You mean all these unsubstantiated rumours that may or may not have any basis in fact? Probably not the best basis to make such a judgment...
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More Tablet Rumors: Dual Dock Connectors, Antenna Panel and Optional 3G Support?
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You mean all these unsubstantiated rumours that may or may not have any basis in fact? Probably not the best basis to make such a judgment...
IF this is the apple tablet we are getting next week I don't think anyone will be disappointed. IF we aren't getting "this" tablet until the distant future then you may be right...
http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2010/01/apple-the-tablet-prophecies.html
http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2010/01/apple-the-tablet-prophecies.html
Remember when you had to tote around the cork screw, screwdrivers, the big knife, the scissors, the large magnifying glass, and all sorts of other things in a large satchel?
Then someone made a crippled version of them all. It was laughed at, but people couldn't stop buying and using them.
Master of none, god of nothing, but it sure does work well enough for 95% of the population.
Two dock connectors... Why? Really why? No seriously... What pills was Steve on to 'ok' that...
With Steve being 'extremely happy' with the end result, it has to be nothing short than the 'ambrosia of the gods'
Lets think about this; When do you use a dock connector? Charging and Syncing... Hmm why would we need to 'dock' it either way?
As the 'reports' (and I use that term loosely) come in. With all the talk of a 'shared home device' it seems that mobility and wireless freedom is key here...
As for the 3G? I am sure some people would make use of it but I think most of its use time will really be using this magic slab in 'established' Wi-Fi enabled areas (Home/School/Business environments).
Again, if you can't tell from the listed above items, I call shenanigans here. iLounge you just happened to find two different Apple connections that were fed the same rainbow-lime fish bait... And chances are their walking papers have been served.
But...but... but they "double-confirmed" it... I .. yea I can't keep a straight face either.
i get the feeling this will be a niche product, only for specific people like the MacBook Air - at the end of the day according to rumors it is an oversized iPhone/iPod Touch, the MBA was a slimmed down MacBook in a Niche market for rich students and businessmen going everywhere, although i'm sure every Apple fanboy will purchase one
This. Something like that pad you put your electronics on and it charges. It will also be advertised to death.
I don't think the tablet is supposed to be put on a charger for extended periods of time. It's a mobile device theoretically.
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a whisper like connection would be awesome, but i am not paying for another data plan...to expensive already. I hardly ever use 3G for data...I am always near a wifi.
Yet, I have a funny feeling that instead of we have an app for that...its going to be we have a data plan for that!
Please Apple dont make me buy a tablet with a data plan.
a whisper like connection would be awesome, but i am not paying for another data plan...to expensive already. I hardly ever use 3G for data...I am always near a wifi.
Yet, I have a funny feeling that instead of we have an app for that...its going to be we have a data plan for that!
Please Apple dont make me buy a tablet with a data plan.
I disagree. A large majority of people who buy iPhones or iPod Touches do so because they are interested in the way you can easily download apps that streamline the transmittal of information or the use of a near infinite number of unique functions.
I definitely think shifting this paradigm to a larger device that is portable, but can also be easily used around the house, hotel room, coffee shop, or wherever you are, due to the larger screen is a good idea.
Sure, I have an iPhone, and this device might provide a lot of duplicate functionality (although I also think it will be capable of many things not possible on the iPhone). But I rarely use the iPhone when I'm not out on the road with little free time. At home I find myself using a desktop because of the larger screen is just more pleasent. However, I rarely use or need the complex OS and App funtionality offered on a full desktop computer.
I'm definitely interested in a device that mimics the way an iPhone works, but with a larger screen.
Dual dock conector? Nah. I'd guess they really meant that it would have a dock connector and a USB port to hook an iPod or iPhone up to.
As for the data service, if I already own an iPhone and pay the $30/month data plan, will I need an additional one for the tablet?
Sigh.
Probably.
As for the data service, if I already own an iPhone and pay the $30/month data plan, will I need an additional one for the tablet?
Sigh.
Probably.
Your approach is odd.
The MBAir wasn't MADE for a niche market, it was only affordable to a niche market. Those are two very different aspects of the success of the device. If you had a Macbook and a Macbook Air side by side with the same price tag (let's say $1000), I bet 90%+ of the purchasers would buy the MBAir. Function of the two are basically the same, but one is thinner, lighter, and more pleasantly designed.
The MBAir was also a very cautious "toe in the water" to gauge how eager the market is for something lighter and not as hooked into the traditional spinning drives. It was also a stride forward to super compressing components, as the iPhone did, but with a laptop.
People in a system, in the case a consumer system, will mostly get wrapped up in blind ignorance. They tend to only believe in what was already done, and many manufacturers trail behind as they try to merely provide alternatives to what products are on the market. Apple has always been pushing toward the future of devices, which is wise. It can fail, but the success can be amazing.
By consolidating and compressing the items people need or want in their daily routine, Apple can capture a market. This device will probably attempt to cover a few eager markets, but one that will definitely be important is mobile connectivity. iPhones started doing that, but the size is just a pain unless you are doing small and quick messages. Watch out for what Apple releases in the future, because all of it will probably hypercompress. I'd expect this engineering style going into iMacs and MacPros within 2 or 3 years.
The major factors in this device are function vs. cost. No doubt the market exists, but will the device be worth the price? We'll see in 5 days.
