Apple Tablet Rumors Revived: February 2010 Launch? P.A. Semi Processor?

[idmc]

T A B L E T

3g capability is intriguing, so will this mean another subscription to a cell company?

Part of me isn't super thrilled at this as I already have an iPhone = miniature tablet ALREADY !

Hope I'm not depressing the anticipation for this product, however, if it's anything like the apple I know and work for then it's going to have to be truely groundbreaking as well as made with such flair that people will simply <gasp> when they pick it up!!

Hoping it IS the product of our dreams !

 

[meagain]

I'll watch with interest.

I suspect it will either be revolutionary or a relative disappointment... no middle ground.

I'll bet you my house, the former.

Games Games Games (and the coolest in-car nav/ready to go carputer)

 

[bmk]

The big question for me is iPhone OS or true OS X? If it's OS X SL, I'll buy it day 1. If it's the iPhone OS, I may have to reconsider. I already have an iPhone.

This is really the key issue. Most people have been concentrating on the form factor of the tablet, but what will provide its killer app functionality (if it has one) will not be whether it has a 6 inch or 10 inch screen it will be how you interact with its UI. The problem with it using OS X is that OS X is essentially a UI geared around a keyboard and a mouse/touchpad. Try disconnecting your keyboard and using your Mac - you'll quickly realise that no tablet is going to succeed if it is based on OS X. Which means it will have to have either an adapted iPhone OS...or a totally new OS to give it the interactive features and functions that would be really revolutionary. Maybe...just maybe the reason why OS X has, relatively speaking, seemed to have stalled in the area of new developments is that a new UI and OS is being developed with full touch/other interactive capabilities. That said, Apple are really going to have to shift the paradigm if the tablet is not just going to end up, as people have been saying, as a clunky big iPod Touch.

 

[jeep]

Mac inside.
300 g (as light as possible).
Pocketable (as small as possible).
Video-out.
USB ports.

For the ultimate Keynote and PowerPoint videopresentation pocket computer. WITH SUCH SPECS, YOU WILL ALWAYS CARRY IT WITH YOU. THAT IS THE REVOLUTION. On your pocket, bag or purse. ALWAYS.

Interesting, but why would people continue buying MacBooks? No, I think the tablet will be for leisure, exclusively

 

[jeep]

(...)The problem with it using OS X is that OS X is essentially a UI geared around a keyboard and a mouse/touchpad. Try disconnecting your keyboard and using your Mac - you'll quickly realise that no tablet is going to succeed if it is based on OS X. (...)

And what about the new on-screen keyboard feature in Snow Leopard?

 

[Ruben M]

These rumors are starting to make me sick.

''A Tablet can't fit in your pocket''

 

[acidfast7]

if it has turbo3g-capability (at a minimum and hopefully more), it will fly off the shelfs over here. at 799€ it would be quite the bargain (compared to an unsubsidized I phone at 499€).

an large ipod touch (6-9in screen) with 3g+ connectivity would be perfect for most commuters in europe. in sweden, they'd sell out quite quickly, as we seem to be quite mac-friendly.

perfect for the train or subway during the morning commute.

please release one as I am moving and will have a longer commute (in Germany) and would love to work on the train.

 

[arkitect]

some one copy this article, so in March we can just cut and paste September over February...etc

That is the voice of reason and experience.

These rumors are starting to make me sick.

''A Tablet can't fit in your pocket''

I was wondering about that during the September iTunes/iPod presentation when Jobs did his hatchet job on the netbook competition… the picture of the torn jeans pocket… and I was wondering how Apple are going to spin that when they release the tablet.

 

[The Phazer]

The leaked OS (which I think was real) seemed an awful lot like a big clunky Touch.

In which case I'm afraid I'm not interested. There's no way I'd spend a grand on something like this unless it was a laptop replacement, and if it is I need it to run Photoshop (not well, but run it).

Phazer

 

[ss957916]

I still think that, for a tablet to work, it needs to have some feature/use that no-one had ever thought of.

If it's just a touchscreen laptop then that'll be rubbish - it'll be a pain to use as when on your lap or a table, it'll be at an awkward angle to use, so you'll need to hold it meaning having only one hand with which to type.

If it's a digital notepad and laptop, then I might be interested. I take my laptop to all my meetings but it generally stays in my bag because scribbling notes and diagrams on a notepad is much easier. If I could call-up diagrams and scribble notes onto them then that'd be great.

 

[jsnuff1]

I heard it has the computing power of the Apollo Spacecraft.

