Mac tablet at Macworld -- it's not what you think

Who knows what Steve Jobs and co. have in store for us next week at Macworld, but we'd be pretty damn floored if they trotted out a Mac tablet for the awaiting hordes. But never fear, it looks like OWC and manufacturing partner Axiotron are stepping in to fill the void with what they dub the "ModBook, the first ever Mac® tablet computer solution." While we'd have to take issue with the claim of first, since resourceful hackers have been modding up their own Mac laptops into tablets for years now, but the fact that these two companies are bringing the slate-style notebook to the masses for what we presume is a high but attainable price point is plenty noteworthy. The touch input comes courtesy of WACOM, and thanks to Apple's Inkwell technology, there's already plenty of pen-based interfacing available in OS X. Axiotron and OWC also managed to stuff a GPS option into their ModBook, for even more good times, but unfortunately that's all the info we've got so far. We'll be finding out more when the computer is officially unveiled on January 9th at Macworld.

[Via TUAW; thanks Matthew H]

[Leonard Nimrod @ Jan 4th 2007 1:38PM]

"Nobody will ever need more than 640k RAM!" -- Bill Gates, 1981

He doesn't a good track record for predicting market trends.

[glacia00 @ Jan 4th 2007 1:21PM]

Sounds like a laptop that converts to a tablet. I predict within a year Apple will be claiming they did it first. Revisionist history is about to begin again.

[Rebecca @ Jan 4th 2007 1:29PM]

This tablet would be really something I would exchange my PSP3 and Wii for.
www.madeforzune.com

[Pfft @ Jan 4th 2007 1:33PM]

Go, Larry, go! http://forums.macresource.com/read/1/224370

[alex @ Jan 4th 2007 1:46PM]

He was right about that!!

[Andrew @ Jan 4th 2007 1:52PM]

Yeah, if you use mythical quotes to support your position.

[2quick4u @ Jan 4th 2007 1:53PM]

Will It Blend ?

[Brian @ Jan 4th 2007 2:08PM]

Jeez, I'm not really sure that people are going to go for this. I honestly dont know anyone in my office that uses a Tablet PC. I mean its just to inpractical. Who's with me?

[whidbeyben @ Dec 2nd 2007 4:18PM]

While patiently awaiting a replacement for my 12" PB G4, I keep
running across rumors of a Mac Tablet. Why would anyone want a
tablet, unless they were a UPS delivery guy or some sales
representative who had to gather signatures? Then when hefting my
son's textbook laden 30 pound backpack out of the back of my car, it
dawned on me. Apple needs to create the iText.

Imagine using Apple's content negotiating savvy with text book
publishers like they currently work with the music and video content
industries. In this case, working out mega deals with school
districts and universities worldwide for textbooks with live links to
constantly updated content. Textbook publishers would have an outlet
for copyright protected content while no longer having to go through
the expense of hardback publishing and distribution. The revenue
sharing possibilities would inject Apple with cash just like the iPod
universe has done.

E-books have been done (see Amazon's Kindle), but they're lame
because they don't offer any advantage over purchasing a $1.99
paperback that can fit in your back pocket. But with text books,
this opens a whole new world of possibilities. I was just joking
with my daughter that it was too bad she couldn't Google her American
History text book to find out what significant event occurred in the
middle colonies in the mid 1600's. Imagine using a touch interface
to zoom in on graphs and multimedia content, or to pull up an instant
reference, Google search, or dictionary citation. Flipping through
pages would be a natural application for a touch interface and
notepad (iText).

Swapping 30 pounds of hardback texts for a sleek 1 pound tablet would
be a no-brainer. Built-in WiFi and bluetooth would enable teachers
to send e-mail homework assignments, checklists, and (Apple iBoard)
notes, while also enabling students to submit classroom assignments
and tests wirelessly. In addition to the touch interface, they could
use bluetooth keyboards, or have keyboards built into their school
desks that the iText would dock into to charge.

