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'Large Screen iPod Touch Device' in Fall of 2009?

osin said:
if the price will be right (~$300-$400) it could be an Apple's answer to netbooks...
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Not a chance. The iPod Touches are around that price range. Add a much larger screen, bigger hard drive, more ports, processor, etc. It'll be at least double, just like leshman03 said.

pomus said:
<image of tablet with keyboard and click wheel>

I'm not so fond of the keyboard or of the clickwheel. However, seeing how such a device could benefit from Snow Leopard, we just might see a quasi-iphone OS/10.6-ish? Now, that'd be sweet on this MacTouch. :apple:
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Ok, quite honestly that's just stupid, a click wheel on a touch screen? What's the point? :confused:
 
monke said:
Ok, quite honestly that's just stupid, a click wheel on a touch screen? What's the point? :confused:
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I think it was part of an Apple patent, which we may never see. Obviously, it was poorly implemented on the pic. Although, you could see something similar, say, on a mixer UI, for example. ;)
 
Demosthenes X said:
RE: pricing.

What if they build in a 3G modem for data? Sell it at Apple stores with no contract for ~$1000, or subsidized for ~$500. Let's face it, this device would be far more useful if you had internet on it wherever you went.

Add in some Bonjour software, so that when you walk into a restaurant with it, it beams the menu right to your device, and you've got a fantastic piece of equipment.
Click to expand...


This could also be potentially a game-changer in physician's offices. Chart notes, taking dictation, drug interactions, etc.
 
No carrier services on the iTablet please!. I got that data plan on my phone already!. Just use untethered mode wifi. Besides Apple don't know how to make a flexible SIM card slot/holder, and forget those carrier subsidies, they can go the standard Netbook way and watch their revenues crumble.

Apple has the iTunes store with their 30% cut and that will make them better money with a huge "long-tail" effect, and no contract re-negotiations.:rolleyes:

There is possible slots for 2 to 3 variants, if they choose play seriously in this space. People will need 2 devices (one spare) and it would be good to exploit some slight variants (eg a 32GB flash disk version and 120GB HDD version). Or a thicker one with long-life battery (cost $99 more, double-pack density).

Let me emphasize again. iTablet is meant to be complimentary to existing line up. It can replace for a short periods of time but with charge/sync when re-docked.
 
With the recent rumors I have been hearing, iPhone Nano and now an iPod Touch Tablet...

I believe they are going to make a iPod Touch Nano instead of iPhone Nano...

I don't think it would make sense to call it an iPod anymore considering all the things it would do. What are they going to call it iPod Touch Tablet or iPod Touch Nano (that is if they are making one)?

I think they are going to make a new family of touch devices just like the MacBook family and the Mac family. Maybe calling it the iTouch Nano, iTouch Tablet, and of course the iTouch.

I don't know about the netbooks probably make the MacBook Air's screen smaller but that would make it just fatter...
 
Wow, 5 pages and no one mentioned the Newton. The Newton has features that aren't available on current iPods or Macs.
 
trouble is, it reminds me of the Psion Series 7
the Series 3 and Series 5 were perfect machines because they would fit in your pocket and so easily portable
the Series 7 doubled in size, and so was no more convieniant than a laptop, but with less functionality

anyway, i'm starting to save up for this one now
as long as it'll allow me to screenshare to control my other macs from my sofa, i'll be happy

p.s. will it do Copy/Paste? :)
 
No!

I hate this idea. The whole idea is that you can fit it in your pocket and bring it around with a hassle. This is like a mini laptop. No Apple! Please do not do this!
 
fteoath64 said:
No carrier services on the iTablet please!. I got that data plan on my phone already!. Just use untethered mode wifi. Besides Apple don't know how to make a flexible SIM card slot/holder, and forget those carrier subsidies, they can go the standard Netbook way and watch their revenues crumble.
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I'd like to see an optional data plan. I'll agree wholeheartedly that a mandatory data plan would suck, but it should have the option. Not everyone will have an iPhone (especially if they have one of these). If the carriers could somehow associate one user's iPhone and iTablet with the same SIM and thus, the same data plan, that would be brilliant!

But with wireless connectivity from (virtually) anywhere, think of what you could do. Complete access to every file on your home machine. No need to worry about syncing, leaving files at home, etc. This machine would then, in fact, be little more than a terminal, tapping into your home network and streaming content.

Obviously it would still have onboard storage, for multimedia and other files too large to stream, but imagine you're working on a project, you present it to a client, they make some edits. When you get back to the office and open the file on your iMac, all the changes are there, perfectly synced.

