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

[whooleytoo]

Many would need to be recompiled anyway because of the different screen size. Of course it is entirely possible to write an iPhone app to work correctly whatever the screen size is, but many developers won't.

True. (Unless they keep the same resolution but bump the screensize.. shudder!! )

Not at all. Nobody writes code for an ARM processor. People write code for C, or C++, or Objective-C. Compile it and it works. The iPhone simulator is actually running plain x86 code and using MacOS X libraries. I bet most iPhone developers have not even checked personally whether there is really an ARM processor in the iPhone or not. Programmers don't even care whether their code runs on a CPU or a GPU, why should they care which kind of CPU it is? Nobody is rewriting any code.

True. The only possible exception is performance optimisation - if the tablet runs the iPhone OS on an entirely different h/w architecture, it's possible that performance in different areas varies greatly.. Perhaps some games might need graphics/poly count to be scaled back if the tablet is slower, or it's even possible that some apps might run into timing issues if the tablet is much faster (none that are well written though! )

 

[rhomsy]

If this new device requires a contract with a cellular provider, then it will fail miserably. Only if a data contract is optional, or not included at all, can this product succeed. Nobody is looking for new monthly fees added to their lives at this point in time.


What I am expecting from this product is something that will replace the pen and paper at meetings. Laptops don't succeed with this because you need the ability to quickly jot down stuff anywhere on the page without regard for formatting, and be able to diagram and draw lines connecting things. If this type of data can be captured as effortlessly as the pen and paper, and yet keep it digital so that you always have your notes, then this product can succeed. In fact, it will get them more entrenched in the corporate world.

Of course, it needs to also be a media pad with the expected media applications.

Nobody has been able to build a product that does this yet because nobody can figure out how to beat the pen and paper. If Apple does, they will win.

 

[Mattie Num Nums]

Am I the only one here who sees this as just another platform for Apple to whore out the App store?

Glorified iPod Touch anyone?

PC's have had touchscreen laptops for years now, their is just really no practical market for it.

 

[avvpiras]

What I am expecting from this product is something that will replace the pen and paper at meetings. Laptops don't succeed with this because you need the ability to quickly jot down stuff anywhere on the page without regard for formatting, and be able to diagram and draw lines connecting things. If this type of data can be captured as effortlessly as the pen and paper, and yet keep it digital so that you always have your notes, then this product can succeed. In fact, it will get them more entrenched in the corporate world.

Nobody has been able to build a product that does this yet because nobody can figure out how to beat the pen and paper. If Apple does, they will win.

Apple has been able yet to "figure out how to beat the pen and paper", with the Newton MessagePad in the mid nineties. It was too much expensive and somehow ahead of his time. See my previous post labeled "Newton" on this same tread.

 

[iMacmatician]

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

Remember all the other mostly unchanged GUI elements in Snow Leopard.

Some other people want something else without a hardware keyboard and heavy duty processor which is used for consuming media rather than creating it - this is generally referred to as a Tablet.

I think it will also have some basic creating/editing features.

That's because they are setting up a larger device. They want people to view the iPhone and the Touch as more than phones and iPods. Without that shift, people won't "get" it.

Interesting idea, reminds me of one post not long ago which was about the possibility that the iPod touch could become the smallest device in a line of tablets (3.5", ≈7", 10").

 

[rhomsy]

Apple has been able yet to "figure out how to beat the pen and paper", with the Newton MessagePad in the mid nineties. It was too much expensive and somehow ahead of his time. See my previous post labeled "Newton" on this same tread.

I don't think the Newton succeeded at this at all. Input on the Newton was far more difficult than a pen and paper. I owned two Newtons (original and MessagePad 3100 I believe), and I never felt they lived up to their billings. Part of the reason was technological, and part was interface decisions. The handwriting recognition was slow and inaccurate. If you left your writing in "digital-ink", then you couldn't fit more than 3 words on a line since the screen was so small, and the resolution was poor. Plus each note could only hold so much data before you had to create a new one. There just wasn't enough room or freedom to leave things in digital ink. Plus it's sync with the Mac wasn't in great in that you were not left with documents that were particularly useful on the desktop as far as I can remember.

I eventually installed graffiti on my Newton to make it useful.

I really wanted my Newton to replace pen and paper, but when it came time to get work really done, I didn't want to be hindered by the Newton's interface and clunckyness.

I still have my MessagePad 3100 somewhere in my house. I wonder if it is a collector's item. I certainly was never a great note-taker.

 

[whooleytoo]

Am I the only one here who sees this as just another platform for Apple to whore out the App store?

Glorified iPod Touch anyone?

PC's have had touchscreen laptops for years now, their is just really no practical market for it.

