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iPhone Started as 'Safari Pad'?
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Interesting....
I agree that releasing a new tablet (product line) may be too much too early; especially when they are trying to cement a couple of other new product categories.
BUT... they mentioned the iPod Touch as the beginning of a WiFi Platform so this kind of device could be marketed as a bigger (more functional?) iPod Touch. Archos had those big ass media players a couple of years ago and I was very tempted. But I want the Apple version. This could be it, I don't think this rumor is the PowerBook G5. It's simply a case of no smoke without fire 😉
The rumors seem to suggest 1.5 times the size of an iPod which is a decent size for me. A little smaller than a DVD case.
iPod Touch Pro (Tongue Twister)
1.5x the size
Fully clocked ARM Processor
More RAM (probably 256-512mb)
32Gb Flash Storage
2 Megapixel Camera
Bluetooth/WiFi (SIM Slot if you're VERY lucky)
I agree that releasing a new tablet (product line) may be too much too early; especially when they are trying to cement a couple of other new product categories.
BUT... they mentioned the iPod Touch as the beginning of a WiFi Platform so this kind of device could be marketed as a bigger (more functional?) iPod Touch. Archos had those big ass media players a couple of years ago and I was very tempted. But I want the Apple version. This could be it, I don't think this rumor is the PowerBook G5. It's simply a case of no smoke without fire 😉
The rumors seem to suggest 1.5 times the size of an iPod which is a decent size for me. A little smaller than a DVD case.
iPod Touch Pro (Tongue Twister)
1.5x the size
Fully clocked ARM Processor
More RAM (probably 256-512mb)
32Gb Flash Storage
2 Megapixel Camera
Bluetooth/WiFi (SIM Slot if you're VERY lucky)
compuguy1088
macrumors 6502a
Unfourtuatley HSPDA has limited coverage only around metropolitan areas. Once you leave these areas, your back with just EDGE. A 3g iPhone would be more successful in Europe because of the better coverage.
I thought the inkwell technology is apart of OSX to begin with?
Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/4A102 Safari/419.3)
This is interesting to see how the iPhone got its start. I don't really get all the hype about the tablet computer. I think it would be pretty cool but so is the MB Air. I think these items target select markets and if it is for you, great. I'm sincerely glad that you are excited, but to me a tablet is a product between the iPhone/Touch and MB Air as far as scale and power is concerned, and that is just not for me. On another note diversity is not a bad thing and I'm cheering for those who really want a tablet.
This is interesting to see how the iPhone got its start. I don't really get all the hype about the tablet computer. I think it would be pretty cool but so is the MB Air. I think these items target select markets and if it is for you, great. I'm sincerely glad that you are excited, but to me a tablet is a product between the iPhone/Touch and MB Air as far as scale and power is concerned, and that is just not for me. On another note diversity is not a bad thing and I'm cheering for those who really want a tablet.
AlphaAnt
macrumors regular
I don't believe that one for a second. Even AT&T knows next to nothing about what Apple is doing. AT&T's other major Smartphone manufacturer, RIM, won't be putting out 3G Blackberries for AT&T until this Summer. I'm sure that if they had the option, there would already be a 3G iPhone to help support the fact that they won't shut up about their 3G network being superior to the other carriers'.
has anyone noticed that apple hasnt made any announcements on their website? weird..............
:/
:/
EagerDragon
macrumors 68020
I would like a small form factor "computer" that has full comunication abilities such as phone and wifi. Preferaby with a multi-touch interface.
iPhone is great, but I can use a little more real state. 3-4 times iPhone size and carry it like i do a regular paper tablet.
iPhone is great, but I can use a little more real state. 3-4 times iPhone size and carry it like i do a regular paper tablet.
Buschmaster
macrumors 65816
Wow. Seriously? You actually posted this?
Let's say Apple put 3G in the iPhone and it were $50 more expensive. I wouldn't have bought it, you know why? Because $50 is a lot and to this day, I can't tell you one time I've had my iPhone somewhere where there is 3G. Know how many times I've had it places where there is wifi? I am going to say that my iPhone is in a place with wifi twice as much as when I am held to using EDGE. EDGE isn't even that bad for how rarely I use it...
So just because you're sitting under a 3G tower doesn't mean we all are. Did you live under power lines as a kid?
A very small number of Apple users you mean. Mostly people who, like me, fondly remember their Newtons. That number was small to begin with, but now that the iPhone and iPod Touch have grabbed up most of that market there are even fewer people out there who would buy an Apple Tablet right now.
