WSJ: Apple tablet to have books, games, music, TV, will make sandwiches
By Ross Miller 
posted January 20th 2010 11:54PM
posted January 20th 2010 11:54PM
The Wall Street Journal just laid out a doozy of an Apple tablet rumor piece, all from anonymous sources, "people familiar with the matter," and the like. There's a lot to go through, so without further ado:
- The tablet will come with a virtual keyboard -- kind of a no-brainer if it's gonna be a keyboard-less tablet and not, say, another laptop.
- Apple's been talking with The New York Times, Conde Nast, and HarperCollins / News Corp. over how they could collaborate. When asked, NYT Chairman Arthur Sulzberger would only say "stay tuned."
- Electronic Arts has been working closely to prep games for the tablet. We know of a number of gaming journalists who've gotten invites to next week's event, and given Apple's heavy games push over the past year or so, this wouldn't surprise us in the least.
- A reaffirmation of earlier murmurings about potentially swapping Google for Bing as the default search engine. Maps, too!
- Those TV subscription rumors? Apparently the gang in Cupertino have been pitching a "best of TV" service that would package the best four to six shows per channel.
- A web-based version of iTunes, tentatively called iTunes.com and potentially launching in June, for buying music outside of the dedicated app. Additionally, there'd be a new initiative "to populate as many webs ites as possible with 'buy' buttons, integrating iTunes transactions into activities like listening to internet radio and surfing review web sites." No mention if music will be downloaded or streamed from the cloud, but we can definitely see how Apple's recent Lala acquisition would play into this in the future -- in fact, we've already seen it start to bear fruit.
- Here's a weird one: Apple has supposedly designed the tablet "so that it is intuitive to share." One such experiment is virtual sticky notes that launch for the intended recipient by facial recognition via built-in camera.
Another swing -- and its its its!!!....just another unconfirmed fantasy.
@ThatDudeSolo
Why are you so eager to be the first asshole to write nonsense? Just don't bother commenting just to remind everyone you read engadget daily but don't know why.
@ThatDudeSolo Not to mention this will cost $1000 up front and then $40 a month after that.
@ThatDudeSolo either way quite a few of us are gonna buy it
@Do you know how epically awesome it would be, after all of this hype...they just end up releasing the 4.0 software..or something else..and no tablet...
@KeatMP It would make my day. :D
@ThatDudeSolo
Had a dinner (in Scandinavia) with one of the majors in the industry last night, and he confirmed that there is an tablet and its great.
Haven`t seen it my self, but he had no reason to lie, too many beers for that.
Didnt say anything about pricing though, cant help out there
@ThatDudeSolo
More rumours telling us... stuff that we had already been made aware of!
*Gasp*
Does the phrase 'clapped out' ring any bells?
@ThatDudeSolo
Actually all these rumors verify one thing that will make Apple's tablet revolutionary and likely beat Google/Android to the punch:
Multiple appstores (NYT, Harper, Fox, etc...).
Apple is all about the ecosystem *experience* and a tablet needs a bigger ecoystem than iTunes only. And content/app providers like NYT don't allow '3rd party apps', so the old iTunes store and dreaded review process are not needed--a new store is needed...
From the looks of it, I put my money on multiple appstores being announced with te Tablet. And together they will be the NEW thing. And that concludes my positive contribution to Apple rumors.
Now back to the 'why is this news attitude'.
@adamhagen
I was up all night with Steve Jobs doing blow and he confirmed that he has no friends in Scandinavia, therefore your story is an utter lie.
And who's story is more feasible, yours and your supposed 'Scandinavian' industry insider, or me, Rick James doing blow with Steve Jobs?
I just love all these 'insider' tips that creep up all over the internets right before Apple releases something.
@KeatMP
It would be even more awesome if douche bags like yourself would stop pissing on Apple threads.
@Rick James
I want YOUR story to be true so bad
What a duo
@ale
It is true--just fyi, Jobs and I do lines of blow all the time together. He isn't skinny because he had cancer--he just was never eating because of all those gators we were snorting.
@adamhagen Scandinavia is a region not a country. You don't say I had lunch in the European Union.
Adamhagen Copenhagen Denmark, you could at least have been a Swede :(
@politicalslug I guess rumors are there satisfy the hype that's buzzing around apple's mythological tablet -- Anyway as for the real score. It seems we will be seeing the official apple tablet announcement on 27th of this month along with some iLife goodies. iSlate Details: http://bit.ly/apple-tablet-details-compiled
I have a prediction: Paul Thurrott will claim that MS deserves credit, since they came out* with a tablet 8 years ago that does none of those things.
*MS doesn't make tablets. They just slapped WIndows with Stylus inputs on an HP device.
