At this point, it's
difficult to say exactly what
we believe. Just a fortnight ago,
we heard that the so-called Apple tablet would ship with a 9.6-inch display and a P.A. Semi processor, and now
iLounge is hearing from "trusted sources" that something other than that is true. The latest round of maybe-sorta-probably-not-true whispers is that the
current prototype of the device boasts a
10.7-inch display and a resolution near 720p. Of course, we've no idea where Apple would source a capacitive touchscreen of that size, but we wouldn't put anything past
El Jobso. Moving on, we're told that iPhone OS will be used, signifying that this will be more of an advanced media player / light communication device than a full-on netbook competitor. Finally, we're told that a 3G and non-3G version will be offered, and if Mr. Boss signs off on it, it could be announced as early as
January with a June / July ship date. Oh, and it'll come pre-loaded with Unicorn-approved applications and a vial of fairy dust -- huzzah!
posted September 29th 2009 8:26AM
I was a bitter Apple-hater after they gave up on the Apple Newton and resisted all Apple products afterwards until buying an iPhone recently.
A few days ago I had a chance to use a small MID and all the while wished it had the iPhone interface.
I think a small, living-room web tool with the iPhone OS will be a nice game-changer. I'm a little worried about how big they say it is. I think trying to replace people's home PCs is a mistake. But as a gadget for web-surfing while hanging out in the living room with friends or a TV show I think it would be valuable.
You mean a product like a netbook? Yeah, they my AAO already does all that. At about 80% less of the cost that Apple is likely to charge.
Cheap netbooks... Pffft. Send them to India and Africa where they belong.
If the device is going to rely on a touch interface then using the iPhone OS and Cocoa Touch framework makes a lot of sense. Having the full Mac OS and access to all Mac OS applications would be nice but since the applications are expecting you to use a keyboard and mouse to interact with them I do not see them working well on the mythical iTablet. It makes so much more sense to use an OS that is designed to use touch and that all applications running on it assumes that they will be interacted with by touch. This said, I do wonder whether Apple expects current iPhone applications to run on the tablet and, if so, how well they would scale to the bigger screen. It tend to think that dedicated iTablet applications would be best but then I can't see another platform doing well.
IF.....This tablet is just a big iphone/ipod touch then it makes no sense that it's taking so long to bring it to market?
IMHO A big iphone/ipod touch is a pointless device, none of the iphone apps will look good on it scaled up to 2 or 4 taimes the size and most would look stupidly big if they did. If they go down that route they'd have to get developers to create 2 versions or run them windowed.
IF...the tablet runs snow leopard then a June next year launch would point at an innovative product with special touch abilities added to SL.
I hope that Apple go down the SL route and if thats the case then it's FAR more interesting that yet another (albeit pretty looking) boring e-reader like the Courier.
I agree with your first part. Mainly because most people was complaining about the Android Market in the same aspect. That the developers would have to create different versions because of screen size and such. Unless all apps will just be windowed within the Tablet...that would drive the ease for developers down just a notch. Not a lot, but a little.
The iPhone OS enthusiasts : why would I want specific, locked-down, little crappy apps like tips calculators or spirit levels on a 10" tablet ? It's terrible idea because, if you put a real OS on it (Snow Leopard / Win7), you could run almost anything you like - Word / Excel / Powerpoint - for example. Not quickly, if it has netbook levels of computational speed, but it'd run nonetheless, and make the whole device orders of magnitude more useful.
iphone os?! it's apple, why wouldnt them go all out and have 10.6 running on it? llllaaaammmmeee
Um, because the iPhone OS is just as powerful and already built around multi-touch you #$#@$ moron!
OK. Seriously. Stop. I've never been bothered with the crazy amount of coverage Apple gets, but until we have an official announcement on this thing, can we PLEASE leave the "reliable sources" to the fanboys?