I'm not so sure. PC makers are typically building a PC laptop without a keyboard; with a desktop OS and a stylus. It's essentially a laptop, but more difficult to use.

The iPhone OS is a simplified OS designed specifically for mobile, small-screen, keyboard-less, stylus-less devices; like a tablet. Apple already has a library of 75,000 3rd party applications, each of which was built specifically for small, touchscreen devices, like a tablet.

So they have a new OS, optimised for a tablet, which users are already familiar with; and a huge library of apps, each optimised for a tablet. I don't know if Apple will release one, but - unlike others - they already have a fantastic foundation to start from.

 

[Eidorian]

Unless.....it's a PPC chip, not an ARM chip. Remember, PA Semi's big product was a PowerPC part. We really have no idea. The rumor mill has been pretty quiet on the tablet's ISA. Who knows what we are getting? All we really know is that it probably isn't x86, because Apple would just use the Atom if they wanted that.

PowerPC isn't necessarily a step in the right direction either.

What woud you suggest for it not to be a giant iPod Touch. You know that it must be flat with widescreen aspect ratio? So in that way all tablets are giant iPod Touches and we don't have an idea to speculate What's wrong with that? I've seen pretty awesome mockups.

Uh x86? You can make all the fancy mockups you want.

 

[Xavier]

If Apple were to ever release this device, I would buy it in a heartbeat.

 

[gohanmzt]

A 800-1000 dollar 10-inch tablet is not interesting and I agree with others here that it will fail.

(Darth Vader's Voice) Do not underestimate the POWER of the Fanboi

 

[pmjoe]

Am I the only one here who sees this as just another platform for Apple to whore out the App store?

I think that is exactly the risk here.

I suspect Apple will model this off the iPhone way too much.

I do not see people subscribing to a 2nd (3rd?) 3G data plan for this, even if it knocks $200 off the price.

I do not see major developers buying into yet another App Store, closed development platform. I'm already floored they let Apple skim 30% off the top of their hard work. Apple will not sell millions of these. While you may be able to run iPhone apps on the tablet, I assume there will be a whole class of tablet specific apps that will not see the same volume of sales (low volume will equal higher cost, and the percent Apple skims off the top will count more).

 

[colinmack]

...I do not see major developers buying into yet another App Store, closed development platform. I'm already floored they let Apple skim 30% off the top of their hard work. Apple will not sell millions of these. While you may be able to run iPhone apps on the tablet, I assume there will be a whole class of tablet specific apps that will not see the same volume of sales (low volume will equal higher cost, and the percent Apple skims off the top will count more).

Unless the same App can be sold to both tablet and Apple TV users without any changes (assuming the output dimensions would be similar for both devices). That by itself would be a huge incentive for developers to update their apps - it would unlock two platforms and target markets at the same time.

(the Apple TV could easily benefit from some sort of App Store integration as well - with a bit of a hardware refresh, it would make it a far more usable device to be able to play simple games, have weather/news apps, etc...)

In my mind, that would be a great extension of the App Store ecosystem, and would probably have a ton of developers ready to jump in, ready to kill two birds with one stone.

 

[FCPnewbie]

It just won't die!!!

I don't think calling this device a tablet is doing it any justice. Tablets conjure up ideas of clunky crippled laptops. If this thing ever does see the light of day it'll be much more usable than old tablets due to advances in UI thanks to the iPhone.

 

[michael.lauden]

If Apple were to ever release this device, I would buy it in a heartbeat.

i think everyone would. if this is a new marketing strategy to plant hints so people talk about them for years on end - it's working.

 

[bretm]

If this new device requires a contract with a cellular provider, then it will fail miserably. Only if a data contract is optional, or not included at all, can this product succeed. Nobody is looking for new monthly fees added to their lives at this point in time.


What I am expecting from this product is something that will replace the pen and paper at meetings. Laptops don't succeed with this because you need the ability to quickly jot down stuff anywhere on the page without regard for formatting, and be able to diagram and draw lines connecting things. If this type of data can be captured as effortlessly as the pen and paper, and yet keep it digital so that you always have your notes, then this product can succeed. In fact, it will get them more entrenched in the corporate world.

Of course, it needs to also be a media pad with the expected media applications.

Nobody has been able to build a product that does this yet because nobody can figure out how to beat the pen and paper. If Apple does, they will win.

Well there was the Newton, and it functioned exactly as you describe. Still didn't beat pen and paper. It was however better received than crayons and cardboard.

 

[spatlese44]

...I hope that the "Tablet" will be also a voice cellphone, using the iPhone earbuds with microphone. If you are out with your tablet, why carry also your iPhone?

I searched the whole thread to find if anyone was thinking the same thing I was. Yes: It is an iPhone. Albeit a big one. It's not to work with your iPhone, it's going to replace it.

