According to a report in
Barron's, a phantom "veteran analyst" has
actually handled Apple's
heavily rumored tablet-device-thing. If you believe what the report is laying down (and honestly, that's a big if -- analysts have a funny habit of making things up) the tablet is still on for a
September unveiling, with a shelf life beginning somewhere in November. What's also interesting about the report is that the analyst claims the device will be marketed somewhere in the $699-$799 range -- as was
previously rumored -- and will be aimed at uses as a
media player (with some kind of potential Apple TV tie-in) and gaming device. The analyst, who obviously declined to be named, said that the tablet is simply awaiting Steve Jobs' final blessing, and claimed that other ODMs have paused new products until they see the finished version of what Apple has in store. That last bit is potentially the most interesting of all, as we've recently heard reports of device-makers
freezing new production until 2010, which definitely raises the possibility that the industry is holding its breath to see what kind of
new trick Apple has up its sleeve. Yeah -- things are about to get fun. [Warning: read link requires subscription]
[Via
9to5mac]
posted August 2nd 2009 5:15PM
The only thing that can "change the game" is a double sided touchscreen Mac Netbook.
And I just found this posting: http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/03/17/apple_exploring_dual_sided_translucent_touch_screen_panels.html
Exactly what I thought Apple would do.
Pardon me if I don't run right out to register for a site to read a totally unsubstantiated rumor.
I wonder why engadget would print such a ridiculous rumor. Although the Mac Tablet (or whatever it will be called) may contribute to companies halting production, I would think the main reason (if not the complete reason) would be Windows 7. On top of that, Windows 7 multi-touch is probably a big dea for tablet makes.... I could be wrong though. I am not saying Apple has no influence on the computer market (we all know they do), however it is a pretty far stretch.
awesome, ill have 30 min to use it untill the battery goes suicide
holto,
Your arguments are weak.
On the one hand you admonish bob for his comments, and on the other you get off onto some non sequitur about netbooks driving sales in this economy because they are cheap, whilst simultaneously insinuating that somehow Apple's $800 entry into the tablet market is akin to a cheap netbook.
You contradicted yourself and whatever point you were attempting to make fell through.
Secondly, Apple's profits are not directly related to their nominal computer marketshare.
Rather, their main moneymaker is their iPod, that's where a vast majority of their net profit comes from, not the sale of Macs.
Admittedly, they have very high margins for their Macs (which should tell you that they are overcharging like crazy -- but thats for another debate), but I digress, if you view their 10K report, you'll see that over the years, it was the iPod that drove profits to where they are at now, not Macs.
So your assumption is a fallacious one. Apple does NOT drive the computer market, and their line of products in this market are NOT significant enough to force the hands of the other 92% to stall.
Try again.
Seems to me that $3.3 billion in Mac sales (desktops + portables) is greater than $3.1 billion in iPod + iPhone sales.
.. and since you contend that profit margins on the computer sales are excessive, I don't think you're being very successful at arguing that iPod/iPhone sales are dragging along a struggling Mac division.
Seems to me that you have a selective memory, or at least a short-term one.
Let's go further back:
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=107357&p=irol-reports
http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/irol/10/107357/reports/10K_FY2006.pdf
http://library.corporate-ir.net/library/10/107/107357/items/315133/AAPL_10K_FY08.pdf
In 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008, the iPod and music services all accounted for more cash in Apple's pockets than did their Mac sales, in terms of revenue (GP per prod still remained undisclosed).
Furthermore, their Mac sales were dismal throughout the 90s and early 2000s.
It was the iPods that gave them a big boost in their bank account which then allowed them to restructure and rebuild their entire computer division from the ground up shortly thereafter.
The Mac sales are declining this year however, whereas iPod sales are still on the rise.
The GP(GM) / unit remains undisclosed, so neither you nor I are in a position to base our judgments on that.
The point still stands however that the iPod (and music services) sales brought in more revenue for Apple than did their computer lineup for the better part of this decade.
iTablet 1. low storage space
iTablet 2. little bit more storage space, all previous purchasers bitch apple is ripping them off as they go buy another one.
iTablet 3. finally have bluetooth enabled and if generous an HD output.
iTablet 4. ability to use tablet as a phone added, bluetooth has been disabled, and storage is insufficient for downloads received OTA.
iTablet 5. Google voice, wanted since the original iPhone, is finally admitted to being considered for release on the app store.
