New Apple tablet speculation: two models, OLED screen

[AppleInsider]

New reports on Apple's rumored upcoming tablet device suggest the product could have two versions -- one for educational use, and one with a Web cam -- and utilize an OLED screen.

Relaying information from an anonymous tip, Gizmodo's Brian Lam states that the device will have a 10-inch screen and look like a "giant iPhone, with a big black back." The tipster claimed to have handled a mock-up of the device, stating it has a home button like an iPhone, and will be positioned between an iPod/iPhone and a MacBook.

The report did not elaborate on the supposed separate Web cam and education editions of the device, but said it would cost between $700 and $900. The device has allegedly been under development between four and six years, though the first prototype was only created in late 2008.

"To make up for the cost and make the device more than just a big iPod there was, this person claimed, there was talk of making the device act as a secondary screen/touchpad for iMacs and MacBooks," Lam wrote, "much like a few of the USB screens that have come out in recent months from Chinese companies."

The source also said that there is a question of what operating system the device will run (Lam calls that detail a "huge secret"), but that it's possible the device could be made for sale this holiday season.

AppleInsider's own sources have maintained that the device will have a 10-inch screen, corroborating Lam's report. The device is believed to have a custom ARM chip to be developed by the PA Semi division. However, sources have told AppleInsider that the device will not be available until early 2010. Citing "very reliable sources," Jim Dalrymple, of CNet and The Loop, corroborates that date.

Meanwhile, a new report in Silicon Scoop alleges that Apple will launch in a tablet in limited release at $899 by the end of 2009. The "SmartBook" device, as author Trip Chowdhry calls it, is reported to have an 8-inch to 10-inch OLED screen and feature an ARM Cortex-A9 chipset, conflicting with AppleInsider's sources.

Chowdhry reports that Apple wants to launch the device this year, but it will not be available widespread until early 2010. Allegedly Apple's new device is being compared performance-wise to the Archos 9 PC Tablet, a Windows 7-based netbook.

Beyond what AppleInsider has already reported, there is no evidence to support any of these additional, new rumors at this time.

Additionally, videos have surfaced claiming to be footage of a development kit from Apple's tablet device. They are included here for discussion purposes only.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[macosxp]

Huh? This looks like iPhone OS given a desktop... new apple os?

[Ireland]

Videos are fake, tablet is real. Gizmodo story is bull though.

"Ireland you're crazy, Apple will never do a tablet."

[CU10]

$900?

[backtomac]

Originally Posted by Ireland

Videos are fake, tablet is real. Gizmodo story is bull though.

"Ireland you're crazy, Apple will never do a tablet."

If so those are the best fake videos of all time.

[mdriftmeyer]

Originally Posted by CU10

$900?

I said $899. To be $1 off isn't bad.

[hobBIT]

A $900 iPod touch better have some goodies in store that goes beyond just a bigger screen and faster CPU...
Even with 128GB storage that price seems steep.

OLED would be very nice, but I doubt Apple is ready for OLED. But perhaps...

Is it going to be even thinner than the iPod touch?


I wouldn't be surprised if it somehow can run both iPhone apps _and_ Mac OS apps by incorporating some Intel x86 core too. The latter would suck battery juice and be slow still, but users would have a choice to run a few Mac apps they must run.
Use Word if you have to, or use the iPod variant of Pages.
Use iPod Safari or Firefox with Flash if you really need the latter.
etc.

With that feature set $900 seems fair.

[John French]

$900 is too much for that sort of device. Something closer in pricing to the lower end Mac Mini would be appropriate.

[Virgil-TB2]

I believe the tablet is a real device, but almost nothing about this particular rumour rings true or even makes much sense.

1) Brian Lam is really gullible, and Gizmodo has a horrible reputation. They are certainly not above faking the whole thing just for hits.

2) If one of the purposes is to use the screen as a touch-pad, the iPhone and iPod touch would be better sized for this and they are already here.

The videos are singularly unconvincing.

What kind of idiot would even bother to upload a video of a black screen with a white apple on it calling it "the boot sequence." How would such a mentally challenged individual be in the loop in terms of getting his hands on a developer's kit?

Also (just in regards the video):

- Why would there be a little typing keyboard on each floaty application?

- Why does the finger pause over the star button on the iTunes app unless they are waiting for the animation to be at the right point so it looks realistic?

- Why 8 year old OS-X wallpaper?

- Why a Tiger dock and not an iPhone dock or a Leopard dock?

Finally, its a bit of a dumb remark to say that Brian Lam's story is partially confirmed because he says it's a 10" screen, when the only thing we know for certain (for months now), is that the screen part they ordered a lot of is 10". That's like saying a new report of someone seeing a Sasquatch should be taken seriously because they said it had big feet and we know that previous rumours have said similar. Dumb!

Edit: Even Gruber thinks Brian got taken in by a scam.

[Hattig]

Originally Posted by hobBIT

I wouldn't be surprised if it somehow can run both iPhone apps _and_ Mac OS apps by incorporating some Intel x86 core too. The latter would suck battery juice and be slow still, but users would have a choice to run a few Mac apps they must run.
Use Word if you have to, or use the iPod variant of Pages.
Use iPod Safari or Firefox with Flash if you really need the latter.
etc.

With that feature set $900 seems fair.

More likely is that XCode will get an option to compile desktop applications for ARM, specifically the ARM A9 or derivative that is likely inside the PA Semi design. Sure, you'll have to wait for your favourite application to be compiled, but once it is, you'll be able to use it. Sucks if you want to use Word, but Pages and OpenOffice will be available fairly quickly.

However I'm waiting to see what the device is. That's a puzzle to me, because it could be anything. Indeed it could be a quite specific functionality that many people won't like given their hopes.

