Notion Ink Smartpad 10.1 inch Tablet Announced Ahead of CES

[dernhelm]

If they can actually release this thing for $300 (unsubsidized) they will eat the iPod Touch, and just about everything else, for lunch. All Apple has that thing thing can't beat is the App Store. And while the App Store is cool, it isn't more cool than this.

Now of course, they'll never be able to release this for $300 or anything like it. In fact, they may not be able to release it at all. And whose to say what kind of heat problems, failure possibilities, etc are possible in such a device. A device with this form factor and this many features had better be done right. Not saying this company couldn't do it right - just that they'd better.

Still, it sure looks and sounds really cool. They should get a lot of buzz around their booth as CES (which, after all was the real reason for the announcement).

 

[Rot'nApple]

Except both those markets were already big hits in and of themselves.

MP3 players eco system was fractured to non-existent. You could buy an mp3 player, rip songs from your cd or bit torrent and hope the RIAA didn't sue you. But with regards to an mp3 eco system like the mp3 player (iPod) - iTunes software - Music Store, was there something similar before Apple came along? Or am I mistaken? And if mistaken, why are we not talking about them and their success and that Apple needs to create a "Competition" Killer device? And apparently the smart phone world just saw that it had more rings of the ladder to climb. New type of phone navigation (finger - touch screen), new user interface, web browser, app store and more.

They entered markets where there were tons of opportunity.

And yet pretty much all the touch screen phones and various OS's are being introduced after Apple's splash. There may have been tons of opportunity but it seemed no one took the reins until Apple proved it to be ultra popular.

The problem with tablets is that... well.. they don't sell well and aren't very popular. If Apple does make a tablet, it will have to really be something to fit in that niche between a laptop and a PMP while being better than a netbook.

Apple wouldn't produce a tablet without it being geared to something. With the iPhone it was about making a smart phone easy to use and give it a real web browser. A tablet, if Apple does produce will more than likely already been geared to fill a need, such as a way for newspapers to lower the need for paper print production and get into digital subscription and a way for magazines to provide interactive content for its viewers and its advertisers. Apple would not just put out a device without dedicating the purpose of that device. Apple wouldn't say here's your tablet folks and the folks say, "Now what?!" Just my .02

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

Except both those markets were already big hits in and of themselves. They entered markets where there were tons of opportunity. The problem with tablets is that... well.. they don't sell well and aren't very popular. If Apple does make a tablet, it will have to really be something to fit in that niche between a laptop and a PMP while being better than a netbook.

I forgot about all those hugely popular MP3 players that came before the iPod.

Hell, there weren't any hugely popular smart phones, besides blackberry, and blackberries were only popular amongst businessmen/women.

 

[arn]

If they can actually release this thing for $300 (unsubsidized) they will eat the iPod Touch, and just about everything else, for lunch. All Apple has that thing thing can't beat is the App Store. And while the App Store is cool, it isn't more cool than this.

No way this will hit at $300 unsubsidized.

arn

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

If these tablets are used the way people are predicting, like eBooks for newspaper and such, I can only see it working out if they're heavily subsidized. Since no one wants to pay thousands of dollars for a newspaper.

 

[powers74]

pp

No way this will hit at $300 unsubsidized.

arn

Word.

If these tablets are used the way people are predicting, like eBooks for newspaper and such, I can only see it working out if they're heavily subsidized. Since no one wants to pay thousands of dollars for a newspaper.

It can only go one of two ways:

A) Fall smartly between the Mini and MacBook
B) Replace the MBA in both price and lineup.

Of course, I've been way wrong before.

 

[yegon]

Meh, tablets are undoubtedly a brilliant tool for certain tasks/people but for general purpose use by the average schmohawk, they're totally unsuitable and impractical. Good luck using a 10" tablet on public transport.

It'll take something along the lines of the MS Courier for these to work in the mass market.

 

[heisetax]

Rumor sites are working on one at Apple

Well, Apple missed making a splash.

"Apple is rumored to be bringing a tablet of roughly the same size to market later in 2010."

They should have already announced release for January 2010. How long have they been working on the device? Only 7+ years.

Only the rumor sites have had Apple working on a tablet computer for 7+ years. For all we know they have done no work of them.