@Wesscoast
And although it isnt as excinting as having the Courier, I would buy that over the the iSlate for several reasons:
Reason 1. Saying that Windows 7 is"slapped on" is disingenuous at best. The myth that people don't buy tablets because the touch experience is pushed by people who a) haven't used Windows 7 touch interface yet on a NEW touchscreen device (lemme give you a hint. It's built in with cutting edge touch and pen technologies that outshines and overshadows any other OS. There's multitouch all up in there too.). People dont buy tablets (I think you mean slates) for 2 reasons. They are more expensive than their laptop counterparts, and two, if their slates, there's no physical keyboard. Not because its got a fully functional OS on it. Stop being so ludicrous. There's even a tablet/slate for the mac, although its by a third party. Here's the site: http://www.axiotron.com/index.php?id=modbook
Thats right, full fledged unlocked OSX on a tablet based Macbook Mod. So please spare us the party line about the App store. I DO NOT WANT A LOCKED-DOWN OS. Give me the choice to run fully fledged executables like similar netbooks do, or give death.
Reason 2. I don't buy Apple products because I'm a Apple hater.
@Andurilan
If you don't buy/use Apple products, I can't imagine what OS you're using. Windows was designed (albeit upside down and backwards) in Cupertino.
@Andurilan You really are the customer that M$ entertains. You will buy any fat pig of a PC (HP craplet) as long as it's not Apple. If Apple found a cure for cancer, you would be sure to get cancer, just to die in spite. Shameful attitude you have, really.
Typed on my W7 homebrew. But I own multiple Macs too.
@Wesscoast
Except that my tablet does do all those things (except make sandwiches). I'm typing this comment on my on-screen multitouch keyboard as a matter of fact. To say that all microsoft did was add a stylus is just ignorant.
@Missing Matter
I guess you haven't seen the HP Slate Ballmer was holding up at...
Ah forget it, you're obviously not interested in tech.
PS. Hilariously, the same HP Slate took its name from... Apple rumor sites. Pathetic.
@bullshitexpresscom
I would provide a counter-argument to whatever point you had, but I stopped reading as soon as I saw "M$"
the 1990s, called, they want their Meme back.
@Wesscoast
I really don't understand how Windows 7 (What I'm using now) was designed in Cupertino. Care to elaborate?
bullshitexpresscom
bullshitexpresscom Posted Jan 21st 2010 12:22AM
Neutral
@Andurilan "You really are the customer that M$ entertains. You will buy any fat pig of a PC (HP craplet) as long as it's not Apple. If Apple found a cure for cancer, you would be sure to get cancer, just to die in spite. Shameful attitude you have, really.
Typed on my W7 homebrew. But I own multiple Macs too."
What are you talking about? Do you know me? I dont think so.
I have 4 machines that i owe personally, and 8 in my house total (other 4 are my wife's). 2 are hackintosh. My workhorse is an homebuilt i7 8 gig with Win 7/Ubuntu/OSX triple boot. I have a Dell Mini 9 with OSX on it. Don't use unless I'm on the road. I have a old HP lappy. So please stop with the personal attacks and come at my argument. I'll say it again real slow, and explain it to you like a 6 year old: I said I won't buy Apple products, because I'm a Apple hater. What is so wrong about that position, tell me. Is it not my money to spend.
My main argument is of the tablet, and specifically the OS of the tablet was this. I am not going to buy a giant iPhone. I wouldnt suggest others do it. There's no reason that this tablet that they release needs to have a mobile OS, aside to the fact that they WANT you to be tied to iTunes. That's it. I was addressing the fact that some of us WANT a full-fledge OS that runs Applications, and not ObjectiveC Apps or. So tell me, where is this shameful attitude that I have? Or is it that you can't actually provide any counter-argument to what I'm actually saying.
In short, please STFU.
@Wesscoast
Really? You just can't resist starting a flame war can you? Nobody mentioned Microsoft anything but you, and just like all of your other posts this is the case. We get it, you don't like MS and we all know that you are competing to be the biggest apple fanboy on engadget so you can give it a rest now
@Wesscoast
You're wrong.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP_editions#Tablet_PC_Edition
Q.E.D.
@Wesscoast
"I guess you haven't seen the HP Slate Ballmer was holding up at..."
Of course I've seen it. What's your point? Windows 7 has a variety of tablet optimizations including native gestures, multitouch, inking, momentum panning, and an adaptive interface which changes sizes of certain elements depending on the input method (ie, target areas get larger if you're using your fingers). The new taskbar in particular is an example of this.
But of course I'm wasting my breath, because you know this already. Otherwise one might consider your opinion uninformed.
"PS. Hilariously, the same HP Slate took its name from... Apple rumor sites. Pathetic."