HAHAHAHAHAHA yes, I believe that this is a point many of us neglect to see, and that point is, what about the rural population, and or people that live just out of reach of 3g hotspots? are they just screwed over, and AT&T just sits on their fat sacks and doesnt do anything? edge is fine, however, I would buy a 3g iPhone, if the 3g coverage expanded... DRAMATICALLY
AlphaAnt
macrumors regular
You're just as guilty as he is. What's good for you is not what's good for everyone. While you don't use your iPhone for data all that often, some of us would use them to the point where a data plan with a throughput limitation would be horrible. I already do on the Blackberry provided by my company. I would not even remotely consider purchasing an iPhone until they do the inevitable 3G upgrade at the moment.
edenwaith
macrumors 6502a
Newton and iWalk revisited
If so, this development sounds reminiscent of the initial development that evolved into the Newton. Apple was making three different "sub-notebooks", and they eventually merged into what would become the Newton.
I wonder if the iPhone has anything to do with the "iWalk" rumors that came out about 5 years ago.
If so, this development sounds reminiscent of the initial development that evolved into the Newton. Apple was making three different "sub-notebooks", and they eventually merged into what would become the Newton.
I wonder if the iPhone has anything to do with the "iWalk" rumors that came out about 5 years ago.
sterlingindigo
macrumors 6502
I've never had edge outside of London in the UK. Edge coverage is terrible, particularly up in Yorkshire where I am (that includes big cities like Leeds). The 3g coverage is much better and if the iPhone had 3g I would probably buy it. Having said that I understand apples' decision not to include it first time around if the battery life is terrible.
Who wants to carry a device between their iPhone and their notebook?
Personally, when it comes to a tablet PC, I'd like to see something that mod companies are already doing. A hybrid notebook, tablet. Imagine an Air with a screen that flips around and lays down the opposite way. Bam, all the good things about a note book (full keyboard, full processor) and all the good things about a tablet! Seems like a no brainer.
Personally, when it comes to a tablet PC, I'd like to see something that mod companies are already doing. A hybrid notebook, tablet. Imagine an Air with a screen that flips around and lays down the opposite way. Bam, all the good things about a note book (full keyboard, full processor) and all the good things about a tablet! Seems like a no brainer.
liberty4all
Guest
Need iPhone Application Video Out!
What I really want to see Apple or a 3rd party develop is iPhone Application Video Out -- then I could display Safari and other apps on a bigger screen!
What I really want to see Apple or a 3rd party develop is iPhone Application Video Out -- then I could display Safari and other apps on a bigger screen!
lazyrighteye
Contributor
One.
That mockup, minus the optical drive, is the kind of device I could get excited about.
Two.
There is a LOT of talk about the second generation iPhone: 3G this, cut & paste that, disc mode, iChat (not happening any time soon), blah blah blah. And while the iPhone will evolve to include some of those (and other) nice features/functionality, at the end of the day (and for the near to at least next 5-year future), it's still a phone - that, by nature, has certain physical parameters to adhere (fits in one hand, against ear, etc.).
This leads me to suggest that all of this next gen iPhone noise is just that - noise. It's the Trojan Horse for Apple's real attack, the touch. Unlike the iPhone, the touch doesn't have to adhere to as much (if any) of the physical parameters, making it a more flexible vessel in almost every single way.
Which is why I have a hunch that the next gen touch is slated (hehe) to be Apple's official 'tablet'/Newton device. And while we're still a solid year or two from this evolution, it's coming. And this iPhone users says "bring it."
That mockup, minus the optical drive, is the kind of device I could get excited about.
Two.
There is a LOT of talk about the second generation iPhone: 3G this, cut & paste that, disc mode, iChat (not happening any time soon), blah blah blah. And while the iPhone will evolve to include some of those (and other) nice features/functionality, at the end of the day (and for the near to at least next 5-year future), it's still a phone - that, by nature, has certain physical parameters to adhere (fits in one hand, against ear, etc.).
This leads me to suggest that all of this next gen iPhone noise is just that - noise. It's the Trojan Horse for Apple's real attack, the touch. Unlike the iPhone, the touch doesn't have to adhere to as much (if any) of the physical parameters, making it a more flexible vessel in almost every single way.
Which is why I have a hunch that the next gen touch is slated (hehe) to be Apple's official 'tablet'/Newton device. And while we're still a solid year or two from this evolution, it's coming. And this iPhone users says "bring it."
EagerDragon
macrumors 68020
Warning about data plans
As we seen a lot of providers outside the USA are charging a lot for the data plan and are limiting it to n megs per month.