The market for this would be huge. Unlike most notepads, which
target a very small sales force/delivery market, this could mean a
iText for every single public school student in the country. Can you
imagine the power of having your product in the hands of all those
kids? Let's get Apple back into the education market big time.

I'm hoping Steve Jobs and the folks at Apple are way ahead of me on
this one. If not, they had better get busting before Bill figures
this one out.

[glacia00 @ Jan 4th 2007 2:25PM]

Sounds like a laptop that converts to a tablet.

Since we're throwing out Gates quotes,
"(DRM)causes too much pain for legitimate buyers" Bill Gates - 2006

[ePants @ Jan 4th 2007 2:48PM]

"He doesn't a good track record for predicting market trends."

Ahh, well you good sentence not make with words all, either. ;-)

Let's not get trivial with semantics, especially since if/when he made that remark everyone believed him :]

[L. M. Lloyd @ Jan 4th 2007 3:15PM]

I hate to rain on the tablet parade, but I need to point out that if it is using Wacom technology, then it won't be a touch screen. It is going to need a stylus. It is going to be the exact same thing as a TabletPC, just running OS X. Why oh why is it that TabletPCs (which have been around almost as long as the laptop) are a horrible idea that Engadget always pokes fun at, but a TabletPC running OS X is "plenty noteworthy?"

[gorkon @ Jan 4th 2007 4:01PM]

Some tablets now have touchscreens. Get an update man.

[Aaron @ Jan 4th 2007 4:28PM]

It's not really "noteworthy" at all; both Macs and tablets are as pointless as ever, however I'm sure that the good folks at Engadget know that it doesn't take much for someone to accuse them of being biased, so better to say something nice than not.

[L. M. Lloyd @ Jan 4th 2007 4:09PM]

Name one brand of tablet that uses both a Wacom digitizer, and an inductive or sonic touchscreen? There are tablets that use a touchscreen (mostly in the UMPC camp) and there are tablets that use a Wacom digitizer, but I am not aware of a single product using both.

[nirav28 @ Jan 4th 2007 4:31PM]

Dude...www.motioncomputing.com has tablet version that has a touchscreen and a digitizer.

[L. M. Lloyd @ Jan 4th 2007 4:35PM]

Which model has both? I have held two different Motion tablets and played with them. One used a Wacom digitizer (with no touch screen) and one used a touch screen with no digitizer.

[Sean @ Jan 4th 2007 5:10PM]

The majority of TabletPCs are NOT touchscreen - instead they rely on a stylus to work. The Motion Computing that was pointed to is the exception, not the rule.

[L. M. Lloyd @ Jan 4th 2007 4:43PM]

To be more specific, the Motion LE1600TS is a touch screen (thus the TS) and the LE1600 and LS800 are both using Wacom digitizers with no touch capability. I am not aware of another model that has both.

[John Green @ Jan 4th 2007 4:33PM]

This is odd. Isn't it? Surely Apple is against licensing the MacOs to other manufacturers? And they wouldn't get in bed with another manufacturer on a joint product release.. (ok forget Motorola !), so I for one am confused as to what this is all about. I suspect, it's just another Windoze PC, but looking much like the MacBook....

I guess we'll just have to wait and see !

[James Stover @ Jan 14th 2007 3:18PM]

Check out the new Tabletkiosk Sahara i440D (D is for dual mode) which has a button to change easily between touch and active digitizer in a single Tablet PC unit. I also believe the new HP tablet PC does the switch automatically when the pen gets close to the screen and is pulled away from the screen. This seems to be a new trend (offering both touch and active digitizer in a single unit) coming in the new generation of tablet PCs and some UMPCs.

Jim

[Brandon @ Jan 4th 2007 5:01PM]

06958911

[Robert @ Jan 4th 2007 5:27PM]

It's more like a small iMac with a 10" screen. Apple's thinking/marketing is to make a portable an iPod with real video functionality and the ability to surf the web from anywhere. It doesn't fold and the tablet functionality is for inputing things like a website name. The alternative is a bring your own keyboard.