It would be genius.
 
xhambonex said:
thats what i think it should be, if they could get something in that price range at that size, it might compete too much with the ipod touch, but who knows the iphone sure didn't hurt the ipods sales
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If it gets Apple another $50-100 I'm sure they don't care if cuts others sales. Indeed they have said as much themselves. Not to mention grabbing other peoples, and untapped sales to make it all worth while.

Can't see this being a Mac, sounds like it will be squarely in the iPod Touch Family. Hoping something like iWorks Touch rounds out the built in apps.
 
If this is what I hope it is, Apple will have a huge winner on their hands!

A device in the 7 inch diagonal range would be ideal. It would even be better if cellular networking was optional. Add a couple of old fashion mechanical switches and a fleshed out iPhone OS and people will be dancing in the streets. Such a device could function as an eBook reader, iPod, communications device and a host of other things.

As for pricing well I see a lot of negativity here. Something like this shouldn't be much more than an iPod Touch. Maybe $75 more for the same capacity and a couple of hundred for a high capacity model. The high capacity model being very important.

The only possible problem would be if Apple had it's head up it's ass still when outfitting the hardware and software. By that I mean that the device needs ports. Supported ports at that, that means full BluTooth and USB stacks. And maybe even more important a flash card slot or two. Either compact flash or SDHC. The device needs to be communicative but Apple seems to think that is a replacement for local storage. It isn't, this device will need lots of internal storage. Ideally we would start out with 64 GB at the low end and work our way up to 256 GB at the high end.

As far as the actual hardware goes I don't think Apple has much choice but to go with ARM. The only question is how many cores, I'd like to see four completely power managed cores. Having the ability to power manage by both clock rate adjustment and powering down cores would lead to the best possible combination of performance for the energy used and the performance needed. RAM is another issue and one needs to balance power usage with space, 512 MB with current technology should just about do it. I'd like more but RAM can be very power hungery. However this would be the perfect platform for somebody to introduce a new ultra low power static high capacity RAM module. Would love to see Firewire on a device like this, I would settle for a USB host port, BluTooth and WiFI. WiFi that works everywhere unlike my MacBook Pro. I mentioned it above but a media slot has to happen, I like Compact Flash because it is big enough for alternative uses. Of course GPS and a complete suite of environmental sensors would have to be there.

Slightly related to the above is case design. I'd like to see provisions for clip-on modules. The ideas here are cameras, barcode scanners, radio / TV modules and otherthings that don't make sense in the base design. I do mean clip-on to, the idea is to maintain the housing integrity while supporting transient attachment of differing functionality. The FireWire port should provide the connection and power to the attached device. I mentioned a few ideas for modules to attach to the unit but there are a lot more ideas that could leverage such an arraingement. The thing is this would instantly turn the device into an industrial solution as well as a consumer solution. Done right the features required to latch on an attachment would hardly be noticeable to the consummer and add little in the way of cost.

In any event enough speculation. All I can say to the disbelivers is that the right device could be a gold mine for Apple. Size is extremely important and a version suitable for use outside (IP 64) would be huge. Not only would this unit have a strong consumer and professional following it would also be able to replace a bunch of existing special purpose hardware. I actually think the hardware is easy right now, the question is can Apple morph Mobile OS into something more robust and feature full.


Dave
 
I see a lot of complaints about screen size here.

The issues with screen size are justified, which is why I think Apple needs to deliver more that one size of IPod Touch. While 7 inches may seem big remember that this is a diagonal measurement on what is hopefully an HD format screen. That would be 16:9 or wider, so lay it out on paper or just lay a ruler across the face of an iPhone approximating a 16:9 screen, it is managable at 6" and just a bit fat at 7". For many people pocketing the device will be no problem at all.

The current screen is just about 3.5" on the diagonal. Anything from 5 to 7 inches would produce a nice portable device.


Dave
 
We want thousands for our University. But the device must run the full Apple Keynote and the full Microsoft PowerPoint. That means the full Mac OS X 10.5.6 inside (and not just the crippled OX X that the iPhone and iPod touch run now).

What for? For full blown presentations with transitions, animations, etc using NATIVE Keynote and PowerPoint files. Because even the MacBook Air is too large and heavy for us.

So, make the presentation on any Mac, move it to the device, carry ONLY the device ON YOUR POCKET and use it as you would use a laptop for the presentation:

VGA-out a must to connect to videoprojectors.
Firewire a must for Target Disk Mode repairs.
Ethernet a must to connect to Internet.