What makes you think that when 3G iPhone comes out, they will not charge 2 to 5 times more for the data plan? While a gig of data is the same regardless of how fast is served, the faster the device the more likely people are going to use the service more and there is the value of not waiting around for the data that they may want to cash on.
They are out to get every penny they can out of you as been proven over the years.
As the data plan in the USA is unlimited the monetary effect maybe more pronouced, the 3G will provide a lot more bandwitdth so it would not surprice me if AT&T is going to ask for 2 to 5 times the current amount of 20 dollars.
Just making sure we all understand there is room here to get screwed.
I hope I am wrong.
As we seen a lot of providers outside the USA are charging a lot for the data plan and are limiting it to n megs per month.
What makes you think that when 3G iPhone comes out, they will not charge 2 to 5 times more for the data plan? While a gig of data is the same regardless of how fast is served, the faster the device the more likely people are going to use the service more and there is the value of not waiting around for the data that they may want to cash on.
They are out to get every penny they can out of you as been proven over the years.
As the data plan in the USA is unlimited the monetary effect maybe more pronouced, the 3G will provide a lot more bandwitdth so it would not surprice me if AT&T is going to ask for 2 to 5 times the current amount of 20 dollars.
Just making sure we all understand there is room here to get screwed.
I hope I am wrong.
hiptobesquare
macrumors regular
that mockup is a start, but it isn't realistic.
You couldn't fit a battery in the rest of the space in that device that the optical drive didn't already take.
No internal optical drive for something that small, but perhaps the MBA external optical, or wireless-N drive-co-opting from another computer.
Here's how I would do it:
Take MacBook Air's bottom case, and remove the top surface keyboard/palmrest, and remove the screen shell.
Shrink that tapered bottom case to about 9"x5.2" rectangular. Load it up with a mobile processor, like Intel Atom, removable RAM, removeable battery (plug on leads, not soldered) and replaceable solid-state storage flash memory arrays, like SSD, but not encased in an extraneous drive enclosure.
Lay an 8.89"x5" (16x9 format) multitouch high-res screen and glass cover on the top, with a beveled top edge, like the iPod Touch. As seamless as possible, without a raised edge around the glass, like some tablets have, and the magazine mockup has. The iPT, and iPhone don't have a raised edge, but a beveled edge. a raised edge would just catch dirt, and impede gestures near the edge of the screen. Perhaps an iSight camera in the glass bezel edge.
Full complement of wireless protocols, wifi(a,g,n), 3G/edge cellular, bluetooth, etc. 2 USB and an ethernet and external video break-out ports, possibly through a dock-connector, or something similar. Completely solid state, no moving parts, no hinges, though. Dockable to desktop implements (keyboard, mouse, larger screen, network drives/printers/storage via gigabit ethernet when docked, and still a multi-touch and draw-on tablet input device, even when docked.)
Running a version of Mac OS X somewhere between iPhone, and full version. Mix of quick-access nearly always-front icons, and full-screen mode for apps like iTunes/iPod-mode, but also full "finder" file and disk resource management. Most or all of the operating system's features, just quick-access touch-driven layout.
With a bluetooth earpiece or headset, and an iSight camera in the device, this thing could be a videophone over IP, or over cellular networks. stored movie, or co-opted-optical-drive/external-drive DVD player. Large-capacity and large-screen multi-touch iPod, Full function file browser and editor, wireless internet terminal, and capable of running nearly all normal Mac OS programs, save for the most resource-intensive pro-grade programs, which require more hardware.
That would be what I would do.
You couldn't fit a battery in the rest of the space in that device that the optical drive didn't already take.
No internal optical drive for something that small, but perhaps the MBA external optical, or wireless-N drive-co-opting from another computer.
Here's how I would do it:
Take MacBook Air's bottom case, and remove the top surface keyboard/palmrest, and remove the screen shell.
Shrink that tapered bottom case to about 9"x5.2" rectangular. Load it up with a mobile processor, like Intel Atom, removable RAM, removeable battery (plug on leads, not soldered) and replaceable solid-state storage flash memory arrays, like SSD, but not encased in an extraneous drive enclosure.
Lay an 8.89"x5" (16x9 format) multitouch high-res screen and glass cover on the top, with a beveled top edge, like the iPod Touch. As seamless as possible, without a raised edge around the glass, like some tablets have, and the magazine mockup has. The iPT, and iPhone don't have a raised edge, but a beveled edge. a raised edge would just catch dirt, and impede gestures near the edge of the screen. Perhaps an iSight camera in the glass bezel edge.
