Apple Virtual Input Device on Touch Screen

[supermacdesign]

New type of iMac or Mac Mini

I see them creating a mac Mini/iMac/Laptop hybrid. Something you can sit at your desk and use mounted on a stand of somekind, you can then use a traditional Keyboard OR you simply remove it from the stand/dock (for charging purposes) and roam with it. Chat/email from the bathroom, bedroom on the bus, anywhere.

I think this is also major new slic of the OS/Gui. A new direction Apple wants to bring the whole user interface.

 

[g.hobi]

Screen to go

Everytime I see an iMac lamp I get the same impulse: just take the screen with me. It would not need all the processing power built in. But if it had all the things people see in this thread, it would just be terrific.

You take it with you arround thouse or the office and stay connected to your computer. You could read the news where we all like to do it. You could share your ideas with a group of people ...

And then when you need to do some serious work you would just hook it up to your computer (mini?) and be happy ...

 

[baddaddy]

I see them creating a mac Mini/iMac/Laptop hybrid. Something you can sit at your desk and use mounted on a stand of somekind, you can then use a traditional Keyboard OR you simply remove it from the stand/dock (for charging purposes) and roam with it. Chat/email from the bathroom, bedroom on the bus, anywhere.

I think this is also major new slic of the OS/Gui. A new direction Apple wants to bring the whole user interface.

Exactly! But the patents also show is also working as an interface for other programs, sliders for a mixing board etc on another computer, so it could work independantly with a mini digital entertainment hub, attached to the tv, but work as an interface with Logic, Aperture etc, on an iMac or Mac tower. This screams wireless to me.

The more I see of this product, the more stoked I become with the idea. A mini computer I can take anywhere(iTunes, email, photo's etc...), or take it home as a screen for my mini, or use it as an interface with my iMac.

A while back Apple bought the domain name www.macmate.com. It is still active and takes you to the Apple store. That would be a perfect name for this product.

The big issue with me seems to be price. The bottom line with digital media is always that is has to be fun and affordable. The ipod was cool when it first came out but it became a phenom when the mini came out and anyone that worked could afford one.An ipod is fun and affordable. Making a family movie or song is fun. If this is going to work it can't be an expensive niche product that's aimed at a narrow segement of the population. It is going to have to be priced in the ibook price range or less. Fun, and affordable.

 

[FoxyKaye]

Here it is people the Apple P.A.D.D (Personal Access Display Device)

Complete with the STTNG standard text on ship displays: GNDN!

If they used images of Panther I would guess that this product will be a tablet PC, not a PDA. PDA operating systems and GUIs are very different to what comes with PCs for a good reason, ease of use. I can't imagine Apple would make a touch-screen PDA and use OS X for it.

Anyway, it's an odd direction for Apple. Tablet PCs have very niche markets and it is generally accepted that they are a flop in the mainstream computer business. I'm sure Apple could make a far better product than what Microsoft & Co. made in the last couple of years but I still can't see who would need an Apple tablet more than a cheaper iBook or a video iPod. Of course Apple has a way of surprising us with new, unproven technologies like they did with the hard drives of the original iPods and the wi-fi of Airport.

Agreed - I feel like Apple would move more in the direction of incorporating touch screen capabilities into its existing products first, which lends itself to a tablet PC. It would definitely have to be different from what has already been tried, though, for reasons you cite above.

Then again, could Darwin be stripped down enough with a limited Quartz like interface to make running some version of OS X on a PDA device (or next-gen iPod) feasible? This, I don't know...

 

[baddaddy]

hmmmm

This keeps getting better.

If you follow this link to a blow up of the patent filing there are some great clues.

http://www.appleinsider.com/image.php?i=patent-touch-keyboard4&id=1544&pe=4

First, you can see this is running Panther.

Second, you see the name Aki Shelton. If you google her name you see that AKi is a VP of design at apple.

This is looking more and more like a real product instead of a potential product that may be released.

 

[oilster]

And

Aki is surely a good friend of Edward van Halen and a guy named Chris Guest.