Slate? You mean the name the industry has been using for keyboardless tablets since... well forever? I suggest you take a look at the Tabletkiosk Sahara Slate PC, which was introduced in 2003, for an example of how uninformed you are.
http://tabletkiosk.com/products/sahara/i400s_pp.asp
@Atkins
Guess What. I might not like Apple, or want to buy their products. But I do use and know their operating systems. And I'm telling you, if this comes with a gimped-up, watered-down version of OSX or any variation of I wont be suggesting this to my family or friends. I'd suggest they get a iPod Touch.
@Andurilan
*any variation of mobile OSX
@Andurilan
Huh?
The iPod touch runs a "variation of OS X." It is OS X. It's just not Mac OS X.
The tablet will run "another variation of OS X" which is better suited for a bigger display and sitting down and reading, etc etc etc.
@Andurilan
"I really don't understand how [Windows] was designed in Cupertino. Care to elaborate?"
Notice I said, upside down and backwards. Menu bar on the bottom. Icons lined up on the... er.. left side. There's Windows. Pick up any book about the development of the Personal Computer in the 80's and 90's to get a firm grasp of where this stuff all came from. Full Props to another California locale, Palo Alto. ;)
@Atkins
I'm going to chime in on this one.
"The Apple Experience?" You mean running OSX on overpriced, non-upgradable cheap hardware in a pretty box? As much as I do really like Apple's laptops and iMacs, I can't help but wince when having to use a USB hub when traveling just to use the USB devices I regularly use. (just ONE MORE friggin USB port on the lappy, PLEASE Apple) And moreso, the inability to add cards, upgrade my graphics (or processor without brain surgery) basically means I'll likely never be buying an iMac. That's where a hackintosh comes in. Some people like the ability to have a choice when they want one rather than having their choices dictated to them.
OSX is a very nice GUI (albeit with a few irritations) on top of the surprisingly stable core of Mach microkernel/BSD/NextStep, and very doable on a normal PC with the right drivers/tweaks (have fun hunting). For those who love a challenge, a hackintosh can be a very fun way to get the use of the desired OS with the hardware you want. Sure there will be headaches, but figuring them out is part of the fun. It's just that people who don't normally look at things in that way won't understand. It's not for everyone, to each their own.
@Andurilan I find it quite amusing that you've already made your conclusions about the Apple tablet having never seen it nor knowing what its purpose or capabilities are.
Can I remind you of all that you've said here 1 year from now? :)
@Eh : I for one value Geek's power and my own freedom and liberty when it comes to chosing my OS and so on.
But let's face it : users, the vast majority of them, do not want such a thing as a "desired OS".
They don't even know what a OS is in the first place, and all in all they don't actually care.
Do you care about the firmware in your TV set? Proprietary, open-source, licensed? Family, build, revision?
Pointless... The TV just delivers what it's intended to deliver, and you get the full "watching TV" experience.
This is exactly how it goes regarding the "apple experience". Geeks complain about geek stuff, users focus on what the device should deliver. Comfortable UI is a plus, tricky UI, when offered a choice, is a no-go. Regular UI is just state-of-the art.
Apple made comfortable-UI state-of-the-art, they focus on content (taking for granted that they actually *know* how to build hardware anyway), and deliver.
Now, don't get me wrong, i never bought an iphone and just got myself an open-source OS phone.
(But i hate it that i feel the need to mention it so that my point would seem more respectable)
@Wesscoast: Why should anyone listen to your historical variations when you said the following...
"Hilariously, the same HP Slate took its name from... Apple rumor sites. Pathetic."
@Missing Matter
Steve Ballmer holding up or demoing anything is a major fail. Steve Ballmer might as well be Homer Simpson. I think H-P makes fairly nice computers, but it's totally out of its league with some jerry-rigged tablet and no content whatsoever for the average consumer. Where the hell is H-P's ecosystem?
All for only $999!!!!!!!!!!
F*CK*N NICE!!! ... but hopefully there's more.
Does it do 3D p0rn?
@revoltracers You mean pr0n? It's in 4-D with a vibrate mode.
And all this can be yours for the low, low price of $1500.
@Smacksmackums
Gah. Someone beat me to it... with a lower price to boot. I'm ashamed of myself.
@Smacksmackums
i hat that feeling, also.. in-fact it happened to me just below you :(
@Smacksmackums
Not everyone can afford a BMW get used to it....
OMG! I would die laughing if there is no Apple Tablet! =D
@AcE17
What if their latest creation is the iSpraypaint..... I mean look at that ad.... preety snazzy spray paint no?....
@AcE17 Then he would probably die. Laughing. He said so.
@AcE17 it is coming , check with their suppliers if you want , it is coming
@Bryce I'd like to see the look on tour face..
@Bryce I'd like to see the look on your face..
@Bryce We all know it's probably coming but the joke is in the fact that theoretically Apple never made such claims of a tablet. Heck even Steve Jobs himself said the iPhone was the tablet. Granted this was a year or so ago when it was too early for "coming soon" tablet rumors.