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Apple Tablet Likely to Include Front Facing Camera?

Great....

I hope they don't get their cameras from the same people who made the HP webcams, being black I want to be able to log into it.. :rolleyes:

I can see it already.

iPad: No user present, please look into the camera please.

Me: I'm looking right at it you piece of crap.

iPad: No user present, please look into the camera please.

Me: Sweet Jesus, not only am I stuck with just an iPhone on steroids, but I can't even use it. *Gives iPad to coworker*

iPad: Greetings new user, would you like me to setup an account for you?

Me: Aaaaaarrrrrrggggggg!!!! :mad:
 
bmaltais said:
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/

http://netputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Prototype352.jpeg

Might be an old picture, I have not seen them all but it look like a real thing... or a really good fake.
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Why is the black border so thick seems like a lot of wasted screen space. I like the other mock up better but this may very well be it. It also looks terribly close to the tablet nokia demod the tegra 2 on doesn't it?
 
Car entertainment system; Video conference, Grandparents only computer & internet

I haven't heard it discussed in regard to the tablet but I think it is a huge market and near killer app, especially since they are marketing it as a family device: Use of the tablet in the family vehicle/minivan.

Everyone has or wants a 10" screen in the family car, and this one has games, movies, music, etc. An FM transmitter for the radio would be nice too (But bluetooth better quality audio if supported by vehicle).

I can't think of why everyone wouldn't want this to be THE car entertainment system, at least for the back seat, if not the front (where it could have GPS too). And I don't think apple would do this, but it could support wired or WiFi dvd-rom in case you wanted to play movies on it.

What good does the screen in the car do when no one is in it? nothing... So take it inside and lets surf the net, etc. The couch companion.

So, what do you think? Shouldn't one marketed use of this be the family vehicle entertainment system? Are they going to push this angle?

Second: Wouldn't this be the perfect computer for the technologically unadvanced? Especially if it came with Internet service and video conferencing? I suppose that increasingly, everyone is technologically advanced, but I this would be the perfect computer for n00bs.
 
Why are people thinking that the only option to compensate the angular limitation of a camera when placed on a planar surface(tablet on desk) was it to be hindged? What about convex lenses for a wider angle? That would capture more than the angular falloff that most pinhole cameras have. Now it would distort the image, but that's easy to fix with spherical and perpective correction, and have it readjust when the accelerometer detects changes in the axis. Remember, the camera itself does not move because it's fixed on the screen. Everything is done in software.
 
VenusianSky said:
And Uncle Steve reads you a different bedtime story every night.
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Oh, I do hope so very very much! That would be ever so wonderful!


cubscoutfred.jpg
 
Apple is solving problems

I know, who am I? But here's my take:

Apple has discovered a need for a tablet. This need is NOT for a pocket computer (iPhone) or mobile computing (laptop). In addition, this need is NOT for desktop computing. Those issues have been solved.

So when we think of the tablet, we have to think about what needs it might fill rather than "how can we make this tablet do the same thing we are currently doing with other Apple products"? Since I have a Mac in my cube here at work, my den at home, my TV in the living room and my pocket for mobile needs, what other problems are left for Apple to solve?

• TV remote. Doesn't it make sense to select channels, shows, and music, use DVD menus and VCR controls from a close tablet device instead of using a TV remote to control a screen across the room? Using the arrow buttons on a normal remote to move around a DVD menu or "on-demand" menu is really lame—especially at night.Have you noticed you often have to hunt for the button before you can hunt for the content? Shouldn't the menu be the remote? TV remotes are like keyboards. Apple will remove the remotes from out lives and we will be able to find the remote by clicking an app on our phones and having it beep. DVD menus are different from movie to movie. Buttons on remotes are different from device to device. They all need to be software driven like the iPhone. Apple needs to clear the industry up here (like they did with cell phones).

• Digital reading. I'm divorced. My kids need their textbooks at two houses. Readable digital versions would be EXTREMELY helpful. Being able to browse a magazine stand from my couch would be fun and I would not have to through away or physically store all those National Geographics. There could be digital bookmark apps that work with all books (I don't know, maybe 39¢ each?) Could be fun. I wouldn't be surprised if a new iLife app came up called "iBook". Apple needs to clear the industry up here (like they did with cell phones).

