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Apple Tablet Seen by Analyst While Competitors Hold Off to Wait for Details?

My dream come true?

I will buy it in a second at any cost as long as it will allow me to use a stylus to draw on and can present keynote presentations. Nothing wrong with using fingers but for fine drawing you need a sharper point.
 
Shaun said:
Veteran analyst? Sounds familiar.

According to Wired magazine online Walt Mossberg "got his hands on an early test unit of the original iPhone in June 2007, weeks before its official release."

What's to say he or someone else hasn't seen this new device whatever it is?

Also, assuming this is a consumer product it would make more sense to launch it in Sept/Nov than Q1/2010 to maximise early sales.
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I agree. Not a lot of point to releasing consumer electronics items right after a major holiday, IMO.
 
Doctor Q said:
What does "excel at displaying video content" mean? That it has a screen?
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Snort. That could mean anything. :)

But I am pre-ordering blind. :p

Gut feeling is that it can't just be a video player. I see it as either an over grown touch device or a tablet computer, both of which play video. I don't see it as a dedicated video player.
 
My boss saw the iPhone 3GS before it was released. A friend was testing it around town. He mentioned it offhand, and didn't really seem to care or know much about iPhones. Hard to when you're not an Apple fanboy. Thus, this article is perfectly possible.
 
I have to say I'm amazed at everyone who thinks this products is terrible or will be a failure, etc. I've thought all a long that if I had a iPhone Touch but in the form factor of around 10" it would be fantastic competition for all the netbooks out there. Even at a $600-800 price. I know I see all kinds of uses for this type unit. It will basically replace 95% of my need for my Mac Mini assuming it pretty much does everything that a Touch does. If it runs OS X (which I doubt) I won't need my desktop PC at all. If it comes out, I will definitely buy one.
 
scott pruett said:
per http://mashable.com/2009/08/03/apple-tablet-tested/

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I know that's just a mock-up, but that looks horrid. If there is a real thing, hopefully it doesn't look like that.

The keyboard is gigantic, where's the screen?

I just don't see the need for this product.
 
Killer App is... Video?!?

If the main reason to get the tablet is for video I think Apple will have another "hobby" on its hands...

It would basically be a portable AppleTV.

Sure there are people who will buy and love it, but not enough to make it a big product. I'm thinking Apple has a bigger concept for this product.
 
If I hadn't already shelled out for a kindle DX I'd be saving my pennies for this in hopes that it supports the Barnes & NOble and Amazon ebook store/reader apps.

I'd happily buy it for no other reason than it would thus wind up as probably the best all-around ebook reader.
 
I personally would really love to have a small OSX-running tablet, under the following conditions:

1. It has a standard peripheral port (USB at a minimum, and preferably FireWire as well)

2. It is capable of running Logic and MainStage

because I would totally love something like that for my stage performances now that MainStage has a loop pedal mode and so on. A nice big touch screen works much better for that than a mouse-based interface.

[EDIT] Wow, I'm finally a full 'macrumors member' after only 6 years! No more 'newbie' status for me!
 
wolfpackfan said:
I have to say I'm amazed at everyone who thinks this products is terrible or will be a failure, etc. I've thought all a long that if I had a iPhone Touch but in the form factor of around 10" it would be fantastic competition for all the netbooks out there. Even at a $600-800 price. I know I see all kinds of uses for this type unit. It will basically replace 95% of my need for my Mac Mini assuming it pretty much does everything that a Touch does. If it runs OS X (which I doubt) I won't need my desktop PC at all. If it comes out, I will definitely buy one.
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Do you use iWork, Word, iLife, Aperture, Final Cut Express, GarageBand, Logic Studio, iTunes? I dont' see how a giant iPod touch can replace an actual computer and I hope Apple can come up with something better than that.
 
if its true i would like it to have a detachable mini keyboard and the usbs could be part of the keyboard but it could be touchscreen
 
tabasco70 said:
I wonder if they'll announce it in September (iPod refreshes) or in October (laptop refresh?)
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Apple just did a laptop refresh in June. October is a mere 4 months later. Very likely, too soon for a refresh. Late November (or perhaps very early December) is more likely. New line of thin notebook CPUs would be out and probably in quantity by then.