So it's going to be a giant iPhone that won't fit in your pocket? Obviously we know nothing about this device, and if it actually exists, but if it has the same functionality as an iPhone, with a bigger screen and probably better battery life, I don't see much of a point. If you need to check your email, quickly view something online, etc., just do it with your iPhone (assuming you have one of course). If you need some more functionality you'll have to move up to a laptop anyway!
I think this article was a real cop-out, especially towards the end. I mean why even bother to post it youre so unsure of the " Trusted sources"
Jobs knows that that this cant be just an iphone....... He sees the market for something with advanced capabilities..... Hell all the itablets you can buy are just the tip of the iceberg. If apple had something like inkskeine project under their supervision they could integrate it in a very strong way. "Advanced media player capabilities" doesnt necessarily mean "advanced media player".......
But I wouldnt put it passed him to do something dumb..... We dont even have to explain the follies of apple since theyre too widely known....
Ahh, anti-Apple zealots, the cash-cow for Engadget and Gizmodo. Get a life losers.
This will be a completely useless device. Unless there's some incredibly low price, this is LESS useful than a common netbook that will probably sell for a fraction of the price.
All this does is completely lock people in to the App Store revenue model. Thanks, but no thanks.
I would ABSOLUTELY buy one of these for even a large premium if it were to be a fully functional PC.
This is a HUGE iphone.. which kind of defeats the purpose.
Sorry, but the target audience for the Apple tablet are those people that want to get work done, have some fun and look good while doing it.
netbook=uncool
Apple tablet=cool
Poor.
should be a Snow Leopard tablet if anything.. implement a system where typing can be a breeze. and add a journal so you can take notes/make drafts on it. that would be great... but if this thing is based on iPhone os... then I'll stick to my palm pre and my macbook :-)
So my desire to have the tablet as a real portable music platform are now defunct. No portable logic or notation editor.....
that was what I was hoping for from the beginning...a real tablet COMPUTER not a giant media player....
the good thing about the iphone and the ipod is that they fit in your pocket for your media.....this is obviously not a portable media player, but instead more of a MID, with what looks like less functionality than the others...
sad...
too bad...you coulda made this the best product of yours to date if you just make it work with OSX
I love Apple, but this is not what I want. I want a Wacom "Penabled" Apple Tablet that can run Photoshop! I don't want a bigass iPhone. What a let down! I'll have to get a windows tablet.
why cant they draw someone cool looking? The guy looks boring and needs a mohawk or something.
About the iPhone OS not scaling up the display... since it supposedly borrowed a lot from the Mac OS (and was why Leopard was 6 months late) is it possible that the rendering is vector-based instead of raster, and so would scale just fine? Not that many apps would use the larger screen effectively, but the potential is there.
Or do we know definitively that this is not the case, and the resolution is fixed to a certain size?
Rant:
The comments here are quite hilarious. Specially when a story about a Microsoft tablet and a story about an Apple tablet appear in the same Engadet page.
The MS tablet article (http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/29/new-microsoft-courier-video-details-tablet-interface-exciting-l/) is full of comments from the MS fanboys getting their panties wet and bending over to take another one from Steve Ballmer. They've turned that comment section into a bath house orgy of MS nerdgasms and non-stop worshipping of the Windows altar.
On the other hand, this Apple tablet article is full of PMSing MS fanboys down-ranking in a rage any one who dares to speak favorably of Apple. And of course, their typical straw-man attack: fabricating statements that Apple fans never make in order to attack them for them and then jumping on their soap box of self-imagined and self-imposed superiority.
Meanwhile, by way of recent historical record, MS has the tendency to most likely fail rather than succeed and Apple the total opposite:
1) iPods have always been extremely successful in the market while the Zune pretty much collapsed.
2) iPhones are extremely successful products in the market while the majority of 3rd party handset manufacturers are abandoning WinMo and switching to a an actual successful platform (Android).
