea of pushing it even higher.

 

[muskratboy]

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?

i'm with the other guy... everyone i know with a 3G has some cracks, somewhere.

mine, of course, showed up about a week after my year of applecare expired. i'm sure apple has a patent on THAT sensor.

you're just lucky that furiously masturbating doesn't make it crack... only us humpers have got the problem. and your mom says hi.

 

[joeshell383]

An Apple in your pocket (iPhone)
An Apple in your briefcase (MacBook/Pro)
An Apple in your kitchen (Tablet)
An Apple in your family room (Apple TV)
An Apple in your den (iMac)
An Apple in your office (Mac Pro)

 

[dernhelm]

Please somebody explain to me how your supposed to hold this thing? While using Multi-Touch? While typing???

That the rub. Thus the quote from somebody (can't remember who) that recently indicated that the interface was going to be new and surprising.

It had better be if this is the form factor.

An Apple in your kitchen (Tablet)

Are you kidding? In your kitchen? I hope Apple has bigger plans than your kitchen for this device.

 

[wildcardd]

I think the mockup looks great. My biggest concern will be price. I can't imagine paying another $40 a month data plan on top of my iPhone data and my home internet. That is just too much. It will be interesting to see what they do with the data plans.

 

[carmenodie]

Apple is known to throw out false unfettered info for strategic purposes.
Anyway, everyone else has a tablet out. Go to Engadget(I'M NOT SPAMMING!). They seem to review one like every 5 minutes. The market is flooded with tablets right now. But Apple has been working on their supposed tablet for over 8 years. And with their media ecosystem and knack for software, I think they'll be way ahead of the curve. Besides, the stuff out there is nothing but re-branded junk running some version of windows. It is a "Me To" tablet game in the Windows pc world.
Just my $.02

 

[koobcamuk]

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.

I can see Apple trying to do this with 10.7.

 

[koobcamuk]

An Apple in your pocket (iPhone)
An Apple in your briefcase (MacBook/Pro)
An Apple in your kitchen (Tablet)
An Apple in your family room (Apple TV)
An Apple in your den (iMac)
An Apple in your office (Mac Pro)

An Apple in your fruit basket (Apple)

I agree. My AT&T bill is North of $225 a month and I just can't stomach the idea of pushing it even higher.

Wowza.

 

[sishaw]

What you talkin about? The i (whatever you want to call it) is going to have a wireless remote where you can tell it to fly to anywhere you want on Earth. It will use the sun for power and satellite gps for directions. Maybe we'll be able to tell it to fly to the moon and back.

Well, you may have a point there, but it still has to be able to hover so that you can type on it.

 

[Compile 'em all]

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.
t.

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH. The narrow mindness on these forums is astounding. First of all, your statement that products are successful if they replace products is complete and utter BS. The iPhone was successful because it did things differently. The 1st gen iPhone lacked most of the basic features in other phones but it did what it did very very differently than anything out there at the time. THAT is why it turned the industry upside down. Not a single smart phone out there had a multitouch screen that was that FAST, SMOOTH, and easy to use.

The tablet will be the exact same. It won't be initially released to replace anything. It won't do many things. But whatever it does, it will do it in a very very unique way.

 

[baleensavage]

The things that no one seems to be addressing in all these mockups and that I hope Apple addresses with the tablet is how the heck do you hold the thing and use touch screen and not drop the dang thing. It either has to be a hold it in one hand while using the other or a grip it with both and use your thumbs. Both have their problems with a device of this size and shape. The other option would be for it to function like a laptop which is an ergonomic nightmare. Personally I hope to God the side and back is not that iPod touch and iPhone 1g shiny fingerprint and scratch attracting metal. It's one thing on a handheld, but on something this size where your sweaty hands are going to be all over it, it will be awful and slippery. I'm sure there will be second skins and the like within days of the release, but it would be nice if Apple would address this at the start.

Personally I'd like to see it be the same material as the newer iPhones. It's light, doesn't scratch or get fingerprints as much and provides good wireless reception. I'd also like to see some type of grips or something so you can hold it comfortably. I love my iPod, but after playing Tap Tap for a few minutes my hands seriously get sore. I can't even fathom trying to do something like that with a 10" device, particularly if its made of heavy shiny metal and glass.

 

[G4R2]

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.

That's a good summary of why a tablet form factor probably won't be the ideal platform for any typing intensive tasks. Pretty much the same way a laptop isn't the ideal platform for making cell phone calls.

That doesn't preclude another form of data entry.

 

[senorhappy]

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.

+1 !!

I need some Apple iPants to carry this thing around in my iPocket. The technology is there to make this type of apparel happen (Thanks, MC Hammer!!)

Still don't understand the function of this thing, but a Kindle reader doesn't make sense either, and there are people that buy them.

I want OS X on the Mac's-iPad (still think that's hilarious, whoever first posted that name hahaha!) or I'm gonna wait for the 3.5" version of it in July.

 

[queshy]

Although I think Apple will have worked with the phone companies to offer 3G on the tablet at an additional cost, I hope they will allow tethering to the iPhone (wirelessly of course) so that the tablet can use the iPhone's internet connection.

 

[AtariMac]

Whatever this tablet turns out to be, it will be $200 more than it should be and have 1/2 the features everyone expects.

Apple always hits the early adopters with both cost and a crippled device. I own way too many first generation Apple items.

 

[mcmlxix]

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.

Who has a copy of Photoshop (or any current productivity app) that runs on OSX on an ARM? If the consensus at this point that the device will use ARM rather than Intel, then this scenario will never happen.

For this device to use OSX, OSX will have to be ported for ARM and redesigned for multi touch…as well as all current applications. But this is still a 50-50 situation in comparison to using iPhone OS.

I think will use OS 4.0, but still though for this device to be useful for productivity (rather than merely media consumption) apps will need to be created (or reported/redesigned) for OS 4.0 and ARM. Hopefully, that will be iLife and iWork at devices release.

 

[baleensavage]

Also, for Apple to release a tablet that is Verizon-only while their iPhone is ATT only is like shooting themselves in the head. Apple is going to want everyone to have both and sure hope they are not stupid enough to think that Apple fans will get two different wireless plans from different companies to use their devices. It's quite possible they may announce that the iPhone is coming to Verizon and then have the new tablet available for ATT and Verizon (with some type of package deal for the wireless if you have both). The only other option would be if they do something similar to the Kindle where the wireless is part of the cost of content.

 

[JohnDoe98]

Although I think Apple will have worked with the phone companies to offer 3G on the tablet at an additional cost, I hope they will allow tethering to the iPhone (wirelessly of course) so that the tablet can use the iPhone's internet connection.

Well unless it is ATT exclusive it will have to allow tethering. Further, this is going to be good news for VOIP since the OS of the tablet will have to allow for multitasking. I can't imagine that while reading a book or taking notes I couldn't load up Safari or some other software to check up on something. Hopefully that's part of the new iphone OS 4.0, background and tethering capabilities. Now if only VOIP could be integrated directly into the iphone or tablet calling capabilities as Nokia does we would have a mobile revolution on our hands.