I am not an apple fan boy, but yeah, if it has a large enough screen and a good amount of storage, i will be the first in line.
The same people hating here, are the same people waiting in line on launch day with their credit cards in hand ready to buy whatever Apple has next. Whey else are all of the Apple articles drumming up so much discussion? After all when's the last time you saw an ms article here drum up so much discussion?
microsoft makes SOFTWARE and a couple other things. not tablet PCs or phones, or anything that would warrant people going crazy over. thats why i like them.
Has anyone thought of the logistics of using this thing? It's supposed to be 10" wide, so unless they've developed a split keyboard you're holding it with one hand and typing with the other, like in the photo. Depending on the weight of this thing, that could really suck. What about using this while seated at a desk. Lets face it, you're not going to want to be holding this while using it, possibly for hours. Placing it on a flat surface isn't going to work as lighting in most environments comes from the ceiling. Just a couple of thoughts.
Either way, if Apple did I'd consider one up to 10" that'd be great. It's small enough to slip into bags I currently carry without too much space and no doubt considerably more power that I'd need over the iPhone. Smartphones are great for day to day business, but I need power on the go without the bulk of a laptop. That saying something, considering it was pretty "special" carrying a luggable laptop around 7kg in the early '90's! It's all good! Price will be the telling factor on adoption. I also hope the GUI is more OSX based, not thumbnails to play with!
It's amazing to see how Apple dictates what goes in the tech industry. Every other manufacturers are waiting on them so that they can copy it.
Actually that kind of tablet is out since quite long time. Apple is just going to have another device, nothing groundbreaking.
This is interesting... According to what I have heard, the Apple TV has code for control via a tablet. This excites and bores me simultaneously. If this turns out to be a proprietary OS running, overpriced NETBOOK without a keyboard or physical-buttons that is basically an Apple TV Accessory, it will fail. It could also be that this will be used to stimulate Apple TV sales (possibly Apple TV Portable).
/rambling
how would you type on that thing? Its obviously too big to use your thumbs and hold it, esp in landscape mode, and if you set it down in your lap or on a desk, how would you even see what you were typing? I don't really see why you would pick this over a laptop, but to each his own i guess...
iDiots like you are the reason other iFans get a bad name, even.
Are you totally oblivious of tablet PC's?
Have you been living under an iRock for the last decade?
There are a wide variety of very education-oriented and touch-friendly tablet PC's out there, and still to come to the market.
They also work beautifully with Windows 7, which is a far more sophisticated and robust OS with tablets in mind than anything that has ever come out of Cupertino.
After we're done with this garbage can we get matte screens back on the 15" MBP?
Thanks,
Big John
@Nick: BS! AT&T and a few other companies had tablet "PCs" (they were tablet-style devices with styluseses (how the hell do you pluralize stylus anyway?) and handwriting recognition software built-in to the OS) long before Microsoft/Bill Gates thought of them. Hell, remember the Apple Newton (way before Palm/PocketPC/Windows Mobile/whatever)?
I remember reading (in Byte magazine; well before the Pentium and the first PowerPC processor were announced; I think I may still have those issue around somewhere...) about a company made up of ex-Apple people working on a Newton competitor with an OS called Magic Cap... or something way back in the day.
Damn... now I feel old. :(
Curse you! OMGLOLWTFBBQ!!!!1 ;)
When/If a iTablet comes to market it'll be a)under powered, b)over priced c)over sized d)lack of expansion for content storage ie some type of memory card slot. e) low battery time.
I can let D slide if enough is onboard while being user writeable not having to use stupid itunes everytime I want to move some files on/off it.
But no they'll just lop off the cover from a air sized unit and call it a tablet just like the whole netbook thing has gone out of whack. 4x6 or 5x7 hell even 6x8 is large enough. anything over why bother just get a notebook.
The only statement that I'm going to make about this future device at this point is that it won't be very competitive if the price is ridiculously high. Somehow, some customers will be suckered into purchasing one of these tablets/netbooks mainly for the popularity of Apple products, and by popular, I mean a fashion statement. We'll see what happens down the Interstate.
2. People who buy netbooks are generally not so poor that they can only spend $300 on a computer, but instead do not see the point of buying such an expensive computer to browse the internet and check email. A netbook fills the majority of users' needs, and is easy to carry around.