Second, you see the name Aki Shelton. If you google her name you see that AKi is a VP of design at apple.
.

 

[baddaddy]

Aki is surely a good friend of Edward van Halen and a guy named Chris Guest.

Actually Chris Guest played in Spinal Tab, and Eddie is a HUGE mac fan.


;-)

 

[amateurmacfreak]

Everytime I see an iMac lamp I get the same impulse: just take the screen with me.

OH! OH! ME TOO! All the time I'm looking at my iMac, thinking "I wish I could just pic it up and take it around with me!"
Then I realize it doesn't have a keyboard. Or a battery.
But that may all change, my friends.

 

[Mechcozmo]

Interesting... Like the Nintendo DS, only for your portable laptop. I tell you, I have two 20" screens at work, and now I sometimes find my 'little' 17" LCD monitor in my laptop very restricting. Usually, dual screens are left-right. not top-bottom, but hey, maybe the idea has merit. Then again, nah - typing on a device with no tactile feedback would be awful...

Various OS X applications have issues with top/bottom dual screens. And some won't go full-screen on anything other than the primary display (VLC). Relying on two screens may be a bit much for this kind of device.

this would be a revolutionary device in some professional field such as architect or hospitals....

for personal use? I am not too sure about that. it would look cool though.

remember that nobody is dominating professional computer devices yet...if Apple can get in there and take it, expect the Apple shares to explode.

Hospitals require very special programs that are very complex. If the software isn't there, then it won't be used. Usually, Tablet PCs are used but the screens are a bit small to do work, are not durable enough, and don't have a battery that will last the entire time a doctor is doing their rounds. But the Tablet will work with various services the hospital has, such as Terminal Servers, SSL VPNs, etc. If this device isn't compatible with all the security that the hospital provides, good luck letting it take off in that market.

 

[Alex.Linhares]

It’s a 34” screen notebook, not another boring tablet.

It’s a 34” screen notebook, not another boring tablet. Yes, you heard me right. Apple is creating a new market. FINALLY!

This is something I’ve been thinking for some time now… and as I’ve read the filed patent it just may be what Apple is up to: a 30”, perhaps 34” inch screen notebook. Got it?

Didn’t get it? Look at your notebook. Why does it have a keyboard and trackpad, when it could have another same-sized screen for double the desktop space at the same weight and form factor? The keyboard and trackpad are gone, in is a touch display that enables input. Since we do not type most of the time, only on the road we'll use the display keyboard... we'll use wireless keyboards at home and work, because this is just the start of Apple's new move. According to my theory, that is (or to what I would do IF i WERE in charge, that is).

Imagine a hardcover book. Now, imagine opening the book in front of you and letting it stand upright on a table. If you’ve ever worked with a 30 inch display and marveled, think about this: the 15.4” MacBook Pro, under these dual displays design, would be bigger than that! Or place upright your 2x17 inch screen notebook, add a small wireless keyboard + mouse, and you can be word processing in portrait mode with 2 pages side by side… or you can browse the web in portrait mode also in 2 pages, or you can have widgets in one display and apps on the other… the possibilities are clearly there, Apple has clearly developed (at least the input tech) and the only real world problem seems to be the battery life. A 17" display costs a mere $250! This thing could sell for $2500 in 34 inch form factor and should Apple lock in the design with their patents, it could really be explosive.

What I would do is: keep including keyboards and mice, and tell naysayers they’ll only have to type in the virtual keyboard while on the road… a small drawback… after all, who would care about that when you can have a 24inch desktop in a factor as small as a 12 inch powerbook? -- Alex Linhares (linhares.alex+Apple@gmail.com)


MORE INFO:

You can find the patent here:
http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph...co1=AND&d=PG01&s1="apple+computer".AS.&OS=AN/

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

AND THE SUBTLE HINTS OF A DUAL DISPLAY NOTEBOOK, SUCH AS--> "52. The computer-readable medium of claim 49, wherein the visual indicator is a differentiated display of the input field of the application display."