The docks are likely for video
Its likely that one of the functions of the device is working with your laptop or desktop as a second monitor. Which would explain why one port is needed for landscape and portrait. If this device acts as a second monitor, has a 1/2 terabyte of memory and has handwriting recognition, I can get rid of all of the attachments I use with laptop. A monitor, an external harddrive and a wacom tablet.
Its likely that one of the functions of the device is working with your laptop or desktop as a second monitor. Which would explain why one port is needed for landscape and portrait. If this device acts as a second monitor, has a 1/2 terabyte of memory and has handwriting recognition, I can get rid of all of the attachments I use with laptop. A monitor, an external harddrive and a wacom tablet.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
2 dock connectors could mean that the dock connector- which you probably need to take along for charging this thing anyway- also acts as the stand. That gives you a widescreen- but smallscreen- solution when you want to use it with a bluetooth keyboard & mouse, roughly replicating the laptop experience.
Of course, if I'm also throwing a keyboard and dock in the bag, wouldn't I want to just take a (combined) thinner laptop instead? Hmmm
Of course, if I'm also throwing a keyboard and dock in the bag, wouldn't I want to just take a (combined) thinner laptop instead? Hmmm
2 dock connectors really just means 1 dock connector, one mini-usb. Seems pretty obvious.
http://www.hardmac.com/news/2009/06/29/apple-will-adopt-mini-usb-port-for-2010-iphone-models
http://www.hardmac.com/news/2009/06/29/apple-will-adopt-mini-usb-port-for-2010-iphone-models
another data plan?
If I signed up with AT&T that means I have another contract for data if the tablet is subsidized and pay another $30 every month just to access the internet. This is a joke! There is so much speculation right now with the device and data pricing plan. I hope they would come up with something that would not rip-off our pockets.
If I signed up with AT&T that means I have another contract for data if the tablet is subsidized and pay another $30 every month just to access the internet. This is a joke! There is so much speculation right now with the device and data pricing plan. I hope they would come up with something that would not rip-off our pockets.
Technically, it is mobile so you can take to the next place you want to use it for a relatively (in comparison to your "walk" time ) long time. You go somewhere and you stay for 30-400 mins and then go somewhere else. During when sitting and not move time you may want to let something else "hold" the device is a somewhat upright orientation. You get two purposes out of one device if the holder/charger are same thing.
What the charger/device should do is draw charge when there is no need.
Mobile in that you use it while walking around ... it isn't going to serve that level of mobility.
The charger still has a wire on it so haven't gone "wireless" anyway. There has to be a wire to plug it into the wall. There is no need for a "wire" between the charger and the device's dock connector.
I predict this will have an impact on the automotive market.
People currently do clever things like home-brewed car-mounted computers for A/V and other purposes, running cables for power and connection to the stereo system, cutting out sections of the console to fit the equipment and screen... Or buy entire pre-built in-car computers for the same purpose.
But it would not take long before such a tablet would be a substitute for in-car systems.
Assuming they do little more than make it a large iPhone, it would have:
Cars already have Dock connectors, so there's your power and interface with the car, including access to the speaker system.
With very little work, it would be possible to have an app that controls the climate control, and maybe car lighting, even seat and mirror positions, either via the Dock cable, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or whatever. Ala Apple's Remote app.
If it has two dock connectors, it would be able to have an accessory plugged in at the same time as being connected to the car (eg: FM radio receiver).
All they'd really need to do is provide a mount point for it. You unmount it, take it with you, sync it with your computer, return to your car, dock it, you're golden.
You could end up with a series of car manufacturer apps in the Store, designed to interface with your make and model (and if you have multiple cars, you can just install multiple vendor/model apps), which would have your personal presets.
Other apps could include fleet management apps (distance and fuel logging), which would no doubt eventually extend to access to the vehicle (for example, think of ZipCar, but when the driver walks up and uses their iPhone app to unlock the car, it's an Apple tablet inside the car that says "yes"). And I'm sure a bunch of other things that nobody's thought of yet.
People currently do clever things like home-brewed car-mounted computers for A/V and other purposes, running cables for power and connection to the stereo system, cutting out sections of the console to fit the equipment and screen... Or buy entire pre-built in-car computers for the same purpose.
But it would not take long before such a tablet would be a substitute for in-car systems.
Assuming they do little more than make it a large iPhone, it would have:
- Multi-GB capacity
- Large touch-screen
- Support for audio and video playback
- GPS, enhanced by commercial apps from the App Store
- Bluetooth
- Cell network access
- Internet access
Cars already have Dock connectors, so there's your power and interface with the car, including access to the speaker system.
With very little work, it would be possible to have an app that controls the climate control, and maybe car lighting, even seat and mirror positions, either via the Dock cable, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or whatever. Ala Apple's Remote app.
If it has two dock connectors, it would be able to have an accessory plugged in at the same time as being connected to the car (eg: FM radio receiver).
All they'd really need to do is provide a mount point for it. You unmount it, take it with you, sync it with your computer, return to your car, dock it, you're golden.
You could end up with a series of car manufacturer apps in the Store, designed to interface with your make and model (and if you have multiple cars, you can just install multiple vendor/model apps), which would have your personal presets.
Other apps could include fleet management apps (distance and fuel logging), which would no doubt eventually extend to access to the vehicle (for example, think of ZipCar, but when the driver walks up and uses their iPhone app to unlock the car, it's an Apple tablet inside the car that says "yes"). And I'm sure a bunch of other things that nobody's thought of yet.