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Apple's 'Magic Trackpad' or 'Magic Slate' Revealed?

I need to befriend a patent attorney ... I have been saying since the track pad came out on the MBP's that they should incorporate that into the iMacs and Mac Pros some how. Damn Apple your too good!
 
steeex said:
so, are we supposed to have this thing in front of the keyboard? seems to be that's going to be a bit in the way...besides, I am looking around at people in the office...50% of them have something already between themselves and their keyboard...

still, I love the multi touch trackpad on the MBP, let's see...
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Just place it at the same place the mouse would go, to the right of the keyboard.
 
throw a small LCD behind the trackpad to superimpose (underimpose?!?) a number pad with a keypad switch, and you have a winner. I would definitely line up for a macbook pro style touchpad + number pad to pair with my bluetooth keyboard.
 
Apple's trackpads rule, I would definitely opt for this over a mouse if I was using a desktop machine.
 
So this would be capacitive, so you'd have to use a horrible pogo to use it for pen input? What I wouldn’t give for a sharp pen input that doesn’t feel as vague as that pogo sausage.

also, relevant?
 
I can't imagine this magic trackpad being all that useful for everyday computing for me, but if it's paired up with a soon-to-be released Apple TV :)D) then I think it will be a killer peripheral.
 
This is cool. Shouldn't it be a large multi touch screen though? that way it could replace the keyboard and mouse? I will be interested to see what will 'appear' on this magical device when it is plugged in. It has to be more than just a large multi touch trackpad.
 
Bevz said:
Is it me.... I can't think of anything this would be any good for...?

You can't use it to replace your keyboard as it's not got a display on it to show the keyboard...

Ok, graphic artists may like it if it can be used as a graphics tablet...

But, other than that... Sorry, perhaps it's just me... :(
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If it works with a pen, sure. Otherwise I don't really see it... artists aren't very keen on fingerpainting, it's like trying to play piano with boxing gloves on.
 
I could see this incorporated into a keyboard but as a standalone product it's a bit bizarre. My desk is cluttered enough. My guess is that this is a prototype only and won't be announced today. We'll soon see.
 
ipedro said:
My prediction: This is going to be released alongside iPhone OS apps for Mac OSX.
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While the ability to run iPhone apps on your mac inside of a window would be incredibly cool. The lack of ability to perform direct contact input would be a difficult stretch for basic users. Especially for apps that rely on multitouch.
They would need to dispense with the single pointer paradigm somehow without introducing a huge learning curve.
 
Would be nice if the whole thing was a multitouch E Ink screen so you could use it for things like displaying numerical keys or keyboard shortcuts in applications. Backlit multicolor LED keys would be way too expensive and power hungry but an E Ink screen with grayscale might work.
 
I used to use a Fingerworks Igesture pad, and just before Apple bought the company, Fingerworks had showed the winpad which looked like this. The winpad has a more comfortable design since it slopes down, but I'm still excited about this one! Not exactly a lot of innovation in five years, but it's going to be very well executed I'm sure.
 

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Marty Macfly said:
How can you tell how big it is by those pictures? There is no frame of reference whatsoever.
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Yvan256 said:
I'm guessing it's the exact same size as a bluetooth Apple keyboard (in depth), so that side-by-side it looks like an extension of your keyboard.

It would be neat if it could also be a display at the same time, for context-sensitive controls.
Click to expand...

You should be able to easily compare the size based on the diameter of the battery cylindar, as this will be identical with the BT keyboard.
 
At last

I see a distinct lack of a button. I haven't used one of latest glass trackpads, so I can't vouch for the overall experience myself. But I think if I were using Photoshop, I'd feel better holding a button and moving my fingers lightly across the pad, than having to add extra pressure to keep the trackpad in a 'button-down' position constantly. Sounds like extra wrist strain and extra pressure on the device, causing accelerated wear - to me, anyway. As I say, I'm still in the Powerbook era! :)

Really interesting, though. I've been wondering why keyboards haven't had trackpads for ages as a mouse is really outmoded these days. Does anyone remember the old Fairlight CMI synthesizers? That had a QWERTY keyboard which had a trackpad (albeit it needed a stylus) built in on the right. I've always thought that was a great idea.

Only things that worriy me are that (a) if it's bluetooth, it's going to get lost at some stage. Plus the last thing you want is your Mum bringing you up a nice drink and plonking it on the lovely new drinks coaster you just happen to have placed next to your computer...
 
whats so great about it? i don't really get it to be honest, its just a Wacom tablet but with an Apple icon. Oh wait Apple made it so it has to be crazy never thought of technology :rolleyes:

same as the ipad... nothing new, boring and only interesting for fan-boys
 
I don't see how anyone that's ever had the pleasure of using apple's glass trackpad could think this is anything but awesome.
 
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