In all honesty, unless you are a family on a tight budget, a $2000 computer is not ridiculously expensive. People do have the money to afford a Mac, but a good number do not see the added benefit for the money, since most people just use their computer for basic things such as word processing, perusing the internet, and checking mail.
Those people aren't poor, they're happy cheapskates. That's who Windows caters to. They'd rather buy store branded cold cuts instead of Boar's Head or store branded "No-Name corn-flakies" instead of Kellogg's Corn Flakes. Almost good enough is fine for them as long as it costs less. Nothing wrong with being frugal. I'm going dumpster-diving today for my next computer update. Wanna join me.
i bet apple will do some shit with this tablet , like maybe locking the wifi functionality or maybe u ll not be able to use the use it after 11pm , i am really sick of how apple must MAKE a disadvantage with each device they release , i think other companies make disadvantages by mistakes but with apple THEY PLAN for the disadvantage to get the attention, and if its really a good product u ll find with $$$$$$ price tag
Here is what I think the new Apple Tablet will have, and I have to admit the idea is not mine but a concept a late friend came up with about 20 years ago in design school. This is why I think the tablet will be "revolutionary".
The tablet will have a slot for the iPhone to pop in; like a PCMCIA card or ExpressCard slot. The tablet will run OSX (albeit not as powerfully as MacBooks) but be able to also run iPhone Apps on-screen. The game Apps will be upscaled so they will still look quite good on the larger screen.
The Tablet will also use the iPhone's 3G/Edge data connection, as well as the WiFi connection, which will keep the Tablet's pricepoint lower.
For those without iPhones, there will be an accessory "cage" (maybe 3rd party) with a slot for your phone's SIM card and built-in WiFi support.
I suspect Apple may have thought of that.
Personally, I'm reserving judgement until I see what Apple release. Everyone else seems to have made up their mind though...
I want to see some more Apple tablet hate. It's already a failure and only a couple of people have seen it. No Apple tablet could ever outsell a Windows PC tablet because Apple charges too much for every product it sells. A Windows PC company can build a tablet for one-third the price of Apple's tablet. No cheapskate is going to merely pay for an Apple logo. Any intelligent person would buy a Atom-powered Windows 7 tablet for $300. Look for the Archos 9 tablet to rule the tablet industry. Since Bill Gates loves tablets, he'll probably be the first to wave his Archos 9 in public.
Let's all hate the Apple tablet. Down with the Apple tablet. Booyah.
This tablet will kill the Amazon Kindle.
Why would anyone buy that black and white thing when they can have color on the Apple tablet.
I can't wait.
Apple will smash the competition, again. No matter how the experts, pundits, and know-it-alls analyze the faults of the next product they no nothing about, it just shows how little memory they have. The iPhone kicked but in an firmly entrenched industry because Apple offered a great product with a huge infrastructure to support it. That would be iTunes, the App store, and scores of developers that raced to make the product even better.
So, stop boring us with your predictions of failure, and demands that "if it doesn't have this/do this, Then who cares?" They won't release a product that will fail. Keep your mouths shut and watch and learn, instead.
if its using an ARM does that mean that it cant use snow leopard
The Apple iTablet is brilliant if you think different. Don't think about using it on its own because you would only use it that way when you are traveling light. Think about it as the center of an ecosystem. You carry it to work and pop it into an iMac-like frame and it becomes your work system. Carry it home and pop it into another frame and it's your home system. It should be possible to set up frames so that they can automatically reconfigure the system or select a set of preferences or perhaps a virtual OS.
When you are at work, it is set up as a work system and the frame can trigger data leakage rules so that you cannot walk out with corporate assets. When you are terminated, the data is no longer accessible to you. Need a laptop - there's a frame for that too.
What I am trying to get across is that the iTablet carries your software and 'personality.' You can use it on its own, or you can pop it into a frame which might increase its power, storage, and add a keyboard and mouse.
Think about all of the cars that have iPod connectors in them. Extend that concept so that hotels, coffee shops, Internet Cafes, etc. have empty frames which are ready to run once your tablet is plugged in. No need to worry about privacy or viruses, because its YOUR system you are using. Now imagine a frame on the back of every airline seat. If you've tried watching an iPod or iPhone on a plane, you'll see how cool this is. A browser can be brought up for in-flight entertainment or the route map if you run out of your own media.
