Apple to Release Subsidized Tablet Through Verizon Later This Year?

[mambodancer]

I don't understand why folks are always looking for everyone on this site to be of exactly the same mindset. The score is never zero which every side is smaller. There are always going to be folks with different viewpoint than yours that are looking at some aspect of the story that they don't like.

Is MR suppose to be the epitome of the Apple 1984 commercial? The part before the woman shows up.

That's not what I said nor implied. My observation is based on other threads in this forum based on my reading over the past few years.

Pragmatically yes it could end up that way (locked on Verizon only for a while). Depends upon how Apple does or does not restrict sales. Ironically it is only verizon that has made noises about having an "open" network on the newer bandwidths they picked up.

What is the likelihood that this is an "add-in" card tablet? Just like the batteries are sealed, would bet small sum that the data card is sealed in this device also. Just look at Apple's recent track record. It could be an add-in network card on the tablet. More likely though, it is not.

You might be right. We won't really know until the product is announced though. If I were to guess, wifi will be built-in, Verizon network support MAY or MAY not be built-in, the device will likely support blue-tooth and, if it supports USB then that leaves the product open for third party products that support wireless networking through cellular connections. Wifi however, precludes even that. As I mentioned, a wifi product like the MiFi would give it or any wifi connected device internet access. These could be offered and sold by any cellular carrier if they choose to.

 

[SandynJosh]

No joke! Sad - maybe this will open the eyes of Apple and let them dip into those margins and have the products built someplace that treats their employees with the respect and moral responsibility they deserve. Also - Apple is at fault for this INDIRECTLY by the manor of which they operate. I hope Apple will FORCE the companies they deal with to treat those who build these money-making Apple products with the moral dignity and respect they deserve.

The company that builds Apple's products could eat Apple for lunch and **** the pips before supper time. They are more than ten times Apple's size.

What you don't know is that this same manufacturer builds for almost all other "American" brands. And these American brands (including Apple) do require the Chinese manufacturer to abide by American rules regarding human relations, work safety, and the safe use and disposal of chemicals.

This is not the first time things like this have been mentioned. This is WRONG and I will reconsider buying products from Apple or any other company that allows their subcontractors to treat its employees so poorly - to the point that several committed suicide or possibly worse!

Ah, so one suicide is now "several". And you seem to believe that a lie repeated becomes a truth. What you missed is that the person you quoted is spewing his same **** in multiple threads.

Apple - I implore you to wake-up and use your clout to make things better for the workers in China. You could do wonders for the entire country little by little by paying slightly more, losing a bit of margin but treating those who allow Steve Job's to buy an historical home just to raise it and build a new multi-million dollar house! These products are made on the backs of low paid yet skilled laborers.

Oh, what grand sounding rhetoric! It almost made me jump on my desk, call for a revolution, and start waving a flag! Too bad your diatribe is grounded in totally off-based assumptions. Too many to address.

I, for one - would pay more for a product IF the employer(s) treated their employees in a manor which anyone here would expect to be treated - and generally ARE treated in the United States and many countries in the E.U.

No you wouldn't, and you know it... and that's my one and only assumption in this reply. Oh and pay attention to all the choices your spell-checker gives you and you won't be using raise for raze, or manor for manner.

 

[NAG]

Boycotts won't change anything either. You'd pretty much have to boycott everything that isn't sold in one of those fair trade or equivalent shops. And even then you'd have to convince a whole lot more people to do the same if you're actually looking for change. These single company boycotts (like the Nike or Gap ones) don't change a thing. The Fake Steve blog actually is the closest to the truth of a lot of the opinion articles I've read about the suicide (if it was a suicide...I wouldn't be shocked to learn otherwise).

That being said, I hope that Apple does an investigation and if maltreatment lead to the death that they end their business relationship with foxconn (and probably end up contracting out to a company that does the exact same thing since there is no employee friendly manufacturing company in China).

 

[shaunymac]

Full blown OS X or not? On Verizon...

with red V's all over the place. Atleast that's what there design departments are thinking.

This is insane. Uh, why verizon and not someone like, well, uh, TMOBILE?

I say total garbage. If this is true, I will throw up.

 

[Thex1138]

Thank pitchforks 'n pointed ears!

 

[lookoverthere]

"Mac" Tablet?

From the rumors so far. This Tablet sounds more like a media device than a Mac-like device. If Apple does make a Mac-like Tablet I hope they use this design: http://macslate.blogspot.com

We'll I might be a little biased since I made this concept.

 

[kdarling]

If this tablet runs a version of the OSX that supports the App Store, it will prove problematic for Apple since Verizon recently announced that all mobile devices on Verizon would have to use Verizon's app store. I don't Apple would be too savvy on that

Verizon did not say that.

