Apple 'Tablet PC' manufactured by Foxconn, shipping in Q1?
By Thomas Ricker 
posted October 7th 2009 5:43AM
posted October 7th 2009 5:43AM
[Thanks, Chan N.]
posted October 7th 2009 5:43AM
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We'll know for sure if any Foxconn employee commits suicide.
Mate I laughed aloud uncontrollably at that :D
Have some respect for the poor guy and his family
Have some respect for the poor guy and his family.
What a surprise you double posted
I laughed too...but then I felt really bad.
If Apple makes it, I shall buy it!
really?
I'm probably one of those guys you call "Fan Boy" whatever, just because I believe Macs are much better than those headache giving machine with Windows, but I don't think this would be a product I'll ever buy... I mean if these rumors are true. At first I thought it would be something different, but I see many cheering for another type of Kindle (WTF!) or Giant iPod which I believe is just stupid. I believe a tablet should carry OSX Snow Leopard if anything and be more than multitouch like what Modbook did the MacBook. It should have same features as the MacBook Pro, why people even call it tablet if it's going to be a Giant iPod? Because it's bigger? or why even call it tablet if it's just going to be another stupid Kindle? If rumors are true, then it's not a Tablet! Well at-least to me is not.
couldn't engadget find some kind of mockup image to use for this article? i'm sure there's a few floating around out there.
*Yawn*
I wish this stupid thing would come out so we can move on...
I know what you mean. I suppose you would class me as a Mac fanboy because I use them alot, but I'm sick of hearing about his tablet! If its this hyped now whats it going to be like if it ever comes out?!?!?!?!??!
My thoughts exactly, not this bullcrap again, I am sick of seeing that guy holding a tablet every week for a year.
The truth is that I have an army of gnomes building these in my basement right now.
The truth is that this stupid thing is never going to come out, and is a big giant BS story.
I think it will, but it won't be what the Macboys think it will be, and their disappointment will make my Q1.
"portugal @ Oct 5th 2009 8:16PM
apple tablet will crush all the netbook from the face off the earth
including this one."
Classic.
@bquist: That's what she said!?
wow, really?
what happened to "no one reads anymore"?
way to go steveo
Yeah Steve has no idea and is way off touch with the rest of the world.
He also stated that nobody wanted to watch movies on a little ipod screen...i believe the ipod video was their most popular.
This is also going to have to be something very impressive to win people over. It's of course going to have the Apple tax and I'm not sure something priced that high can win over book readers, even with all the flare they no doubt will put into it. An e-book reader is also a product we've seen many times over.
Microsoft Courier on the other hand...
The question is if its aimed at e-book reading and its not e-ink then have fun reading on a screen that will just kill your eyes.
SJ lies all the time. Honesty of for pussies. (kidding)
But think about a guy who's number one priority in life wasn't his family, his money, or his fame, or his friends or his reputation, but making cool products and bringing the digital lifestyle to the world. That's SJ. He's a freak of nature. There are things that Apple can do because they make the whole widget, and if you have that at your disposal you can actually make some damn cool products without compromise.
Apple doesn't market something until they have something.
MS on the other hand, starts marketing something 6 months before its even out. Guess which tactic is more powerful every single time....
It may be disingenuous, but SJ has more marketing power in one pubic hair than all of MS and their multi million dollar agency.
The bottom line is when he said 'no one wants Video' they didn't have video. Then he came out with the iPod photo. And that was cool. (because everyone already has photos), and they had a color screen. Then they lined up Video on the iTunes store (legal) and finally there's a legal reason for having video on the iPod, and they did it. And you know what he said? "The iPod is about music, video is coming along for the ride." The truth is, portable video is kinda cheesy. People want to watch video on a flat screen TV, not a 3 inch screen. That's what the AppleTV is for.
@Jordan
"Microsoft Courier on the other hand..."
I dunno, as nice as the Courier looks, I don't like the direction in which it seems to be taking Microsoft, with the whole closed-hardware thing. I would be much happier to see a third party hardware running the Touch OS than an iPod tablet (Yeah, I know it'll never happen).
Though the indications that Asus and Sony are also looking at the Courier format (with that freaky Sony flexible OLED thing in an earlier article.) makes me think there's more to it.
"People want to watch video on a flat screen TV, not a 3 inch screen. That's what the AppleTV is for."