Rough Specs:
Core Solo, 100Gb, OS-X, Wifi, Bluetooth, 8hr Battery, $799
Don't know if it comes with a real Ethernet connection or a DVD drive.

[xVariable @ Jan 4th 2007 5:29PM]

Wait! Engadget's write-up is so double-speak terrible that I'm not sure what's being said here.

Is this *actually* what it sounds like: an Intel MacBook modified to be a tablet? 0.o

[Hamson @ Jan 4th 2007 4:10PM]

I'm confused about what the write up was saying as well. Is it just that people modded a macbook and are coincidentally unveiling it on the same day as macworld? Or that Apple is actually partaking in a partnership to produce a legitimate mac tablet that will be revealed AT macworld BY Apple?

[Mel Marcelo @ Jan 4th 2007 5:41PM]

In my field (illustration/graphics), there's a big need for a tablet Mac WITH pressure sensitivity. Right now, the only option is the Wacom Cintiq but it's pricey and you need to lug a laptop or mac with you. Pressure sensitivity is important for apps like Painter and Photoshop. I have money saved up for a Cintiq AND a new Macbook Pro. If Apple comes out with a good tablet Mac I'll be very happy.

[L. M. Lloyd @ Jan 4th 2007 6:12PM]

You know, there are a couple of Japanese TabletPCs designed specifically for illustrators and artists with a very good pressure sensitive Wacom tablet, big screen size, and lots of RAM and beefy processors. They have been out for a couple of years now. Yeah, they run Windows, but Illustrator/Photoshop/Painter work just the same.

[Sebastien Bailard @ Jan 6th 2007 12:11AM]

I'm thinking of getting the Lenovo's new ThinkPad X60 Tablet PC; can anyone recommend anything superior or equivalent?

By superior I mean faster with the same physical parameters, or smaller and with the same speed.

[michiel @ Jan 4th 2007 6:20PM]

is it a wacom tablet imac?

[Rod @ Jan 4th 2007 6:33PM]

I love how idiots comment on things they know absolutely nothing about.
There are plenty of tablet PC's that use both touchscreen and the stylus.
Take Lenovo (IBM) ThinkPad X60 tablet, for example, which offers dual input function for not much more.
Of course, unless you're using your tablet in the car or something, there isn't much use in having a touchscreen.
The touchscreen market is a very different one than the stylus input market.
Stylus input is for artists and students.
Touchscreen probably serves well in the medical field, where many EMTs and paramedics carry the Panasonic Toughbook, which has a touchscreen.

Tablet PCs may never take off like Gates planned, but as a note taking tool for med students, and science students alike who have to take a lot of notes in classrooms, it is a great tool.

Just because you have no use for it, don't assume that the rest of the market doesn't either.
I can't believe that some people are so dumb that they have to be told such obvious things by others.

[L. M. Lloyd @ Jan 4th 2007 8:03PM]

Hmm, one device that looks like it does it, which has been on the market for a couple of months, and somehow that is "plenty of tablet PC's" and anyone who doesn't know about that one tablet "know[s] absolutely nothing about" Tablet PCs? You sir, are a jackass.

[Richard Tallent @ Jan 4th 2007 6:49PM]

I have a Mac Pro and love it, switched when it first came out. I also have a Toshiba tablet PC, but I won't get rid of it until Apple comes out with a tablet version of their laptops.

I'm a programmer and photographer, so the handwriting recognition is useless, but for reading on an airplane, taking notes in meetings, and Photoshop, I could never go back to using a plain old clamshell laptop.

[roach @ Jan 4th 2007 6:56PM]

Window already has a community of artist tablet users. I had my tablet for 2 years and loving it. Sorry dude, but Mac is too late in the game.