The nerds are now making conclusions solely based on rumors and take them as direct-from-Apple facts in order to keep bashing Apple. These MS fanboys are so incredibly insecure that they are desperately seeking affirmation that there are no real alternative/competing products that can surpass Microsoft's so they get their information from ZDnet.com and work themselves into frenzies in the Engadget comments (this is no the case in Gizmodo). Unfortunately for them, most everyone's products are better than Microsoft's. Pity on them.
In that case, let me ask a serious, non-fanboy question: who exactly is supposed to buy a tablet bearing the iPhone OS? I work at a major US university, and in my experience students usually carry two devices: a cellphone and a laptop/netbook. If their phone isn't an iPhone, they *might* also carry an iPod for listening to music. If the rumored Apple tablet doesn't replace their laptop/netbook, they're not going to drop $800-1000 on it to get another netbook-sized device that duplicates functionality they already have on their phone. (I'm making the assumption that the student market is a decent proxy for the consumer electronics market in general, which I don't think is unwarranted.)
If Apple had any sense, they'd see that a tablet bearing their desktop OS would be an awesome gateway drug for their more powerful systems, and might actually allow them to increase their miniscule desktop OS market share (which you conveniently neglected to mention in your catalog of Apple-MS comparisons). If these rumors are correct, sense is apparently off the table in Cupertino.
Scott,
On your first paragraph:
To answer your question, I don't know. And I say I don't know because I am not making assumptions based on rumors or speculation. You are basing your argument on the assumption that the market feasibility of this tablet (supposedly bearing the iPhone OS) depends on somehow replacing the functionality of a netbook/laptop while carefully balancing the user's need for a mobile phone. I would go as far as saying that IF and IF that is how Apple is thinking of deploying the rumored tablet, then it may not make sense. But I know better than that because, with almost dead-on certainty, that Apple has already considered this situation and have a business plan that actually works and avoids such a pitfall. Case in point: Apple released the iPod into an already-existing sea of MP3 players, the critics trashed it left and right, yet it became the best selling music player ever. Same story with the iPhone, critics trashed it, yet iPhone is now extremely successful. So with this supposed tablet, I'll wait till Apple actually shows it to make actual conclusions.
Your second paragraph:
You went from making a serious question to making an Apple-hater comment. Apple has plenty more business sense than other companies and the ability to deliver to the market products that work very well and that consumers want. Apple had the sense to create the iPhone and the iPod right? Look where WinMo and Zune are going and went, to the toilet. So yeah, it's pointless to comment on rumors when no one knows if this tablet even exists.
Lastly, if you are bringing OS market share to this discussion you are either:
a) Purposefully ignoring the fact that Windows rose to the top not by merit but by stealing code, ideas from others and purposefully blocking other companies from introducing competing desktop OSs into the PC market. And also that Microsoft was convicted of this fault in a court of law.
OR
b) Ignorant.
So that's why OS share is irrelevant, thus did not warrant inclusion when I made my first comment.
FoxKenji, you have a funny way of approaching this...I couldn't actually tell from your initial post if you were being intentionally or ironically homophobic, but it doesn't really matter. Anal sex jokes aside, there are some "big picture" things you're missing
I am surprised, however, that you think Apple and Microsoft operate in even remotely the same scope. It is truly astonishing that someone as well informed as you espouse to be would believe that. You want to talk "straw man" approaches? Look at your only two examples:
Your 'recent historical record' is clever for excluding all the products Apple has tried and failed at in recent memory, and ignoring the markets Microsoft is doing well at. Much of what you say is not factually accurate, or is presented as fact but is really opinion. That's fine, but don't be surprised that most people will simply write you off as another arrogant Apple user who thinks that Apple can't possibly have a bad idea (despite NUMEROUS examples to the contrary), and that Microsoft is only a bully and a leech, contributing nothing. Oh, and you seem to think Microsoft users are all either gay transexuals or 4th century Romans. Whatever.
To address your laundry list of Apple "wins" over Microsoft...