This "tablet" device won't be a refresh more so because more likely Apple will mark this as a whole new category. Also very unclear if this will be an "iPhone OS" device or a "Mac OS X" device. The "iPhone OS" devices already come in multiple launch windows. Phone June-July , Touch September. Wouldn't be hard to make that June-July , Sept , November. (or just synch the "supersized" Touch up with the regular one in Sept 2010. )
Similar with the Mac OS X devices.... different launch windows for different platform groupings ( Mac Pro, Mac BookPro , MacBook , iMac ).
 
jmorrison0722 said:
Beyond the uber-fans, I can't see such a thing being a big seller at $700-$800! Good grief...I could almost buy 3 iPod Touches for that. Add $49 and you can get you a "real" laptop from the refurbished area of Apple's site.

I could see anywhere up to $499 being very tempting for those who want that entertainment all-in-one...ebook reader, movie player, music device, internet device. Beyond $500 I would think people would start looking for full laptop capabilities.

Don't get me wrong, there's enough Apple fanboys to support such a thing for the first 4-6 months...and perhaps that would be long enough to get the price down a few hundred.
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At this price, I think it'll be just as popular as the MBA. A tablet for $800 that excels at watching movies (i.e. buying movies from iTunes on-th-go) seems pretty gimmicky to me. Otherwise, I can't wait to see it. I wonder about the keyboard though. Will it be an on-screen KB?
 
dicklacara said:
pixel: density, resolution;

screen: aspect ratio; brightness; viewing angle; refresh rate;

come to mind
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Don't forget deep blacks and high contrast. I would expect LED backlit at least, and perhaps even OLED. But the latter is perhaps a bit far fetched right now (IMHO) and would be gigantic news given the expected size of the screen (10" or so, perhaps more).
 
Coinciding with Snow Leopard?

I'd bet apple is keeping some things up its sleeve with Snow Leopard development. Streamlining and re-tooling an OS would fit really well with getting it to run on a device like this, or at least some version of the OS. And Windows 7 is getting multi-touch features, so wouldn't Apple like to beat them to the punch? I wouldn't be surprised to see a touch-capable version of Snow Leopard running on this device. Both announced in September...

And the market for this is obviously the netbook market. (Despite the high prices...) I'll look for an iPod Touch with the bigger screen plus some additional basic computing functionality: bigger onscreen keyboard, use with external keyboard or external display (?), digital books, better for watching films, etc...
 
jmorrison0722 said:
Beyond $500 I would think people would start looking for full laptop capabilities.
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The iPhone 32GB is already over $500 ( the price with subsidy is $299. The price without is much higher). Similarly the iPhone launched at a higher than $500 price.

Apple still has to pay for the contents. If a 3" screen device is going for $500+ why would a 10" screen device be anywhere near that price if has similar screen tech?
 
3N16MA said:
Do you use iWork, Word, iLife, Aperture, Final Cut Express, GarageBand, Logic Studio, iTunes? I dont' see how a giant iPod touch can replace an actual computer and I hope Apple come up with something better than that.
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Aside from iWork/Word (which are keyboard-heavy apps), I can see that a "giant iPod touch" could be even better than an "actual computer" at the other apps you mention. Mousing around some of these apps is a real pain - I can see fingertip control being a promising opportunity. With a well-designed interface and plenty of processing power, of course.
 
Hopefully it isn't just a big iPhone, I can't imagine how many people will be pissed when their "tablet" takes a tumble and the back is lined with cracks, along with a nice big broken touch screen.
 
serpico said:
I know it's typical Apple for a price that high, but until I see this device, I say that's still to much to pay. The iTouch top model was $500 when it came out too so the price will come down of course as time passes. If it's all that and a bag of doritos, I'm sure I'll pick one up one day used or new instead of a netbook.
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What is an "iTouch"???

I am familiar with iPhone and iPod Touch, but never heard of an iTouch? Is this a new product only introduced in Canada? :D

Steve
 
Video Conferencing/iChat is The Killer Feature

The killer feature for this is going to be video conferencing on a relatively large screen on a highly portable device. I think it will have a camera that can swivel towards the user (video chat) or away from the user (camera/augmented reality) based on a Jan/Feb '09 Apple patent. It's possible it could even shoot in HD.

Imagine a bunch of these throughout a company, between families, etc.
 
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