Verizon said that they were only going to install their own store by default. You can still use other ones, as always.

No one in their right mind is going to pay $60+ a month total to have both an iPhone data plan as well as a Verizon data plan, since the initial target for a tablet device would likely be iPhone users.

What's the difference? (Except for perhaps taxes and other addons.)

It wouldn't be a free ride even if you already had an account. Either you'd have to pay extra to ATT, or you pay the extra to another carrier.

 

[ddTaylor]

The company that builds Apple's products could eat Apple for lunch and **** the pips before supper time. They are more than ten times Apple's size.

What you don't know is that this same manufacturer builds for almost all other "American" brands. And these American brands (including Apple) do require the Chinese manufacturer to abide by American rules regarding human relations, work safety, and the safe use and disposal of chemicals.



Ah, so one suicide is now "several". And you seem to believe that a lie repeated becomes a truth. What you missed is that the person you quoted is spewing his same **** in multiple threads.



Oh, what grand sounding rhetoric! It almost made me jump on my desk, call for a revolution, and start waving a flag! Too bad your diatribe is grounded in totally off-based assumptions. Too many to address.



No you wouldn't, and you know it... and that's my one and only assumption in this reply. Oh and pay attention to all the choices your spell-checker gives you and you won't be using raise for raze, or manor for manner.

You do not know me so DO NOT ATTEMPT TO TELL ME WHAT OR WHAT I WOULD NOT DO!

My assumptions ARE based on fact. And for suicides - he was NOT the first to take his life while working for a large Chinese giant company. THAT was my reference. Assumptions? NOPE! I can back-up and verify EVERY SINGLE THING I PUT IN THIS THREAD!

Yes - gladly would I pay more for a product built to better workers conditions and wages. Doyou HONESTLY think that the Chinese companies ABIDE BY those rules and regulations? If you check with the US Government you can see that over and over again the companies say one thing while the are doing something completely different. So no - they do not treat their workers in accordance to US laws or even basic EU regs.

D

 

[MikeDTyke]

I've never seen a thread with as much belligerence, lack of vision and just plain common sense.

This rumour along with the one in April i can guarantee came from a Verizon stooly. Now it may be bumpkiss but assuming there's some element of truth from it here's what you should be reading!

This is a verizon rumour not an Apple one, if AT&T or T-Mobile were to also get the tablet, do you honestly think you'd hear it from the Verizon Stooly?

Whilst Apple has said they want to manufacture one iPhone for the whole planet, that doesn't mean they won't be flexible. The Chinese iPhone supposedly won't have wifi. ie. hardware removed, a custom build just for one market. Granted its a huge market, but the point is they aren't above bending their own rules or at least what they say they'll do to the Analysts.

2 Years ago when Apple was an unknown to the phone companies, they agreed to exclusive network providers for a better price/subsidy. It made sense for Apple. The number of staff involved in liaising with a cell company must be enormous. Engineers, advertising, management, logistics, manufacturing etc etc. So flaunting yourself to any network provider does not make sense. They now deal with some 20something cell companies in 80 markets. They've built the infrastructure, the team. They have markets were all the cell providers get the iPhone. More importantly they are now a known quantity in the cellular world, and everyone wants a piece of the action. I can imagine that either 3g access will be via a dongle/card or have a network stack that supports both cdma and gsm.

M.

 

[charlituna]

Chalk up another "analyst" who has absolutely no clue.

Verizon? Seriously?

i have to agree. Verizon is CDMA and it makes little sense for Apple to basically reinvent the wheel to provide cell data service for a tablet/netbook.

to me the only real question is whether the contract with ATT is just for the iphone or if it was written to cover all devices that access cell data service.

 

[tooz]

Whats going to happen with this thing in Australia?

Our closest provider to Verison would be Telstra, though there data plans are ridiculous!

its about AU $60 ($50 US) for 1 measly GB! you then get charged excess usage at the rate of AU 25c PER MEGABYTE! (roughly 20c US)

The 50GB plan costs AU $1500 A MONTH! (roughly US $1200)

 

[miketcool]

i have to agree. Verizon is CDMA and it makes little sense for Apple to basically reinvent the wheel to provide cell data service for a tablet/netbook.

to me the only real question is whether the contract with ATT is just for the iphone or if it was written to cover all devices that access cell data service.

Heaven forbid APPLE should innovate some sort of solution to benefit consumers. I mean, they NEVER innovate. I would be shocked if they came up with some sort of device to run off both CDMA AND GSM networks. Apple is too closed minded to ever cook up a creative solution for this problem...