1) True, the iPod was a highly successful product. However, it has almost completely stagnated. Apple has all but abandoned everyone who buys the non-touchscreen versions of their products. Each generation gets a predictable memory bump and that's about it. Ooh, a low-resolution camera, the likes of which appears on just about every free cellphone out there? Ground breaking in 2009. Where's FM/HD radio? HD video out? Wifi? Bluetooth? Broad codec support? Screens you'd actually want to watch video on? The non iPhone line has come to a dead end, and the sales numbers in that line reflect it. In the mean time, the ZuneHD has been widely reviewed as the best media player available today. It doesn't do internet browsing particularly well, and it doesn't have an app store - but then again it isn't supposed to. All the people who just wanted a fast, cool, easy to use media player? They're more than satisfied. And with a $15/mo subscription giving you 10 drm-free songs and access to all you can download music? The Zune is actually doing quite well. It was even back-ordered on Amazon and Buy.com for a while. When's the last time Apple had trouble meeting demand for a product? 1st gen iPhone, if I recall.
2) I beg to differ on the mobile phone world, completely. Yes, Apple did introduce a new class of user to the concept of a smartphone. But they're not exactly taking users away from Windows Mobile - they're helping it. The total number of users of WM devices (in the US alone) has grown since the introduction of the iPhone. More than that, that growth is growing FASTER (year-over-year) than before the iPhone. Apple showed that smartphones weren't scary, but then (in typical Apple fashion) made a product that appealed to a limited subset of users. You really think 11 million phones in two years is an accomplishment? On the international stage WindowsMobile beats the iPhone in just about every market. For most international consumers, the concept of a locked-down, limited, QWERTY-less device is just absurd at Apple prices. It isn't a fashion accessory the way it is here, it's not a way to buy "cool". Apple has never had a strong international presence, and the iPhone is no exception. As for "the majority" of 3rd party handset makers leaving WM...I would like to see evidence of this. I know of one manufacturer, Motorola. MOT has been in trouble for the last 5 years, trying desperately to repeat the success they had with the Razr. They never embraced or developed particularly successful WinMo handsets (c'mon, the Q?), and the switch to Android is more a marketing ploy to try to get the attention of consumers than a sound engineering / business decision. MOT was on the verge of selling off its handset division altogether in early '09, so it isn't surprising to see an Android "hail mary" in an attempt to either save or at least inflate the value of the dying business line. Every other WM handset maker (HTC, Toshiba, Samsung, Pantec, UTStarcom, etc) is continuing to roll out 6.5 handsets this year (30 by year-end). HTC is the biggest one (making some 80% of the devices), and their CEO has publicly stated that while Android is interesting, they continue to believe that their development in the WM world is the right choice. Considering the devices they have lined up (TouchPro2, Leo), it is hard to see them leaving the platform anytime soon.
3) The AppleTV product, not exactly a "win" for Apple. In fact, getting creamed in both the content delivery AND video rental market by...you guessed it...Microsoft! The XBOX360, as a networked media player and video purchase / rental device is kicking the crap out of AppleTV/iTunes. Netflix streaming doesn't hurt either.
4) Quicktime - Apple tried to be the lord and master of video over the web, but their pricing and irritating nagware was such a bane to users that Adobe was able to take that crown away with a REALLY CRAPPY video player. Think about how BAD Flash is at playing video, and how good Quicktime is. Here we are, watching a bad product push them out in favor of a good one, because Apple believed that (1) bundling Quicktime with iTunes made people happy, (2) trying to sell an upgrade to an online video player every time it opened would be well received, (3) using automatic updates to silently install unrelated software (Safari) is a good idea, (4) no one could do online video better. They were wrong on every account, and now Quicktime is relegated to annoying (mostly Apple) video ads and Apple's movie previews / commercials. That's it. You know what has actually made a dent in Flash? Silverlight. You can thank Microsoft for making a technology that dynamically scales bandwidth and supports HD video without buffering. Oh, and one that uses your video card instead of your processor to play video. Here: http://www.iis.net/media/experiencesmoothstreaming - now try jumping around in an HD Flash or Quicktime video. Notice the difference?