 

[lisster]

I forgot about all those hugely popular MP3 players that came before the iPod.

Hell, there weren't any hugely popular smart phones, besides blackberry, and blackberries were only popular amongst businessmen/women.

Ever hear of palm? there were tons of smartphones (outside of the US maybe, blackberry was mostly US) that had a lot of the features an iphone has.
The iphone just made it more easy to use i totally agree.
Palm OS or the palm 650s with WM5-6 were really hard to use, but did a lot.

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

Ever hear of palm? there were tons of smartphones (outside of the US maybe, blackberry was mostly US) that had a lot of the features an iphone has.
The iphone just made it more easy to use i totally agree.
Palm OS or the palm 650s with WM5-6 were really hard to use, but did a lot.

Oh I'm sorry I forgot to mention Palm. I guess I should have said:

there weren't any hugely popular smart phones, besides blackberry and Palm phones, and blackberries and palm phones were only popular amongst businessmen/women.

 

[mikes70mustang]

Meh, tablets are undoubtedly a brilliant tool for certain tasks/people but for general purpose use by the average schmohawk, they're totally unsuitable and impractical. Good luck using a 10" tablet on public transport.

It'll take something along the lines of the MS Courier for these to work in the mass market.

Their cool yet not practical. Its the 2010 version of a Giga Pet.

 

[Bubba Satori]

And while I am on the issue from innovation, let me post a link to that immensely moronic site engadget.

Why are you hanging out at immensely moronic sites and posting links to them?

Speaking of innovation, did you hear that iPods are getting FM tuners?

 

[miketcool]

Speaking of innovation, did you hear that iPods are getting FM tuners?

I heard they were getting HD tuners, satellite radio and of course, a real camera next time around! Of course your music will freeze 10% of the time, and some of the syncing songs will not make it. The more you pack into a device, the more you risk upsetting the device's primary function.

CES should be quite interesting with Apple opening up and asking the tech world to "bring it on".

(By the way, just got back from Avatar IMAX 3D. When is Apple making 3D displays?)

 

[twoodcc]

well now. if apple's is going to be anything like this, then it will be just a big ipod touch i think. and i bet it will do well. looking forward to this and others though

 

[applesupergeek]

Meh, tablets are undoubtedly a brilliant tool for certain tasks/people but for general purpose use by the average schmohawk, they're totally unsuitable and impractical. Good luck using a 10" tablet on public transport.

It'll take something along the lines of the MS Courier for these to work in the mass market.

The ms courier, what an inspired name- is vapourware. Plus how is a two screen tablet better than a one screen one? IF the tablet is not handy in public transport then what is? A lappie? A netbook? Sure, the iphone is more handy, but in terms of larger form factor the tablet is a close second.

 

[jeffspc88mx]

What's a water sensor?

and why do I want one?

 

[miknos]

Apple waited too long because they saw no opportunity in that market.

Tablet are supposed to be good ONLY for annotations (when you use a pen). For EVERYTHING else, notebooks are much, much better.

I believe Apple saw the Amazon Kindle's popularity and saw opportunity there. Imagine an iPod Touch with a bigger screen. Would be the same price as the Kindle BUT; A much better experience. Better design for both hardware and software with all the functionalities of a laptop (without the keyboard of course). I believe READING would be the best feature for the Apple's Tablet.

And this Tegra chip (from Nvidia) is AMAZING. Small, powerful and super (energy) efficient. Would be nice to see Apple using it.

 

[peterdevries]

The same thing the Apple tablet will do (ie, not much).

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7C144 Safari/528.16)

What exactly will this do that a netbook can't???

I was thinking the same thing. Other than the "cool" factor, this doesn't seem very appetizing. I just don't see the point of having a watered-down computer just to be able to navigate it from the screen. I'd rather have a MacBook Pro . . .

Just not for me I guess! But it definitely looks pretty cool.

You guys are looking at it the wrong way.. Think of it this way: there are people who prefer cellphones with a keyboard and people who prefer cellphones without one. The basic functionality of these cellphones is the same, as will be with a tablet and netbooks and laptops.
The usability factor plays a big role here and how the absence of a keyboard and the incorporation of a multitouch screen will change the way you handle the content on the device.