I'll agree, but they also want(ed) video on the go. We all know how the AppleTV is doing.
This could be good news considering Apple's Q1 ends the last week of Dec. ;)
I'm sitting in a Snow Leopard rollout meeting with an apple rep and he basically just confirmed that there is a tablet coming out, and it will be closer to the iPhone OS than the desktop version.
what kind of use will have this thing? because with the iphone os you will only have silly apps, and it doesnt seem to have a complete mac os. just for viewing video bigger doesnt deserve the price
oh, sorry, i forgot, it apple, lots of people will buy it for... well, to have it (or to say they have it)
I am not a big Mac fanboy, but I do see a value in the Mac tablet, but only if it runs the iphone OS, not the full Mac OS. Niche device? Perhaps, but so was the ipod. If Apple can focus on the book reader and newspaper market the way they did the music market, with this device, it could be the new way for those two depressed markets. I love books. But I run out of space on the shelves and donate them to the library. I don't care for the current ebook readers (Kindle and Sony), but do like my iPhone. If it had a bigger screen, it would be more useful to reading. So, that may be a niche device, but really, why does it need to be an everything tool? Don't try to do everything all at once, and possibly crappy. Just do what needs to be done very well.
you dont care for current e-readers but you think this would be good for reading?
e-ink is better for reading e-books
I just want to say that putting a desktop OS on a device designed only to be interacted with by touch is a very stupid idea. This is why Tablet PCs don't work - except for specialist applications written for them, applications assume that you will interact with them using a mouse/keyboard. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the iPhone OS. It is the same Mac OS that you see running on a desktop Macintosh with some additional frameworks and a presentation layer designed for touch and only touch. The idea that the iPhone OS is only good for "silly apps" is absolutely laughable.
All this said, it is beginning to sound like this device is supposed to be a competitor to the likes of the Amazon Kindle rather than Tablet PCs.
Unless the 'Mac Tablet' is actually a convertible with a full OS, it's a stupid and pointless device. The reason netbooks are a growing sector isn't just because they're cheap, but because cheap processors are powerful enough to do the things non-computer enthusiasts want to do, and those 'average joes' so to speak, are seeing value in the form factor.
If the tablet runs iPhone OS and has no physical keyboard, it's going to be a failure except among the Apple faithful.
It looks like it's going after Kindle because that gives the device a focus. Instead of "it's a mac, but smaller with no keyboard!" it'll be "the greatest ebook ever".
That it's ALSO Internet enabled and iTunes connected will be additional plusses that places over other ebooks.
Then, when developers have their way with it, who knows what else they make it to be. It won't have all the features I would want, but it will have the features that will make it a hit with a wide section of the non-blog reading populace.
Niche device at best...being released in a market that is dominated by similar devices that will likely only cost a fraction what this will cost when it comes to market.
Next.
>> "being released in a market that is dominated by similar devices that will likely only cost a fraction what this will cost when it comes to market."
*IS* dominated? Similar devices? Like what?
I'm sure there will be cheaper versions of an "internet tablet" someday... but they won't be anything like whatever Apple releases...
Right now, companies are gearing up to battle the Apple Tablet... but no one even knows what it will do yet. It's like fighting an invisible opponent.
What if everyone expects the Apple Tablet to do X... but when it comes out, it also does Y and Z ?
The article said that HP will be coming out with a similar device in Q2. Similar to what? There's more to this than the hardware alone. Anyone can make a device with a 10" screen. So why haven't they?
If it's gonna be a bookreader, Apple has the iTunes Store for sales. It will likely play movies and music... something that Apple also knows a thing or two about.
I don't know what it's gonna be. But I doubt Apple will let it become the "AppleTV" of its market. It will most likely be the iPod of its market... whatever that market will be. Again, there isn't anything to compare it to right now.
You're dismissing the product before it's even announced... but I'm anxious to see what it is. And also see what the other manufacturers are prepping for. You're confident that other companies will make a "better, faster, cheaper" tablet PC... but would they have made one if Apple didn't?
huh - im confused. Are tablets a new concept? Or is it just because it is Apple they will make it great and good and for the masses?
If you were looking for an e-reader sony and amazon do a fine job. If you are looking for a multimedia tablet with apps to boot those are also covered already.
what else could it possibly offer in the form that would make it a mass marketed product and not a niche product?