Give me a break. Apple prides themselves off reinventing the wheel. They keep hinting they don't want to sell a $400-$500 piece of hardware that hurts customer satisfaction. Subsidize a $700-$800 netbook, and it fits these comments brilliantly. I wait with baited breath, but these rumors seem to make sense.

 

[Compile 'em all]

how about giving credit on this??

Giving credit? On Macrumors? No chance buddy.

It is one of the reasons why I don't give a ratsass anymore about posting breaking news (or anything interesting) on this site.

A typical posting routine goes something like:

- Forums User X posts something interesting
- Macrumors Editor Y sees if user x has posted any links
- Macrumors Editor Y posts a story with this link. No credit given. No thanks. Nil. Zilch. Nada. Most of the times they would even lock the thread that you might have started. It is ridiculous.

 

[sartis]

I'm getting this instead

Well, I have been waiting for a tablet for quite some time now from Apple. I came across this tablet

http://www.myviliv.com/eng/product/x70ex.asp


and it will do what I need. I'm a photographer and need a tablet while out on a shoot. I don't do editing in the field so a full laptop is overkill. This will allow me review images on a larger screen while out on a shoot. Also, you can get it pre configured with a 3g modem, not needed in my case but a nice feature. It has a SSD drive, the size is right, gps, instant on, pretty sweet device. I will more than likely put windows 7, once release, on it for a better experience. Also, it does not tie me to a carrier for 2 years, I will mainly use wifi, not 3g. I have my iphone for internet while I'm out and about.

It will be nice around the house for web browsing, videos, music, e-books, etc.

With my luck, Apple will release a tablet sometime and they will get my money then but for now I'm sick of waiting.

What do you guys think?

 

[entatlrg]

Well, I have been waiting for a tablet for quite some time now from Apple. I came across this tablet

http://www.myviliv.com/eng/product/x70ex.asp


and it will do what I need. I'm a photographer and need a tablet while out on a shoot. I don't do editing in the field so a full laptop is overkill. This will allow me review images on a larger screen while out on a shoot. Also, you can get it pre configured with a 3g modem, not needed in my case but a nice feature. It has a SSD drive, the size is right, gps, instant on, pretty sweet device. I will more than likely put windows 7, once release, on it for a better experience. Also, it does not tie me to a carrier for 2 years, I will mainly use wifi, not 3g. I have my iphone for internet while I'm out and about.

It will be nice around the house for web browsing, videos, music, e-books, etc.

With my luck, Apple will release a tablet sometime and they will get my money then but for now I'm sick of waiting.

What do you guys think?

I think for the purpose you described you'd love the MacBook Air. Maybe a little overkill but a pleasure to use and carry.... it's my favorite computer and we own a LOT of mac's

 

[SandynJosh]

If there's going to be a super-sized iPod Touch I think it's still going to be narrow enough to fit into one hand so it can be used standing up. That means the entire unit must be less than 4" wide in order to fit most hands. Allowing for the bezel on the current Touch and assuming a 16:9 ratio display yields a diagonal screen size of approximately 7.5". Screen resolution would be roughly 450x800 allowing a much richer environment for text and video than the 320x480 offered by the current devices.

In this day and age, when someone says, "10" screen" they generally mean that's the diagonal dimension, not one of the side dimensions.

If this rumor is correct, and we have no reason to believe it is, then this product is not a "pocket product". It is intended to be used in some other manner. Think of ripping the screen portion off of a MacBook Air and using something of that geometry and lightness.

 

[manhattanboy]

In this day and age, when someone says, "10"

Its 12" actually, oh wait, were you talking about the tablet

 

[miketcool]

In this day and age, when someone says, "10" screen" they generally mean that's the diagonal dimension, not one of the side dimensions.

If this rumor is correct, and we have no reason to believe it is, then this product is not a "pocket product". It is intended to be used in some other manner. Think of ripping the screen portion off of a MacBook Air and using something of that geometry and lightness.

Why would you need all that screen size if you are emphasizing something that runs as a mobile device? That is more battery power then needed for something a wireless network is probably intending. We know the OS is going to be stripped down, so anything between 4" and 8" diagonally, probably fills this order. How much screen do you really need for an internet portal? 1080p is probably the dimension of choice. Think of a screen to fit that.

 

[SpinThis!]

They keep hinting they don't want to sell a $400-$500 piece of hardware that hurts customer satisfaction.