If it got us to the moon, think what it can do for you!

funny thing the computing power of the navigation equipment aboard the apollo was equivalent to i believe todays calculator watches...


sad thing is the more technology we get the less we do with it...

 

[bobob]

The only recurring image I get is a glorified iPod Touch.
Just some monstrous, cumbersome, beast of a product - one with no practical application.

I feel that a "Tablet" computer, MUST have a functional keyboard/body.
With all the gloss and shimmer Apple needs to put on its products, even a matte finish on the back will cause the lkeyboardless device to slip and slide.

For this device to be successful (because no doubt it will be - simply due to this 'First of it's kind' appeal) - but I mean TRULY successful, not a Spring fling; Apple needs to put in a Keyboard which acts as a base, and allows 180Degree swivel rotation and the ability to lay flush.

It will give the device enough width / edge to be held with ease.
It will allow more room for larger batteries / more powerful hardware.
Increase use functionality (as great as the touch capable products Apple makes ARE, you wouldn't get caught dead writing anything of MAJOR significance on one) The same can be said for their tablet if it is sold as many are predicting it to be.
It will place it into a RECOGNIZED category, as opposed to one of it's own. As alien as Netbooks felt, the idea catched on and companies ran with it.

As a Tablet Computer, Apples next product cannot simply be a slab of hardware packed into a pretty, over glossed display. No company will mimic this design as it is clearly superfluous to itself, therefore it WONT catch on - this failed concept can be seen in the glimmer of what once were MIDs (Mobile Internet Devices)

While companies will pump one or two out a year, they have such a marginal presence in the every day (US at least) - that it only taunts the meek existence they had when "Popular".
My 2Cents.

QFT

I haven't seen all the ignorance about the future of Apple's tablet as nicely summarized as this.

It will be most enjoyable to look back on this post in the years to come!

 

[MorphingDragon]

Why is it still alive!?

 

[dernhelm]

3g capability is intriguing, so will this mean another subscription to a cell company?

Part of me isn't super thrilled at this as I already have an iPhone = miniature tablet ALREADY !

Hope I'm not depressing the anticipation for this product, however, if it's anything like the apple I know and work for then it's going to have to be truely groundbreaking as well as made with such flair that people will simply <gasp> when they pick it up!!

Hoping it IS the product of our dreams !

If the device is subsidized, which means another monthly bill for data access privileges from a specific carrier (even if it is Verizon), then forget it. They'll lose a lot of sales. If 3G is an add-on, with a place to plug in a card from your favorite carrier, they'll have something.

 

[Cambrian]

Wishlist

Here's wishing for an 8/9" tablet, with webcam for iChat.

I'd also hope for a dock so that it could be placed on a desk with a BT keyboard a mouse, and connected to peripherals.

I'd settle for th iPhone OS, because as long as I could surf, email, iChat and keep a calendar etc then I'd be very happy. Full OS X would be ideal though.

 

[ob81]

YES! I hope. These guys refresh their prediction every quarter. SOmething is going on at Apple HQ. Not sure if it is a tablet, but it is surely something big. A traditional tablet wouldn't take them so long to release.

 

[ob81]

Here's wishing for an 8/9" tablet, with webcam for iChat.

I'd also hope for a dock so that it could be placed on a desk with a BT keyboard a mouse, and connected to peripherals.

I'd settle for th iPhone OS, because as long as I could surf, email, iChat and keep a calendar etc then I'd be very happy. Full OS X would be ideal though.

Well, I could settle for iPhone OS if this thing came with built in 3G wireless or something. Apps on the go would be great. Simple financial management, tasks, etc right on the tablet. Not sure about docking, but that is a personal opinion. Some people probably could make it a primary computer at school, or at an office.

I am expecting a lot from this machine. Hope it lives up to the hype. I also hope it doesn't come out at a ridiculous price like the MBA, and hurt it's potential.

 

[ox4dboy]

Features that will trigger sales:

• Video Out
• Runs Snow Leopard
• get this on Verizon for relaible phone calls (Vz ought to be updated by then)
• Blu Ray (slick with slot loaded)
• USB input for keyboard/mouse (USB3)
• less than $899 - has to compare cost/feature-wise w/ existing $399 netbooks that will be more powerful and cheaper by Feb. 2010.
• wireless sync with Apple TV and other Macs

 

[Slurpy2k8]

disappointment. no one has produced a catch-on tablet in 20 years, apple won't be the first. estimated $999 with an unknown proc, it'll be another overpriced luxury - i said it first.

