Apple Tablet Likely to Include Front Facing Camera?

[thezonie]

If the iTablet has a front-facing camera and 3G connectivity then I highly doubt that the mobile carriers would allow video conferencing on their networks for two reasons: 1) If it used the "unlimited data plan" then you wouldn't have to use mobile phone minutes to make video phone calls. 2) The amount of additional bandwidth required to make video calls would absolutely decimate the already overloaded mobile networks.

If the iTable has iChat capabilities that only work over WiFi and not 3G then people are going to complain since it is not as useful ... So I don't know how readily Apple would want to open themselves up for that kind of ridicule. It seems that if the feature has to be crippled then they just might not do it at all.

 

[jupp0r]

Face recognition

Let's hope it works better than iPhoto faces. Otherwise my dog might browse through my emails eventually ...

 

[b1wils1]

i think a front facing camera on this should be expected. whether or not they deliver is another thing. an actual camera wouldn't be useful. imagine holding up a 10inch monitor to snap photos and videos. apple wouldn't design something like that.

 

[nagromme]

Face-recognition sounds like the kind of thing software would get right 85% of the time... which means including it would be kind of like Newton handwriting recognition Cool but comical, and not consistently useful for many people.

But video conferencing would be great. I make video calls all the time on my MacBook Air, and sometimes carry it to other rooms, but a 10” slate would be all the more portable around the house.

 

[Scottcop]

Jesus another ipad/islate story !
Can we not condense all of these into a single article, seriously this site is jumping on any and all rumours about anything even tenuously tablet related and hammering it to death, its kinda boring.
I cannot help but feel you guys are being paid by Apple to pre-hype this thing.
There are going to be a helluve of a lot of messy keyboards and monitors come the 27th.

 

[DoktorFaust]

Of course it has a camera...

I don't even know why this was ever much of debate -- Apple must have been planting these conflicting camera rumors for some reason. All of Apple's iDevices have cameras -- why would this be an exception?

 

[jsdc2005]

ergonomics?

Just trying to picture how that would work. You would, what, hover over it? So that in a videoconference the people on the other end would feel like they're lying on the ground and you're looking down at them? Sounds like a great idea.

 

[cmaier]

What's the point of this article? We've already had page 1 "there's no camera" and page 1 "there is a camera" and all this article says is "believe us on blind faith - there is a camera."

That's nice.

 

[nagromme]

Found this new potential picture of the iPad and it would certainly fit the "has a camera" rumor. It appear to have a top and bottom "button" (home button and possible camera).

http://netputing.com/2010/01/21/possible-picture-of-apple-ipad/

I won’t guess whether it’s real or fake, but it does look plausible. I pictured a sharper edge and no chrome (iPhone meets MacBook Air) but this looks good too.

I would have objected to the inch-wide frame... but you do have to hold the thing, from any edge, without fear of accidental taps.

Jesus another ipad/islate story !
Can we not condense all of these into a single article, seriously this site is jumping on any and all rumours about anything even tenuously tablet related and hammering it to death, its kinda boring.
I cannot help but feel you guys are being paid by Apple to pre-hype this thing.
There are going to be a helluve of a lot of messy keyboards and monitors come the 27th.

Pre-hype hurts Apple—it doesn’t help them. People will be howling in “betrayal” over any detail that rumors got wrong—and rest assured, many of the rumors WILL be wrong.

And I for one am interested in the tablet currently, more than in other Apple news, because, well... it’s that time It’s easy to save time and skip articles that don’t interest you.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Lenovo has had its Veriface facial recognition on it's laptops/netbooks for a while now (See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VeriFace

It works, but its also slow. I have an S10 netbook and my experience is that you can type your pw in a lot faster than waiting for the s/w to kick in and figure out who you are. It's neat, but unless Apple can make it work faster than typing its a useless gimmick meant to fluff up a sell sheet.

 

[jav6454]

Found this new potential picture of the iPad and it would certainly fit the "has a camera" rumor. It appear to have a top and bottom "button" (home button and possible camera).

... snip...

Might be an old picture, I have not seen them all but it look like a real thing... or a really good fake.