5-500) [Enterprise applications, video content distribution, and the countless other products Microsoft has in categories Apple doesn't compete in] Microsoft is a giant company. They do many, MANY things. Video headends for IPTV carriers, embedded systems for POS and advertising, a business contact / scheduling / email protocol so good it unseated Lotus Notes, and even Apple included it Leopard 10.6. And guess what? Microsoft didn't try to stop Google or Apple from implementing Exchange - it made it easier.
So while you can argue the viewpoint that Microsoft's highly-anticipated Courier concept is more exciting than a big iPod Touch, the fact is that it is new, novel and exciting, and Apple's...isn't. Right now, since we don't have any information, Apple looks like an underwhelming product, but the software and UI (coupled with a novel form factor) make the Courier stand out.
Apple doesn't have a monopoly on innovation. They hire the same kinds of people and run them in a very similar work environment. Their typical product cycle is: release something that's (maybe) exciting, and then do tiny iterative changes to milk upgrades for as long as possible, then finally abandon it (see the iPod line for an example, or the PPC-version of their desktops/laptops). If it isn't a hit right away (AppleTV, MobileMe, business services), abandon it completely. In many cases, they're a fast-follower at best, and in other cases they're way behind. Just like Microsoft. And Sony. And Google. And everyone else.
Ladies and Gentlemen, here we have a good example of one of these MS fanboys I was ranting about: Brad.
Observe the giant (and boring) essay he wrote in response to my comment which clearly shows not only his personal insecurities but he even chose do divulge his own sexual insecurities as well. I didn't bother to read the rest of his essay. This guy is a very good case study in the matter.
I've been waiting for this type of device for a while. I dont understand the complaints about multitasking or usefulness. A device like this isn't meant to do real work on. Its a pmp/mid that has a screen big enough that you can actually see it and enjoy it. I've though about getting an ipod touch but the screen is simply too small for me to enjoy watching videos on it.
No one will buy this as their main computer. So who cares whether is ships with all the functionality of a desktop.
I hope this is real whether or not I buy the apple version or one of the many competitors products that will inevitably arise.
If it shipped with a reasonable feature set, I *would* buy this as my main computer. If it doesn't have a feature set comparable to today's netbooks, I won't, nor do I see how Apple would successfully market such a device to people who already have a smartphone and a laptop/netbook. No one is going to shell out $800-1000 to carry around an additional 10" device that basically overlaps in features with their smartphone but won't replace their netbook. (A quick survey of three of my colleagues - all thirty-something information professionals, none of whom are Apple-haters - confirmed that intuition for me.) I'll freely confess that I don't see the outstanding market for larger-than-iPod sized PMPs in general, and I'd bet that sales figures on those devices suggest that right now, there isn't one.
Question - Why the hell does everyone think that this is going to run the iPhone OS? You wouldn't be able to share Apps from the App store on it without some significant recoding for scaling. The "device" will either run a full SL or a tweaked version, like OS X was tweaked to run on the iPhone. Although...having the device function as a dock for the iPhone which will give you a bigger screen/more storage/more RAM, etc. and the ability to create and work on documents on it that are saved to both the device and the phone would be pretty sweet.
Scott - its kind of ridiculous to think that someone would carry a smart phone, laptop, and this tablet thingy. I'd be willing to bet that most netbooks are being used not in schools or offices but in peoples living rooms and bedrooms. A product like this can make that kind of casual web browsing much more enjoyable. Basically this type product will make the features used most on netbooks more enjoyable.
Also, the keyboard on my netbook just gets in the way. Someone is welcome to prove me wrong, but I believe most people who use the internet use it passively and casually. Most of the time is spent clicking and reading and only a small fraction of the time is spent typing. Besides, the way people have adapted to typing on phones, the keyboard functionality of something like this would only be better.