Why the hell not? Could you name a company that has more chance of 'being the first', if you believe Apple has no chance to do so? Its not like Apple consistently succeeds in making new technologies mainstream where other companies fail or anything, right?

If ANYONE has a chance to make a tablet successful, its Apple. Their marketing and their ability to distill what the avergae consumer might want is second to none. If they're unsuccessful in making a touchscreen tablet successful, odds are noone can.

 

[danerh]

Firstly I hope this thing runs a Full OS and not a mobile variety, and if they do run full OSX, then I see them making it able to be used in conjunction with the cinema display (or any other with a mini display port adapter - or just a stand for it) and bluetooth keyboard and mouse... Then you've got a tablet for when you're on the go, or surfing on the sofa or whatever, and you'll still be able to take it to your desk and use it there as well to do any serious typing required.
This thing would then be great for people who are able to compromise on high specs for portability, much like the macbook air, but if its a touch screen and as sexy as david duchovny as well, I think more people would be willing make that compromise (but only if it does it all... ).
If its not able to perform most tasks people expect of a computer, then I can't see many people being able to justify a shiny toy that doesn't replace any of their others, and also doesnt offer anything new... I already have a macbook that satisfies my computer needs, a phone for calls and portable internet stuff/music etc, and there's no product category I require in between.... If its just some kind of big iphone with iphone OS, well I'd get an iphone that can fit in my pocket. If its a replacement for my macbook, which it COULD be if it could also be used with bluetooth peripherals and screen (or a stand), then I'd consider it far more carefully...

 

[Cambrian]

Well, I could settle for iPhone OS if this thing came with built in 3G wireless or something. Apps on the go would be great. Simple financial management, tasks, etc right on the tablet. Not sure about docking, but that is a personal opinion. Some people probably could make it a primary computer at school, or at an office.

I am expecting a lot from this machine. Hope it lives up to the hype. I also hope it doesn't come out at a ridiculous price like the MBA, and hurt it's potential.

I think the dock would be essential, at least for charging the unit, but would be ideal as a physical connection to printers etc. Or maybe the dock could act as a wireless connection to USB peripherals?

I really don't think you'd want a drive on something like this, due to the drain on the battery, and heat. But a 3G connection option would be great.

For me, I could see this tablet as being used in the main living area for everyone's use, and would be a great hub for iphoto and itunes libraries. Perfect for casual surfing and receing ichat calls.

 

[realgenius]

The only recurring image I get is a glorified iPod Touch.
Just some monstrous, cumbersome, beast of a product - one with no practical application.

I feel that a "Tablet" computer, MUST have a functional keyboard/body.

I would never buy a tablet with a built in keyboard. I actually just want a larger, more powerful iPod Touch. Really, that thing does all I want it to already; I just want to be able to see it as I get older.

But I think that is exactly why the tablet is so hit and miss and is taking so long to produce. We are pretty much at opposites on what we want in that form factor. To be successful, Apple (or anyone) has to create something that fits us both. And that ain't gonna be easy.

 

[fswmacguy]

Here's what I think:

A 10" screen 16:10, of course LED-backlit, sounds about right.

An iPhone-ish processor would suffice. I mean, have you ever maxed out your iPhone's CPU? If we see a brand processor in that thing, I'm looking at Intel Atom. I'll be surprised if they turn up something with the C2D.

This "tablet" of sorts should run Snow Leopard, but chances are Apple will chop together a sort of giant iPhone OS.

The device will have Bluetooth, allowing us to connect our wireless Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. If this is the case, it better damn well be running Snow Leopard.

 

[whooleytoo]

Apple already has two tablet devices selling well (iPhone & iTouch), so it's hardly beyond the bounds of possibility they could produce a larger form-factor tablet.

They already have a mass-market touch-screen OS (iPhone OS), a market-leading app distribution system (iTunes), and a home media solution to tie into (Mac, iTunes, AppleTV), so it's a lot easier for Apple to make a tablet now, than it would have been for other companies in the past.

I reckon this time next year, we'll be browsing our media collections on the tablet on our couch, the tablet will ring and we'll take a video call on it.. Except most of that can already be done, it's having bigger screen iPhone gaming, and home-oriented iPhone apps on a big-screen tablet that interests me.

 

[talkingfuture]

Got to say I am fairly disappointed by the February date. I feel the need to buy some Apple hardware soon.

On a serious note I will be happy with an iPod touch on a larger scale experience. I think the new iTunes LP's and Films with extra features will work well on it.