New Newton - Not From Apple?

[cornboy]

I wonder who is behind this. I think some mac friendly people with alot of money.

I guess they see a niche here they can fill. Very interesting nevertheless.

how about those very nice chaps over at OQO.com? Logical move, they know the Apple stuff inside out, they're product has promised much but delivered nothing becasue the market moved while the money men were still sitting in their hands.

 

[SiliconAddict]

Gateway or HP??

You know. The more I read this quote from thinksecret....

a Stone Multimedia representative said that "Apple is not even close" to relaunching the Newton, and that at the moment, a US company "approached Apple willing to buy [the] Newton and relaunch it. They are in ... negotiations with Apple," the rep said.

The more I'm convinced that this "US Company" may very well be either HP or Gateway.

HP makes sense because they were one of the last on the market to give up producing Microsoft handheld PC devices based on Windows CE. (Not to be confused with Pocket PC's.) They had and possibly have a major hard on for handheld systems. Also they were one of the first out of the gate with the Tablet PC featuring Windows XP: Tablet Edition with a very innovative design. This suggests that HP is looking for a handwriting solution for the corp environment. As much as I like the Tablet PC its too bulky and expensive for writing notes. A Newton could fit the bill for a midrange unit until Tablets take off in the market. Cheaper, smaller tablets.
Also with the new relationship with Apple in regards to the HPod someone over there may be thinking what other Apple wares they could distribute.

The other alternative is Gateway....mooooo. Over the last year they have put their toe in the waters of the PDA market but every time it looks like they are finally going to take the plunge they canning the idea. I don't think it would be out of the realm of possibilities that someone in moocow country thought up the idea of the Newton and hired Stone Multimedia to do some preliminary market research to see if there is a market for a new Newton.

Personally of the two I would rather have HP. They have at least some history of innovation and software design. Gateway? Ehh. Not really.

 

[aswitcher]

You know. The more I read this quote from thinksecret....



The more I'm convinced that this "US Company" may very well be either HP or Gateway.

HP makes sense because they were one of the last on the market to give up producing Microsoft handheld PC devices based on Windows CE. (Not to be confused with Pocket PC's.) They had and possibly have a major hard on for handheld systems. Also they were one of the first out of the gate with the Tablet PC featuring Windows XP: Tablet Edition with a very innovative design. This suggests that HP is looking for a handwriting solution for the corp environment. As much as I like the Tablet PC its too bulky and expensive for writing notes. A Newton could fit the bill for a midrange unit until Tablets take off in the market. Cheaper, smaller tablets.
Also with the new relationship with Apple in regards to the HPod someone over there may be thinking what other Apple wares they could distribute.

SNIP

Personally of the two I would rather have HP. They have at least some history of innovation and software design. Gateway? Ehh. Not really.

Yep, I raised this a little while back, saying that the iPod deal with HP could have a recipricol arrangement with HP to do an Apple PDA... If Palm found out they of course would see the writing on the wall. It all fits BUT we will just have to wait and see...

 

[bensisko]

But isn't the ipod just a spit away from being a PDA, it has a calendar, it has contacts, it plays music, you can record memos, store documents - yep, you can do most anything that most people do with a PDA. All SJ has to do is decide to go the whole hog.

Nope, the iPod is not a PDA (for most PDA users), mainly because you cannot enter information into the iPod on the go. So until I can enter contact information and add an appointment to the calender, the iPod is NOT a PDA, it's mearly a viewer.

 

[Snowy_River]

Nope, the iPod is not a PDA (for most PDA users), mainly because you cannot enter information into the iPod on the go. So until I can enter contact information and add an appointment to the calender, the iPod is NOT a PDA, it's mearly a viewer.

Yeah, but imagine if they could add some basic speach recognition into the iPod, so that you could navigate to calendar, then add an appointment by dictating it...

I know, I know, pie in the sky. Still, it's fun to dream....

 

[bensisko]

The more I'm convinced that this "US Company" may very well be either HP or Gateway.

I highly doubt HP, mostly because the iPaq is still the darling flagship Pocket PC. The iPaq is a heavy name in the PDA industry (perhaps not quite as much as the iPod in the portable music, but still, a VERY heavy player). MS would not let HP dive into the Newton without a fight, and there's really no sense in abandoning a profitable product line in favor of a questionable one.

Gateway? They just bought eMachines, and I doubt they have the cash flow (without going into huge debt) to launch something completely new.

Dell would never do it because they are not in the market of taking risks.

The only 'computer company' solutions would be:
1) IBM, but I really don't see them making a plunge and possibly cutting into their ThinkPad line.
2) Microsoft. They have already bought some Newton technologies from Apple for use in Pocket PC (some of which have appeared and some of which have not). They could want more technology to 'assimulate' into Pocket PC. (If you want a conspiracy theory, it's rumored that part of the lawsuit settlement and the new version of office for the mac deal was the killing of the Newton because the eMate threatened MS's plans for expansion into education markets [which never really happened] and the Newton cut into sales of high-end Windows CE devices. Apple and MS agreed to share technologies and MS got to take a really good close look at Newton techology. It's a fact that some of this made it's way into what would be called Pocket PC.)