Yeh this is pretty sop for Apple: claim you don't have anything in the pipeline and 3 days later you whip something out. Case in point: Intel transition. It wasn't that long ago Apple was burning Intel bunnies, now the companies are best buds. I wouldn't rule out Verizon yet but one thing that's dubious is whether Verizon will play by Apple's rules. This is interesting timing too since Verizon just announced any new devices will only have 6 months exclusivity to them. That really sounds like a nod to Apple and the whole industry... "throw us a bone here." I couldn't care less about Verizon but contrary to what carriers want you to think, service sucks everyone—if you can't get AT&T, it would be nice to get Verizon... and of course vice versa.

 

[maxijazz]

I'd rather expect Iphone on Verizon, but not subsidized so strong. Any way Apple needs to design wcdma phone for the bigger Chinese cellular network.

And yes, i still think tablet-like netbook is possible from Apple, just not tight to any provider.

 

[LagunaSol]

Verizon sucks worse than AT&T. And that's sayin' something...

 

[teejaysplace]

Hmm.

I think this is crap. Apple would be shooting themselves in the foot by locking their products into several different providers. It would be impossible for their customers to assume that anything "just worked". Besides, I'm not all together sure why a tablet device needs a wireless data provider anyway. If it's an optional feature, lovely, but they're going to have a hard time pushing devices on customers if they all come with 2 year service agreements. This "thing", whatever it is, seems targeted toward a wider demographic of users, whereas smart phones can be fairly niche. I'm willing to bet that a large majority of them don't even need an always-on data plan, particularly when they're already paying for one that's attached to their phone.

 

[Thex1138]

The Land Down Under... Women Glow and Men Chunder!

Whats going to happen with this thing in Australia?
Our closest provider to Verison would be Telstra, though there data plans are ridiculous!
its about AU $60 ($50 US) for 1 measly GB! you then get charged excess usage at the rate of AU 25c PER MEGABYTE! (roughly 20c US)
The 50GB plan costs AU $1500 A MONTH! (roughly US $1200)

Locally for us they will definately have more than one carrier... The iPhone roll-out started with more than one.
Telstra are hog tied... they really aren't allowed to compete on price because they are the main wholesaler [copper & fibre backbones] of bandwidth to basically all other carriers...
The other players now definately have a piece of the iPhone pie being Voda and Optus, Three Mobile and Virgin Mobile... and now Apple selling iPhone off-plan... Tablet will most likely follow the same path...
If as now, this Tablet device is sold here, on-plan initially, then there is a likelyhood that it might be off-plan at an early point...
And I am betting that it will run via 3G + WiFi network... Subsidized at first of course... Plans can be bundled for holders of both devices.

By the way I am also betting that the Tablet will almost certainly at some point be using FPGA along with multi-core CPU and Nvidia Graphics in some config or another... either first or second gen' versions...
Some reading I found... some examples utilizing the FPGA chip and possible implementations... it's reprogrammable and so it's capable of a lot of different functions operating independantly in parallel on the same chip:
RMT SwitchBack
Spectrometer for Radio Astronomy
Network Interface Controller

Almost forgot... If the device is a media pad with 3G connectivity... the a most likely scenario would be people like me using it for email, sms, messaging, web surfing, video, audio etc,. instead of my iPhone... I wont shelve my PodPhone of course but it would take centre stage in my daily comm's traffic process... if it truely is the media centric device that it's rumoured to be.

I also think it would be a cut-down OSX... core OSX with a combination of iPhone and Leopard skinadge...

 

[deconstruct60]

I think for the purpose you described you'd love the MacBook Air. Maybe a little overkill but a pleasure to use and carry.... it's my favorite computer and we own a LOT of mac's

This thing costs minimally $600.

http://www.dynamism.com/#Product=viliv_x70


The MBA is minimally $1500

$900 can buy a quite nice lens for a camera. Or a years worth of $59/mo data service.


Even has a SD card slot instead of Express Card. LOL.

Looking at it in this model's hand here.

http://www.myviliv.com/eng/product/x70ex.asp

This isn't a "fit in your pocket" size screen ( 7" )

The multimedia section with the link to the youtube video is kind of a chuckle too to since it is running iTunes. (cover flow album flipping , etc.)


But wait ... this is one of the netbooks (mobile internet device) class machines... (10" or smaller , ATOM processor, desktop OS, etc.)


[ It is geared toward Windows so yeah there are two mouse buttons, a menu and function key and probably does need that stylus in some situations to drive menus. ]

 

[tabasco70]

i don't know how this is exactly supposed to work, because i'm pretty sure there are going to be a good number of people wanting to buy this, but also have an iPhone.
an AT&T contract and a verizon contract? That seems like too much.

I wonder if the device is going to be running mac os x? I'd much rather pay the full price without a contract as long as i can still use the internet without it.