I agree that it's ridiculous to think that someone would carry all three. My point was that since most people I know already have a cell phone (and most of the students I see have smartphones, many of them iPhones) and a laptop or netbook, where is there a need for the feature set represented by a 10" Apple tablet that runs the iPhone OS? It's a product with no niche.
I should say also, in order to put my comments in context:
-I'm not an Apple hater. I couldn't live without my 5G iPod, and my wife's iPod Touch is really a nifty piece of kit. Apple's design sense is miles ahead of just about everybody else's, in my opinion. I could actually be lured away from my historical reliance on Windows computers by an Apple tablet - but only if it has the feature set I need.
-I'm legitimately puzzled by these rumors, because I don't think Apple is stupid enough to not do market research on a device like this. And it's not like my opinion is an outlier - nearly half of the respondents on a recent iLounge survey said that they wouldn't buy an Apple tablet unless it had a full desktop operating system. That's hardly a demographic rich with Apple haters.
If you think the average student has a smart phone and a laptop or netbook you are mistaken. That may be true for whatever university you work at but nationwide I say no way. You keep trying to force the student demographic, but I'm sure that there are more iphone and itouch owner who are NOT students or IT pros like yourself. Just because this hypothetical product doesnt meet your needs does not make it irrelevant.
I really hope that it runs OS X. Otherwise, its just a bigger iPhone/iTouch....
Does anyone else think that they're probably testing a lot of different things to see which works the best? I imagine they want to get it right since the tablet PC market is largely a blank canvas.
I'm appalled to see some of the comments you post. Harsh, sometimes even just mean. My humble comment to all this....come on guys...this is just pieces or hardware. Hopefully, there is so much more about life.
When the posts are getting as low as harshly commenting one man's liver surgery or how another made a fool of himself when he went chanting...DEVELOPPERS....etc...It's clearly getting out of hands...What about fair analysis, pros and cons, discussion about specifications, civilized conversations about how a product can respond to a need or will fit for one usage or another....
Get a life !
"What about fair analysis, pros and cons, discussion about specifications, civilized conversations about how a product can respond to a need or will fit for one usage or another...."
What are you f*ckin' stupid or something? We don't need no rational, civilized conversation here you lame ass [insert brand here] fanboi!!1!
My point exactly !
no matter what it cost , i will buy it................. (until 1000$)
i find the comment about how this tablet running the iphone OS puts it out of the running as a netbook. but in fact, none of the laptops out there making that claim really are. a netbook is supposed to be a lightweight device of limited power used for the Net. as in email, web surfing, maybe some AIM/ichat. it's not meant to be a full on laptop.
so Apple could actually be creating the first device worthy of that designation. with also a media player. they could give it all the same multitouch gestures as the iphone/touch, invite app developers to rescale for the 'tablet',etc
i will hazard the opinion that it might not release until next summer to avoid any issues with ATT trying to claim you can't have an unlocked 3g device from Apple due to their contract. cut that contract on the anniversary and release an unlocked tablet and unlocked phone and there will be joy in Florin
iPhone OS on anything but the iPhone/iTouch = INSTANT FAIL
What makes anyone think this is it? Microsoft has come up with a dual screen journal and you think Apple is just going to make a bog standard tablet like all Korean/Chinese manufacturers are making?
Get real, Apple will do something completely different. It won't enter a space with a device that's similar to the competition, even if it is better. Apple made the iPhone, when it came out, it was completely different from other products because it's super focus on software. The hardware just had one button. That's been done, I really doubt Apple are making another device like this.
If Microsoft can make something like the Courier, just imagine what Apple will do. The likely-hood is it won't be what you expect, I have confidence in Apple to make their product different from the competition to the point where the competition will be playing catch-up.
I mean, the courier looks impressive. I hope Microsoft pull it off because it looks like a really valuable tool, I'm just wondering where Apple will pitch themselves in all of this.
Agreed. I'm wondering what this thing will actually be but one sure thing is that it will not be some generic run-of-the-mill tablet like all the MS fanboys are only capable of thinking about.
My point exactly...!