Looks plausible, after all looks like an actual 1st Gen iPhone did meet the rolling pin... see the chrome bezel and later Aluminum coating...

 

[jamesryanbell]

These will be the longest five days ever. lol

 

[pmz]

The camera that's always on and reports back to Apple.

Lovely.

 

[bmaltais]

Looks plausible, after all looks like an actual 1st Gen iPhone did meet the rolling pin... see the chrome bezel and later Aluminum coating...

Interestingly the back is white... could it be that you can get it in different color... Like blue, pink, etc... like the iPods? Would go along the paint splatter of the invite. Custom back perhaps like the Flip Mino? I think this would be the best potential candidate for a real iPad so far.

 

[abhimat.gautam]

The camera that's always on and reports back to Apple.

Lovely.

And we'll see how 2010 will be like 1984...

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Pre-hype hurts Apple—it doesn’t help them. People will be howling in “betrayal” over any detail that rumors got wrong—and rest assured, many of the rumors WILL be wrong.

Nonsense. Apple rumor-mongering is a harmless hobby and office time-waster. If anything it helps Apple by pumping up interest in the company. Sure some here might initially be "pissed" Apple didn't make a product that conformed to their personal fantasy, most many more will be under SJ's Reality Distortion Field and will bust the Apple Store's server trying to jockey a place in the pre-order line.

And eventually even the howlers will succumb too. Maybe you don't remember this very board when the iPod was first announced. It was a veritable zoo there was so much howling and grunting. Of course we know what happened by the time the iPod was released for sale.

 

[splashman]

How would you aim the camera?

On a laptop, you can adjust the angle of the screen/camera, so you can "aim" the camera at yourself.

With a tablet, there would either have to be some aiming mechanism (camera is hinged/adjustable), or your hands would be the aiming mechanism (you'd have to hold the tablet in the correct position the whole time), or you'd set the tablet somewhere (on a table, or leaning against something) and use the preview window to adjust your position in the camera's field of view.

I can't see Steve Jobs greenlighting a hinged camera -- this is the same guy who removed all buttons from his mouse -- and anything that's hinged is breakable. I also can't see having to hold the tablet stationery while you're video-chatting -- lame, lame, lame. And leaning it against something seems kinda cheesy as well.

So I dunno. Wouldn't bet either way on the inclusion of a camera.

 

[gnasher729]

While the presence of a front facing camera could allow for this novel use of facial recognition, it would also open up the possibility for video conferencing, which has been a long requested feature for the iPhone.

Seems someone got the priorities wrong. Nobody cares about facial recognition as more than a gimmick. But video conferencing is one thing that is absolutely necessary to turn this into a usable computer.

 

[alexk82]

starting to hold my breath

i've been waiting so long. at this point i don't care if it has a camera i just want to see a tablet

 

[bbruneau]

some reasonable requests for features

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/01/22/notes012210.DTL

 

[G4R2]

Another under appreciated possibility for a front facing camera is motion gesture recognition. Apple has at least one patent for this type of technology and it would enable the user to interact with the device without necessarily having to touch its screen. The most obvious application would be scrolling and page flipping.

This type of technology is actually better suited for desktops and laptops as a good alternative to multitouch displays. Whereas multitouch displays would be unergonomic in both desktop and laptop form factors as well as requiring additional hardware, expense, and leave out legacy devices, a motion gesture based UI would only require the built in iSight and provide a more ergonomic experience while being available to legacy machines.

 

[Apollo21]

I sure hope that the accuracy of facial recognition increases dramatically with more computation! iPhoto and Picasa's recognition aren't exactly security-worthy!

 

[rdowns]

Going to be a long week.

 

[derek1984]

No way I would ever take the chance and pre-order this or even order it after it comes out. History has shown that new products like this (ie Macbook Air) are not as reliable and need vast improvements made to them.

I would at least wait for the 1st revision of this.

 

[usasalazar]

Enough with the Wall Street Journal "leaks"

https://www.macrumors.com/2010/01/0...sider-sheds-light-on-apples-controlled-leaks/