[Intrepid @ Jan 4th 2007 9:05PM]

Roach: "Window already has a community of artist tablet users. I had my tablet for 2 years and loving it. Sorry dude, but Mac is too late in the game."

Apple has an uncanny way of stealing other companies markets and then claiming that they revolutionised it. Look at the iPod or FrontRow.

[shirizaki @ Jan 4th 2007 8:49PM]

I used a Compaq notebook that flipped out to a tablet PC that my school rents out. It was good for a few things, but the stylus had poor capturing. And, of course, people type on computers so that it's clear.


The only purpose this might serve is for the artist that wants to paint or draw digitally anywhere. Then the screen should be like 17" and have enough power to edit images. That would make a grand thing for $5k, since most high end drawing pads cost around that much. With OSX's (apparent) optimization of hardware, this might fly.

[Gordy @ Jan 5th 2007 10:04AM]

Umm...Newton?

[LuckyCharm2007 @ Jan 4th 2007 11:17PM]

Tablets have been around for a long time , there are also touchscreen tablets and also laptops that convert into tablets.

Mac is behind in the market , dont give me that revolution crap , i always wanted a Mac , after i got it i couldnt do shit in it , doesnt have cool games , you can do jackshit in them , i preffer PC i can do a lot of shit and thanks to the lack of security in WinXP i can modify it the way i want it.

[Nick @ Jan 5th 2007 11:12AM]

interesting argument. You couldnt do shit with it.. so it sucks... what kind of Mac was it?.... incase you havent heard.. mac has moved over to intel based chipset meaning you can run windows and play your games. There are plenty of production uses for Apple PCs. Windows based PCs are cheaper able to be hand built at home and have more gamming opportunities. Ill keep my MAC and do all my production work on an OS thats built on one of the most stable Kernels.. you have fun playing your games.

[Joseph DeRuvo Jr. @ Jan 5th 2007 7:41AM]

Not quite sure where to start here
I am in a unique position as being one of the few people who have used a Mac Tablet (I built my own a few years back)
http://www.macmod.com/content/view/166/2/
I also have much experience with PC Tablets having used the Qbe and now a Motion LE 1600 for a number of years.
Touch screens are convenient but they really are limited in many ways, such as you can not rest your hand on the screen as you use the tablet, this is something you only notice when you have the opportunity to use one.
The Wacom is really a much nicer experience, if you want to write on a piece paper you have to grab a pencil or pen, you can’t just use your finger!
My iTablet had a touch screen so I do speak from experience.
As far as the usefulness of a Tablet I am a Photographer, I have an XServe and two Apple desktops
The Tablet never leaves my side
When I am shooting an event I download to it on the fly while standing no need to find a table to sit down at.
In the studio I have it mounted on my tripod and shoot tethered directly into the Tablet
Sitting in the move theater before the show starts I'm editing images from my last shoot, this is something you just wouldn't do with a laptop.
Lastly yes as far as software it is always that chicken and egg thing
There is certainly more motivation for someone to create an application when a machine exists, than when one does not!
I imagine it will come soon enough

And yes I will be at MacWorld showing off the ModTablet, come by and tell us what you think!

[Intrepid @ Jan 6th 2007 3:13AM]

Umm... No. I wasn't saying Apple has never innovated, I only said that they have a way of making old look like new, and themselves like legendary inventors.

[Nick @ Jan 5th 2007 11:18AM]

Gimmie a break there are too many people that hate Apple or Windows... just admit that they are both good for different reasons and both have their purposes...

Am i the only one that remembers http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/10/apples-patented-the-tablet-mac/

i hope the final product is much like the original designs and none of thes transformer crap. The one thing i know is that if it is a transformer computer it will be done with a good design.

[glacia00 @ Jan 5th 2007 1:44PM]

@Nick. While I agree that Macs have come a long way in closing the gap by as you point out "mac has moved over to intel based chipset meaning you can run windows and play your games." don't forget that with a PC people have been multibooting Unux/Linux for many years.