Full complement of wireless protocols, wifi(a,g,n), 3G/edge cellular, bluetooth, etc. 2 USB and an ethernet and external video break-out ports, possibly through a dock-connector, or something similar. Completely solid state, no moving parts, no hinges, though. Dockable to desktop implements (keyboard, mouse, larger screen, network drives/printers/storage via gigabit ethernet when docked, and still a multi-touch and draw-on tablet input device, even when docked.)
Running a version of Mac OS X somewhere between iPhone, and full version. Mix of quick-access nearly always-front icons, and full-screen mode for apps like iTunes/iPod-mode, but also full "finder" file and disk resource management. Most or all of the operating system's features, just quick-access touch-driven layout.
With a bluetooth earpiece or headset, and an iSight camera in the device, this thing could be a videophone over IP, or over cellular networks. stored movie, or co-opted-optical-drive/external-drive DVD player. Large-capacity and large-screen multi-touch iPod, Full function file browser and editor, wireless internet terminal, and capable of running nearly all normal Mac OS programs, save for the most resource-intensive pro-grade programs, which require more hardware.
That would be what I would do.
It may be to large for you but I have to suggest that you must be a very small person. The scoop is this; I find most cell phones to be to small to use effectively, iPhone somewhat less so. If you are a normal size guy they can be very fiddly and difficult to use. Especially if you make use of non cell phone features.
The other side of this is that one has to remember that the iPhones are also iPod with a supplied set of buds and a mic, you never really have to hold it to your head. Even if you do it is smaller than the majority of handsets available out there.
Look at it this way size does matter!
Dave
Maybe your are missing something. Look at it this way peoples needs vary over time and may even vary over a day. So when your workflow is lite you carry around iPhone nano, when your workflow is a bit heavier you carry around an iPhone maxi. 😀 😱 It is all about the flow.
The biggest problem with iPhone, with respect to being a "Safari Pad", isn't that it is a cell phone but rather that it is to limited to really handle all that the web can throw at it. By this I mean several things, one being processor speed, two being available memory and three being screen real estate. The Web just needs more capacity than the iPhone can offer up currently. The point is that the concept of a cell phone better optimized for this is not impossible. Growth can take place in a number of directions still leaving use with a very usable cell phone and a much more capable internet device. I really believe that it is possible to get an HD resolution screen into an iPhone like device.
Dave
EagerDragon
macrumors 68020
Why would we put it to our face?
When you do a voice iChat, do you put your laptop to your face?
Why would it not offer voice commands and allow me to have a voice and even video conference from even 5 feet away?
Also can use bluetooth headset with this and also with iPhone. No need to place next to my face.
I agree with the article authour that they'll release one, and I think this will usher in a new computing era.
I just got an iPod Touch and am blown away by it. It has become the singular most cherished piece of technology I've ever owned. I thought the onscreen keyboard would be annoying, but it's truly amazing. And I couldn't imagine how web browsing could actually be tolerable on a screen that small. But, around home, I've pretty much stopped using my MacBook for web & email, and use my Touch. It's freaking amazing, and I am someone who's extremely critical about the technology I use.
A larger one would, IMO, replace many, many people's needs for laptops. The iSafariPad would become a desktop extender. One that you carry everywhere, like a day planner.
eBooks, office documents, spreadsheets, audio, video, web - everything you look at, would be at your fingertips, instantly accessible. These things will be in use everywhere.
The Star Trek tablet is exactly the right comparison.
If I had more money, I'd be buying even more Apple stock. No other company has ever eclipsed what I imagined I'd like to own.
I just got an iPod Touch and am blown away by it. It has become the singular most cherished piece of technology I've ever owned. I thought the onscreen keyboard would be annoying, but it's truly amazing. And I couldn't imagine how web browsing could actually be tolerable on a screen that small. But, around home, I've pretty much stopped using my MacBook for web & email, and use my Touch. It's freaking amazing, and I am someone who's extremely critical about the technology I use.
A larger one would, IMO, replace many, many people's needs for laptops. The iSafariPad would become a desktop extender. One that you carry everywhere, like a day planner.
eBooks, office documents, spreadsheets, audio, video, web - everything you look at, would be at your fingertips, instantly accessible. These things will be in use everywhere.
The Star Trek tablet is exactly the right comparison.
If I had more money, I'd be buying even more Apple stock. No other company has ever eclipsed what I imagined I'd like to own.