• Photos. it would be EXTREMELY nice to organize my photos while sitting on the couch—using touch. While the tablet is charging, we have a digital photo frame.

So really, the solution here is for the house. Most people will likely keep the thing at home. For those who want to take it with them, perhaps 3g will be available. But there is really no need to give this thing full OS X. Yet. The apps we use at work are just not ready for touch and usually require a keyboard and much larger screen. I for one don't even want to use a laptop for design work. I need a desktop and a tablet would be worse than a laptop for my job. I do feel that the tablet will have enough power to drive certain professional solutions.

Well, that's my two cents.
 
batmccoy said:
• TV remote. Doesn't it make sense to select channels, shows, and music, use DVD menus and VCR controls from a close tablet device instead of using a TV remote to control a screen across the room?
Click to expand...

No. Not unless they come out with a wifi->IR repeater box that can sit in your equipment cabinet.
 
splashman said:
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.
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Maybe it uses a very wide angle lens and software locates your face within the field of view.
 
sorchard said:
I have had phones that can video call for about 7 years (it was the initial "killer application" for UK 3G - except no one used it as it was never part of any contract and costs 50p/min. There are Nokia Internet Tablets that have front-facing cameras too, since they have integrated Skype (and possibly video over SIP)
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Sshhh. Suggesting Apple are about to copy a feature a 7 year old Nokia handset has will get the natives out with their pitchforks.
 
cmaier said:
No. Not unless they come out with a wifi->IR repeater box that can sit in your equipment cabinet.
Click to expand...

And think about what your remotes go through. They get sat upon. They fall to the floor a few times each year. They are in the dog's mouth. They get tossed from one person to another. Etc.

Now think about paying $799 or more for this thing to potentially take on that job. Could it be a great remote? Sure! Do you want a $799+ remote with a glass front, probably a bit too fragile for classic remote handling scenarios, etc?

Then, let any member of the family take the Tablet with them to use for other Tablet features, and you've taken the "good remote" from everyone else in the family. You'll be quite popular each time you do this.

"Going somewhere honey?"
"Yes dear"
"You're not taking the good remote are you?"
"I guess not dear"
 
derek1984 said:
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.
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The Tablet's technologies had their dry run with the 3 iPhones and iPod Touch! I think this thing will be as good out of the gate as the original iPhone was in June, 2007!
 
aegisdesign said:
Sshhh. Suggesting Apple are about to copy a feature a 7 year old Nokia handset has will get the natives out with their pitchforks.
Click to expand...

Not at all. It's not a new feature. When the iPod came out, there were already (pretty poor) MP3 players. Same thing. Apple is able to remake these things to make them better to use and more well-designed. Aside from creating the first personal computer in the modern sense, which IMHO is a pretty big accomplishment (and technically more attributable to Woz than Jobs, from what I understand), Apple's "innovation" is in product design, user interface, and overall usability.

Also, was the iPhone the first multitouch phone? I think it may have been. And LISA the first consumer GUI, I think (the Xerox GUI wasn't really used for a consumer product at that time). So some important innovation to be sure, but none of the Apple faithful are claiming that this is the first tablet, or the first front-facing camera. It's just that we think Apple will do a better job!

These kink of posts (X had this first) are a little beside the point. So, OK, Nokia or whoever had it first, but how good was it to use? THAT'S the question Apple answers well.
 
DoktorFaust said:
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?
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One apparently unlikely possibility is that both rumors are actually true and that Apple has perfected this patent which was filed in 2007:

http://www.appleinsider.com/article..._patent_for_camera_hidden_behind_display.html

If Apple is intentionally releasing conflicting information about the inclusion of a camera on this device, something that would otherwise be taken for granted, it may be purposely attempting to draw attention to this feature.

And if Apple has improved upon the above mentioned patent where the camera is located behind the screen then both rumors would be, in a sense, somewhat accurate.
 
I really look forward to Skype for OS X running on a tablet with front-facing camera over wireless-N. If it meets these criteria I will pay any amount.
 
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