Really neither of these match. i highly doubt Apple would ever sell anything they hold the rights to. Not only could it be a Public Relations nightmare (if it succeded or not), but you never know what technology could be scavanged for a future version of Mac OS X/Powerbooks (some eMate design principles made it into the first iBooks).

Sorry to everybody hoping for a new Newton, it's VERY unlikely that the Newton will appear. I don't know why this multimedia group is putting this out (perhaps publicity??), but if you look at the facts (a canadian company is doing a survey for an american company looking to buy technology from another american company????), nothing seems to add up or make sense.

Just a wondering thought, has Steve Jobs EVER sold an Apple technology? License, yes. Sold? Maybe, but I don't know of anything.

 

[bensisko]

Yeah, but imagine if they could add some basic speach recognition into the iPod, so that you could navigate to calendar, then add an appointment by dictating it...

I know, I know, pie in the sky. Still, it's fun to dream....

Don't they have to get it to work on the desktop BEFORE they put it on the iPod? (I haven't tried the new software yet, so I can't speak for that...)

 

[mac_lowlife]

PDA?

People still use PDAs? Are they really that useful? Do I really need another rectangular box in my pocket? I'd rather bank on a next gen iPod to go down this road. Die PDA, Die.

 

[aswitcher]

People still use PDAs? Are they really that useful? Do I really need another rectangular box in my pocket? I'd rather bank on a next gen iPod to go down this road. Die PDA, Die.

PDAs can be REALLY useful if your job involves meetings, multiple tasks, reference tables and documents, many contacts...and an iPod will not do because you can't enter data away from the computer. Love to chuck my palm T2 for a Mac PDA

 

[Ken Heins]

PDA's useful

In my my business, real estate, even a 12 inch I-Book is much too large to be practical. If you don't believe me, try it all day every day, and you will change your mind.

And, after having lived with a Toshiba PDA for 3 months and having it repaired under warranty 3 different times, I am BEGGING for Apple to get back in to the market.

BTW: the Toshiba syncs using MissingSync with my I-Book much easier than it does with Microsoft/Active Sync on a Windows machine. Amazing!

IPods are ok, but people in the real world actually have time to mess around with music and games?????????

No doubt I will get flamed for that, but I believe that if Apple actually got back into the PDA market, it would be a larger market than the I-Pod, and that would REALLY make people in the real world notice Apple. Entertainment is fine, but that is such a tiny part of the real world.

But then Steve Jobs would have to dirty his hands with us evil business people as opposed to those cool, hip pop culture types. To be fair, he is heavily involved in business and more power to him, he just likes to act as if he is above it all.

But I just ask him to remember us business types. Some of us in business use Macs every day, and even with all the disadvantages caused by our small percentage of the market, my Windows friend marvel every day at what I can do easily compared to their stuff.

Just bring it to a PDA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And hack a way to allow us Mac types to read all websites, even those that are sabotaged by Microsofts' code writers so that they can only be read by MSIE on a Windows machine! Either that or sue the SOB's.

 

[tex210]

Toshiba.... check this out

In my my business, real estate, even a 12 inch I-Book is much too large to be practical. If you don't believe me, try it all day every day, and you will change your mind.

And, after having lived with a Toshiba PDA for 3 months and having it repaired under warranty 3 different times, I am BEGGING for Apple to get back in to the market.

BTW: the Toshiba syncs using MissingSync with my I-Book much easier than it does with Microsoft/Active Sync on a Windows machine. Amazing!

IPods are ok, but people in the real world actually have time to mess around with music and games?????????

No doubt I will get flamed for that, but I believe that if Apple actually got back into the PDA market, it would be a larger market than the I-Pod, and that would REALLY make people in the real world notice Apple. Entertainment is fine, but that is such a tiny part of the real world.

But then Steve Jobs would have to dirty his hands with us evil business people as opposed to those cool, hip pop culture types. To be fair, he is heavily involved in business and more power to him, he just likes to act as if he is above it all.

But I just ask him to remember us business types. Some of us in business use Macs every day, and even with all the disadvantages caused by our small percentage of the market, my Windows friend marvel every day at what I can do easily compared to their stuff.

Just bring it to a PDA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And hack a way to allow us Mac types to read all websites, even those that are sabotaged by Microsofts' code writers so that they can only be read by MSIE on a Windows machine! Either that or sue the SOB's.

Ken, what if that manufacturer of the vpod or whatever is actually toshiba?
check this out on brighthand...
http://www.brighthand.com/article/Toshiba_Showing_Off_Cutting-Edge_Tech?site=

Isn't that everything steve is waiting for? Maybe the price point has to fall first.
edit: If it is Toshiba, I hope Quality is improved over your device experience.

My only other notion is that PalmOne is up to something with Apple...
http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2004Jan/bpd20040128023640.htm

 

[antcomp]

It's always a good thing when 3rd parties develop for the Mac. Hey Apple can't do it alone. I always see new gadgets coming out that are PC only. If Apple wants to get back into the game it is key that 3rd parties develop for the Mac. I would love to one day walk into a CompUSA and see items on the shelf that say Mac only

ther already are, Office 2004: Mac, Final cut pro, Final cut express, Mac OS X, iLife, Soundtrack, Apple remote Desktop,Motion, and Adobe creative suite. okay that last one is also avalible to windows as is office but neither ship on the same disk and the rest are all Apple products

 

[22350]

why not this??