The problem with the classic PC v. Mac argument is that the anti-PC argument assumes that the PC is locked into Windows. So while with a Mac you can with the introduction of OSX "work on an OS thats built on one of the most stable Kernels" PCs were running Unix & Linux alongside Windows years before OSX was thought of.

That might sound like I'm bashing Macs but honestly I'm not. I think for some people they're a great choice. Since the OS never sees a hardware configuration that isn't Apple's own, they should be bulletproof. Because it's an integrated device a Mac should literally be uncrashable. But that closed system comes at the price of limited choices and often getting features & software later than the rest of the industry. It's all a tradeoff and I have no doubt someone is going to reply that they would rather do A than B, but choice is what it's all about.

[Alex Padilla @ Jan 7th 2007 11:43PM]

Digitizer...wtf...anyway, I think this is a good plan, Apple keeps taking small pieces out of the PC market bit by bit, it keeps things competitive, which is always good for the consumer (high school economics class ftw!)

[alex @ Jan 8th 2007 1:34PM]

http://www.gvs9000.com/gvs90004u1.html

Apple lets third parties develop with their hardware (apple's). GVS has been doing amazing stuff for years with Mac OSX boxes. not clones, re-configured Apple Hardware. OWC is doing the same thing, turn-key solution with Apple internals.

you can buy it ready to go, just like it was from Apple.

[lintk227 @ Jan 14th 2007 7:36PM]

The Axiotron Modbook is simply a WAACOM tablet with a Mac motherboard. The machine requires the pen to even use. The only Slate (Meaning touchscreen) that i know of is the two that motion has developed LE1600TS and LE800TS. The Modbook is vastly overpriced for being a pen based tablet. The creator of the Modbook himself stated at the OWC that it required the pen to operate it.

[whidbeyben @ Dec 2nd 2007 4:19PM]

While patiently awaiting a replacement for my 12" PB G4, I keep
running across rumors of a Mac Tablet. Why would anyone want a
tablet, unless they were a UPS delivery guy or some sales
representative who had to gather signatures? Then when hefting my
son's textbook laden 30 pound backpack out of the back of my car, it
dawned on me. Apple needs to create the iText.

Imagine using Apple's content negotiating savvy with text book
publishers like they currently work with the music and video content
industries. In this case, working out mega deals with school
districts and universities worldwide for textbooks with live links to
constantly updated content. Textbook publishers would have an outlet
for copyright protected content while no longer having to go through
the expense of hardback publishing and distribution. The revenue
sharing possibilities would inject Apple with cash just like the iPod
universe has done.

E-books have been done (see Amazon's Kindle), but they're lame
because they don't offer any advantage over purchasing a $1.99
paperback that can fit in your back pocket. But with text books,
this opens a whole new world of possibilities. I was just joking
with my daughter that it was too bad she couldn't Google her American
History text book to find out what significant event occurred in the
middle colonies in the mid 1600's. Imagine using a touch interface
to zoom in on graphs and multimedia content, or to pull up an instant
reference, Google search, or dictionary citation. Flipping through
pages would be a natural application for a touch interface and
notepad (iText).

Swapping 30 pounds of hardback texts for a sleek 1 pound tablet would
be a no-brainer. Built-in WiFi and bluetooth would enable teachers
to send e-mail homework assignments, checklists, and (Apple iBoard)
notes, while also enabling students to submit classroom assignments
and tests wirelessly. In addition to the touch interface, they could
use bluetooth keyboards, or have keyboards built into their school
desks that the iText would dock into to charge.

The market for this would be huge. Unlike most notepads, which
target a very small sales force/delivery market, this could mean a
iText for every single public school student in the country. Can you
imagine the power of having your product in the hands of all those
kids? Let's get Apple back into the education market big time.

I'm hoping Steve Jobs and the folks at Apple are way ahead of me on
this one. If not, they had better get busting before Bill figures
this one out.