Would a tablet be able to do more than a netbook or laptop? No, probably not, but it would do the same stuff differently and some of that stuff like reading magazines and books in a way that's more natural than on a netbook.

This is a really good example of that: Magazine on tablet concept

I don't need a physical keyboard to read, watch movies, surf the internet, read and answer emails on a plane. For work a physical keyboard is essential, but for the leisure stuff, a multitouch screen with a soft keyboard would suit me just fine.

 

[MorphingDragon]

I heard they were getting HD tuners, satellite radio and of course, a real camera next time around! Of course your music will freeze 10% of the time, and some of the syncing songs will not make it. The more you pack into a device, the more you risk upsetting the device's primary function.

CES should be quite interesting with Apple opening up and asking the tech world to "bring it on".

(By the way, just got back from Avatar IMAX 3D. When is Apple making 3D displays?)

CES is a giant Proof of Concept. "Instead of a second screen, why not make the existing one bigger!"

 

[StoneJack]

Tablet - what its good for?

As someone has pointed already
iTablet is generally a netbook so it can do everything a netbook can do.

In addition,
1. its multi touch - I guess, netbooks are generally lacking it. It means you don't need a pad or mouse, i.e. its mobile - oriented (nothing new here, just focus on mobility)

2. Its screen is much larger than of netbook while containing a similar overall size of a device - Therefore, easier to read, watch and etc.

3. It's input is a pen or virtual onscreen keyboard. This excludes long hours typing I guess, though the virtual keyboard might more useful for some folks

4. Its just a new, next step of evolution of notebooks

5. By definition, it can't be cheaper than current netbooks (if not a slightly more expensive) since it uses similar parts

6. It should have a stand for power-up and probably connections to HDTV and so on. Might be also autonomous in this regard.

7. It must have a killer app. For iPhone and Touch, its iTunes (and its Store) which provides seamless content management

8. The killer app for tablet is probably iTunes BookStore (which provides eletronic content management), for example subscription to LA Times where you get a new digital issue every morning (or WSJ weekly) or something else, already described before (the electronic magazines)

9. Tablet is ecology-friendly, saving millions of tons of paper for newspapers and magazines.

10. New expanded market for digital content creation, mixing TV, video and printed materials. Newspaper story contains video, sound and links to other similar stories in real time. Same for books. Huge demand increase for digital publishing. Animated printed matters.

11. Exclusive content for tablets, therefore not Google-covered (though you may have google news as before). New way to create money from what used to be free. Of course, basic news are free.

12. With iTablet, you don't need a netbook. it does everything better.

13. Gaming with a multitouch twist. Use your fingers instead of mouse and keys.

14. Possibility to make calls through skype as with current netbooks.

15. Other possibilities do exist, and without doubt, Jobs have already thought about them

 

[cocky jeremy]

apple has waited too long

Do you really think people won't buy an Apple tablet regardless of them having a tablet already? Ha. Apple can be early, on time, late or whenever they choose. People will always buy their products.

 

[KyleKlink]

I'd like to get one of these in hands to get a sense of size...

That's what she said...

 

[djchuckc27]

doesn't matter. apple knows how to reinvent how we live our lives.

tablet '10

 

[carmenodie]

IMHO unless you have a software solution to your tablet it won't be anything other than a tablet.
Apple has a tight media ecosystem ready rock. And remember, Jobs lives with the product. He refines the product. what the hell do them investors looking to make a quick buck off of the latest gadget do? Not a darn thing. They just wait until they can buy rebranded tech from Asia just like they do with them boring over produced pcs. Stamp on a name and get a hype-over on Engadget or Gizmodo. Same old stuff.

 

[yegon]

The ms courier, what an inspired name- is vapourware. Plus how is a two screen tablet better than a one screen one? IF the tablet is not handy in public transport then what is? A lappie? A netbook? Sure, the iphone is more handy, but in terms of larger form factor the tablet is a close second.

I said "along the lines of the Ms Courier". Vapourware, sure, exactly like the Apple tablet is vapourware.

Thought it'd be blindingly obvious why such a design would be more practical - easy proppable like a lappie, clamshell design makes it far more robust. I'm not convinced by the Courier either, but the book design is far more practical.