The price is not a problem. The key points are weight and size. Something like this, but with Mac OS X inside:

OQO To Debut Model 2+ With 1.86 Intel Atom, Touch At CES, Digital Experience
OQO model 2+
http://www.gottabemobile.com/2008/1...86-intel-atom-touch-at-ces-digital-experience

The new OQO specs "model 2+"
http://www.oqotalk.com/index.php/topic,3357.0/topicseen.html

OQO bringing Atom-powered Model 2+ UMPC to CES
http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/30/oqo-bringing-atom-powered-model-2-umpc-to-ces

Check out the first picture at:

Next Apple moves will be Books and Games…
http://spidouz.wordpress.com/2008/09/03/next-apple-moves-will-be-books-and-games

FANTASTIC!!!
 
not pocket-sized

It's not going to be pocket-sized because if you need a pocket-sized device, you can already buy an iPhone or iPod Touch. It's not going to run full sized apps, because if you want to run full sized apps, you can buy a MacBook.

It's going to run iPhone apps, but on a bigger display for people who won't buy an iPhone because they can't see stuff on the current size devices. (e.g. if you already have an iPhone or iPod Touch, then it's not for you, your vision is too good).

It's for those potential customers who don't already have an Apple product, not for the fanboys here.

.
 
The only way I would ever buy a product like this is if it had like 20 active hours or some huge battery.
 
Sehnsucht said:
I like the design, but where are the FireWire 800, eSATA, InfiniBand and FibreChannel ports??!!! :D :D :D
Click to expand...

None of that is there because Apple is no longer a company for the creators. It's just ishit, all the time. Watch when firewire is removed from the iMac, but at the same time this flashy but ultimately useless device (for content creators) is unveiled.
 
This is too big to fit in my pocket, yet to small for my tastes in what I would want from a laptop (or tablet for that matter).

MacBook Pro + iPhone 3G = All I need
 
alexbates said:
This is the closest I have seen to what Apple will probably come out with. At least it doesn't look fake compared to what I have seen. All it needs is a new name, MacBook Touch.
Click to expand...

It really isn't a Macbook because it doesn't have a lid to close, hence the "book," in notebook.

Awesome mockup by the way.

The problem with these rumors is that we all know Apple has been working on tablets for years but has released nothing.

Also, we know in some way Apple has internally investigated a larger iPod/iPhone.

The problem as some others have pointed out is that they really are two different devices. If it is around 7", then it is way to small to be anything useful as a computer and might be too large to even be portable enough for an iPod.

The other option is the 11-13" tablet range which suggests a computer. This of course would mean Apple completely working Touch into OS X which has not happened yet.

Apple is not going to simply create a Touch Tablet without changing the way normal interaction is done in OS X. The Tablet will be their first move to incorporate Touch into their computer screens.

I wouldn't expect a Tablet until OS X 10.7 which I imagine won't be until 2010/2011.
 
still not sure about this, but I'll be open enough to see what it can do. I do like the idea of hooking it up with the remote app to your appleTV and perhaps the home server as a super remote control (think the large colour prontos or sonos controllers etc)

Although once you start getting big (and by association, expensive), then I'll want more than a slave device. I'm not paying nearly laptop prices and then having to dock it with *another* computer to put stuff on it. eg I'd expect it to be able to sync my ipod via USB - perhaps from locally stored media or wirelessly from the home media server.

Apple really need to get the positioning right. if its too expensive but still a dumb client I think it'll be a failure - like the appleTV IMO (I have one but its *this* close to being a mini)
 
I think this is Apples netbook rival, and it will be significantly more expensive than an eeePC, but it will sell by the bucketload. I just hope it comes sooner than autumn. I predicted this in my 2009 predictions at number 2

I said next 6 months so lets hope Apple get ahead of schedule!
 
firewood said:
It's not going to be pocket-sized because if you need a pocket-sized device, you can already buy an iPhone or iPod Touch. It's not going to run full sized apps, because if you want to run full sized apps, you can buy a MacBook.

It's going to run iPhone apps, but on a bigger display for people who won't buy an iPhone because they can't see stuff on the current size devices. (e.g. if you already have an iPhone or iPod Touch, then it's not for you, your vision is too good).

It's for those potential customers who don't already have an Apple product, not for the fanboys here.

.
Click to expand...

The iPhone and iPod touch do not run Apple Keynote and Microsoft PowerPoint for full-blown presentations from NATIVE files.

The MacBook and even the MacBook Air is too large and heavy.

That is why we want a pocketable device that runs the full Mac OS X inside (not just the OS X).
 
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