 

[pags]

I've been hoping for a tablet for years to lighten the load in my briefcase. I'd gladly pay $999 for a tablet that could:

1. Let me store, organize, view, and annotate pdf documents in something roughly 8 1/2 x 11 in size (or a little smaller);

2. Let me read e-books;

3. Let me read electronic versions of magazines (like zinio's) and newspapers

4. Let me to use handwriting to take and organize meeting notes and drawings

5. Let me surf the web

6. Let me send and receive e-mail.

If it had music and photo features too, that would be icing on the cake.

This is wishful thinking, but I believe this may be the type of product that is coming. I've gotta think there's a market for this for office professionals, and for students too--especially as I see my kids destroy their backpacks with the sheer weight of books and related supplies they haul around every day.

 

[mcmlxix]

10" is too big. 6-7" would be ideal, imo. Anything bigger and I'll just carry a laptop or netbook.

agree

 

[Mattie Num Nums]

Unless the same App can be sold to both tablet and Apple TV users without any changes (assuming the output dimensions would be similar for both devices). That by itself would be a huge incentive for developers to update their apps - it would unlock two platforms and target markets at the same time.

(the Apple TV could easily benefit from some sort of App Store integration as well - with a bit of a hardware refresh, it would make it a far more usable device to be able to play simple games, have weather/news apps, etc...)

In my mind, that would be a great extension of the App Store ecosystem, and would probably have a ton of developers ready to jump in, ready to kill two birds with one stone.

I agree however, this thing needs to be revolutionary. I big iPod Touch would be far from it. This Tablet needs to not only break the mold, it needs to be the foundation for a new mold.

 

[michael.lauden]

I searched the whole thread to find if anyone was thinking the same thing I was. Yes: It is an iPhone. Albeit a big one. It's not to work with your iPhone, it's going to replace it.

i highly doubt a giant 7-10" screen will replace an iPhone

 

[eastercat]

No OLED no buy.

You don't think that would up the cost of the tablet? I think it would.

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).

While I don't know if the tablet is going to be like a netbook in terms of processing power, I doubt it's likely to have the processing power to even think about running Photoshop (though it'd be cool if it did).

i highly doubt a giant 7-10" screen will replace an iPhone

We might as well go back to those brick cell phones while we're at it. My hands are too small to even hold such a device as a phone.

 

[rtdunham]

10" is too big. 6-7" would be ideal, imo. Anything bigger and I'll just carry a laptop or netbook.

let's just keep in mind that would give the product dimensions of around 6 x 9...meaning slightly more than half the footprint of a 13" MBP. I think that's a meaningful difference.

If it's running a very competent OS and can talk to a BT keyboard, I'm in.

 

[avvpiras]

I don't think the Newton succeeded at this at all.
Input on the Newton was far more difficult than a pen and paper. I owned two Newtons (original and MessagePad 3100 I believe), and I never felt they lived up to their billings. Part of the reason was technological, and part was interface decisions. The handwriting recognition was slow and inaccurate. If you left your writing in "digital-ink", then you couldn't fit more than 3 words on a line since the screen was so small, and the resolution was poor. Plus each note could only hold so much data before you had to create a new one. There just wasn't enough room or freedom to leave things in digital ink. Plus it's sync with the Mac wasn't in great in that you were not left with documents that were particularly useful on the desktop as far as I can remember.

Of course, the Newton was too ahead of his time, mainly for computing power, memory and storage contraints of his years. More than a decade has passed. Also, the tablet screen will be at least 9" (I hope less than 10", to be really portable), of course with today's pixel count and color quality. And will benefit of current Apple syncing technology.

But the Newton demostrates that Apple KNOWS how.

I'm sure the "iTablet" will realize all the dreams of the Newton project.

 

[alent1234]

I think that is exactly the risk here.

I suspect Apple will model this off the iPhone way too much.

I do not see people subscribing to a 2nd (3rd?) 3G data plan for this, even if it knocks $200 off the price.

I do not see major developers buying into yet another App Store, closed development platform. I'm already floored they let Apple skim 30% off the top of their hard work. Apple will not sell millions of these. While you may be able to run iPhone apps on the tablet, I assume there will be a whole class of tablet specific apps that will not see the same volume of sales (low volume will equal higher cost, and the percent Apple skims off the top will count more).

and if you write an app that is sold at retail how much do you think publishers and best buy will take? 30% of revenue is cheap

 

[rtdunham]

...how to beat the pen and paper...

what if apple found a way to incorporate some of this product's features into a new tablet and its (hand)writing device?

http://www.macsimumnews.com/index.p...lse_combo_innovative_though_not_for_everyone/