If it's just a gaming machine...honestly I'd probably just get an iphone then. I want a cheap alternative to the Wacom Cintiq, but if that's all the power it will have...it's a bust for me.
Why Tablets have failed till now:
Most of the apple tablet naysayers point out that there are many tablets in the market, and they have all been utter failures. Then they go on to say, that it implies the apple tablet failing as well.
Well, though I completely hate the tablets in the market today, and am not ruling out the possibility of the apple tablet failing, I believe, that if a tablet is done right, it could very well be the next best thing.
The one major reason for the failure of tablets is crappy software. Almost all tablets in the market run windows. Even the its ok as a desktop/laptop OS, (i don't wanna start an OS war here) it just doesn't have good support for touch. It makes somethings possible by touch, which are way easier using the mouse and keyboard. It doesn't bring anything to the table.
How to design a Tablet.
When designing a tablet, one of the most important features is the software. Something that apple understands.
A 10" screen with iphone OS just doesn't make sense. But nor does OSX as it is. Of course it needs to be made for touch. So of course they need an all new OS for the tablet.
Again, it needs much more functionality than an ipod touch, but it can't afford to do everything a laptop can. It needs to create its own space, and let people do the things netbooks can, and also let people do somethings that ONLY tablets can.
First and foremost, it needs to work with both a stylus and your fingers.
It needs to have something like a finder. (not like iphone please)
and it definitely need multitasking.
This Is how I picture it.
There will be a scrollable home screen which will contain icons for apps.
one if the app would be something like a finder.
It would need touch friendly versions of iwork, itunes, iphoto, Safari and some sort of photoshop-ish software to name the most essential ones.
These apps(except itunes, and safari) would open basically one full screen document, a lot like the iphone.
There will be minimal controls. the toolbars will work in an auto-hide way, like the do in pages full-screen. This way you can make full use of a smaller screen.
The documents should make use of the accelerometer, to auto-align, but the controls should stay in their own place and turn. (some toolbars need the longer edge)
Moreover, to save space, these programs should not be in windows floating on a desktop, which would complicate things on a tablet. The apps should launch in an iphone sort of way, with each app taking up something like a space.
A scrollable "home" button, should be able to flick left and right across apps, like on the palm pre. Also, pushing it down should open something like expose to choose the very app you want. and it clicking it should bring up the home screen.
it could also have some buttons to bring up mini controls for itunes.
(Considering the low power, it may not allow multitasking while running some games.)
It should allow you to save files easily. (again, not like the iphone)
It should give both a landscape and portrait keyboard in all apps. (an external bluetooth keyboard would be very nice as well.)
It should invent some new gestures to speed things up. e.g. using three fingers to "pick up" (cut) and reverse to paste files and other items. two fingers to scroll universally makes sense. So does single finger tap, and two finger tap, to make it easy to use after a mac laptop. pinching etc, are a given.
It definitely should allow simultaneous use of the stylus and fingers. For example, someone should be able to draw with a stylus, while simultaneously scrolling, zooming on the document.
However, the stylus should only be allowed for input. All navigation should be done by hands and multi-touch. The problem with a stylus is that it can only touch the screen at one point making controls extremely complicated.
Wifi is a given. It needs at least one USB drive, if not more. That much is enough.
It does not need a disk drive. It needs to be portable with little or no moving parts.
I will put up mock ups after a week, if I still feel like it.
Is is possible?
Of course its possible per say. But going in line with rumors, is it possible for a price of about $800.
I believe so.
The ipod Touch comes for about 229 dollars. Increasing the size to 10" increases the price by a few hundered dollars. Also, increasing the power of the device increases it further. To make it as thin, it would probably cost over a thousand dollars. But it can be thicker. more like the macbook air. And suddenly, the price of $800 seems just right.
It doesn't need core 2 duo, but it definitely needs to be faster than the iphone. Which I think is totally possible. Also as its a much bigger device, it can have a bigger battery. A 6-10 hour battery would be good enough.
I am not saying that the apple tablet is definitely coming out. But its very possible, and this is what I consider would make an excellent design, that everyone would wanna buy. P.S. I have read what people want throughout the blog, and I'm pretty sure I meet all their requirements.
Wish apple, or any good company for that matter would do something like it.
Can't wait for it, maybe it will suck, maybe it won't.
Device makers haven't stopped because apple is releasing a tablet, it's because intel is releasing the next-gen atom