They could gear it as a cool journal device like the courier but again that is a niche product.
You can already tell they are greasing the skids for this, even though it doesnt exist. I doubt this thing, if real, will magically make all of the physical issues of tablets go away, that these same folks used to lampoon the UMPC.
Power?
Input? How are you going to type on this?
It's going to require a stylus, even though the Apple-feed line that stylus input is just so ancient has been repeated by tech blogs since the iPhone came out.
Text recognition?
"Too big to fit in my pocket"
I've heard not a single article raise these questions. Just feeding of iRumors, and openly cheering for one, like Engadget did during their last Apple infomercial/liveblog.
So it's a good guess those issues will be completely glossed over when it comes to this thing.
"I doubt this thing, if real, will magically make all of the physical issues of tablets go away, that these same folks used to lampoon the UMPC."
As long as it doesn't try to run a desktop OS and desktop applications then it should indeed address all the problems that Tablet PCs and UMPCs have. Tablet PCs were a good idea with a flawed implementation while UMPCs have always been an idiotic idea that have had the market success that they deserved.
What is clear is that whatever Apple is producing, it is not going be simply a Tablet PC running the Mac OS. At the moment, it doesn't look like this is intended to replace a computer at all.
"What if everyone expects the Apple Tablet to do X... but when it comes out, it also does Y and Z ?"
I think one thing we can all agree on when it comes to Apple is that they are likely to do less than people hope or expect, not more. Therefore, to correct your sentence, "What if everyone expects the Apple Tablet to do Y and Z... but when it comes out, it only does X?"
What if doesn't even do X,Y OR Z, but instead E? This thing is probably gonna be an E-Reader after all..
The funny thing is that in a year from now, most fanboy will swear that apple invent the tablet market and they'll say that it revolutionized the computer world. And when Archos will finally launch their tablet, they will say that theey copy apple.
I have had an MS Tablet PC for 6+ years. It is currently running Win 7 and is fantastic. It still is too large (HP TC1100), and tries to do it all. I welcome a slimmed down, larger iPod version of a tablet. I have also used a Nokia N810, but it was bogged down by lack of apps and lack of support. Neither MS or Apple have a lack of apps. Lack of support... well... I do a agree that the fanboys will be touting this like the second coming, but if they do it well, and it works, then maybe it will be good. If not then scrap it in the Newton box and move on.
I think Apple might be missing the real opportunity... 10.6 is too big. It should be 5x7; large enough to view nicely, yet small enough to still carry around easily.
Thank you so I didn't have to type up the same exact line of thought, 10.1 is just too large. a 4x6, 5x7, or 6x9 format would be the perfect device size. 5.5x7.5 would be a optimal size pulled that one out as it's the size of a standard DVD hardshell case. Just think of a tablet/ebook reader in that size.
Has anyone done the math on this? A 6"x9" tablet would have a diagonal screen size of 10.8". 10.6" indicates a very similar form factor, slightly smaller than 6"x9".
Perhaps why Amazon has quickly pushed the Kindle international, before Apple release their eBook reader
With a 10.6 screen, the Apple Tablet would be more of a target towards the "high end" Kindle DX, which still costs an arm and a leg.
10.6? ugh.. too big
was hoping for something smaller
They already have a smaller device. The iPhone and iPod Touch.
that's too small :P
I think the sweet spot for an MID *for me* would be about 8-9 inches
that's what she said.
Soz!
Having used an iPod Touch for several months, I have 'observed' that even after a short period of use, in particular in 'night time' reading periods (identical conditions to when one would read a paper book), anything more than 10 minutes of 'reading' or even game playing leads to eye strain. (I have good eyesight.) And prolonged use lead to frequent head aches. So:
1) If Apple are serious about the eBook market (as opposed to video, photo viewing etc), then the screen must be based on an eInk or other non rear backlit display technology.
2) Does anyone else also share my experiences with viewing content on the iPod Touch or iPhone screen?
Yes! Anyone who has an e-book reader based on e-ink already knows this. Anyone who does not and swears up-and-down that the iPhone is just as good for reading on, is ignorant.
If this Apple Tablet has a screen similar to the iPhones, but is intended primarily for e-book reading, then it will fail. I hope they have some innovative ideas behind this, and will surprise us all.