[kill8joy]

Pricing sounds about right for a totally NEW Apple product.

The Videos look fake. The screen ripples when touched like any LCD monitor does and the timing of interaction seems too calculated (timed). Plus it would not be difficult at all to throw together some quick fake apps with the iPhone dev kit or even a widget dev kit. And how about typing out a WHOLE word, not just one letter to be more convincing.

[Dr Millmoss]

Originally Posted by John French

$900 is too much for that sort of device. Something closer in pricing to the lower end Mac Mini would be appropriate.

What sort of device? Need I remind you, the product -- and everything about it -- is nothing more than a series of vague and contradictory rumors at this point. Yet, some are sure it's too expensive. Funny, that.

[fryke]

I might be the only one, but the videos look quite astonishingly "true" to me.

[bigdaddyp]

Originally Posted by Ireland

Videos are fake, tablet is real. Gizmodo story is bull though.

"Ireland you're crazy, Apple will never do a tablet."

I have no doubt that you are crazy.
I thought you were the one who was gung-ho on apple introducing a apple branded Tv?

[John French]

Originally Posted by Dr Millmoss

What sort of device? Need I remind you, the product -- and everything about it -- is nothing more than a series of vague and contradictory rumors at this point. Yet, some are sure it's too expensive. Funny, that.

No, I don't really know what it's gonna be, but I'm pretty certain that unless there is some godlike capability in this thing, very few people will shell out almost a grand for a 10" touchscreen device that is basically a bigger iPhone and/or extension of an iMac or MacBook. If it turns out to be a fully-fledged tablet machine running a touch variant of OS X that has capability on par with the MBA, then $900 is justifiable. Otherwise the pricetag alone will probably leave people asking, "That's it?"

[wigby]

i almost believed the story until i saw the bad videos. so we're supposed to believe that this individual got their hands on some prototype tablet hardware but they couldn't manage to pull their camera back 3 inches to reveal the bezel, the frame, the thickness and all other tablety things. no one cares about the gui. we already have been using this gui on the iphone for 2 years now you moron. the pacing was also bad. it looks like they rehearsed with that animation only twice before rolling camera.

[macanator]

I'll believe the fricken thing when I see it.

[Expat]

Originally Posted by hobBIT

I wouldn't be surprised if it somehow can run both iPhone apps _and_ Mac OS apps by incorporating some Intel x86 core too. The latter would suck battery juice and be slow still, but users would have a choice to run a few Mac apps they must run.
Use Word if you have to, or use the iPod variant of Pages.
Use iPod Safari or Firefox with Flash if you really need the latter.
etc.

That's what I've been thinking. A dual boot option wouldn't be bad, but I can't help thinking that the iPhone OS could launch out of OSX the same was dashboard or front row does. That, or just let people run iPhone apps within iTunes (a new version is due, right?) - that way the whole mac line would be able to use the app store without buying an touch or iPhone. That being said, having an option to run the tablet primarily on the iPhone OS would be a good way to save power.

We'll see - the "OS surprise" could be that this device swings both ways. It seems outlandish, but still more probable than Apple putting out a third OS (only 5 more versions of the same OS before they become Microsoft-esque).

[Dr Millmoss]

Originally Posted by John French

No, I don't really know what it's gonna be, but I'm pretty certain that unless there is some godlike capability in this thing, very few people will shell out almost a grand for a 10" touchscreen device that is basically a bigger iPhone and/or extension of an OS X machine.

Your premise is based entirely in rumors. We don't know a single thing for certain about this device, including whether it even exists. That said, I and millions of others shelled out $400 for an iPod touch, which decidedly lacked the power of the gods.

Assuming Apple ships a tablet computer, I predict that no matter how it works and no matter what it can do, many will complain that it's just too expensive. Many of the same will predict that hardly anybody will buy it. How is that for going way out on a limb?

[Tauron]

Goodbye amazon Kindle!

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by kill8joy

Pricing sounds about right for a totally NEW Apple product.

I think the pricing sounds cheap for the tablet as I see it.

[wigby]

Originally Posted by John French

No, I don't really know what it's gonna be, but I'm pretty certain that unless there is some godlike capability in this thing, very few people will shell out almost a grand for a 10" touchscreen device that is basically a bigger iPhone and/or extension of an iMac or MacBook. If it turns out to be a fully-fledged tablet machine running a touch variant of OS X that has capability on par with the MBA, then $900 is justifiable. Otherwise the pricetag alone will probably leave people asking, "That's it?"

if it exists, i think apple is positioning it to penetrate non-mac consumers as well as mac consumers. kind of like the 2nd generation apple tv. it needs to be tied into an apple content delivery system to stream iptv but must also be independent as a slick browser that happens to run an variation of apple os. that way, people not into apple (like many ipod and iphone users out there) computers will not see it as an overpriced pc because there is no direct competition out there. there's archos and some other windows tablets but when you put their gui and multitouch up against apple's, apple wins. just look at the iphone in the smartphone market as an example. not the best value but once people see the tv spots and then get one in their hand, the iphone just appeals to more people.

it's not that apple does everything so great. it's that everyone else is so utterly incompetent at delivering positive consumer experiences with advanced technology.

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by Tauron

Goodbye amazon Kindle!

This tablet has nothing to do with e-ink. It's golf balls and tennis balls.

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by bigdaddyp

I have no doubt that you are crazy.
I thought you were the one who was gung-ho on apple introducing a apple branded TV?

Yeah, that was me. Still is. Like I say, this TV is only a matter of time. The train is on the tracks.

[Wiggin]

If the rumors we are hearing about this thing are close to true, I'm predicting it's success will be somewhere between the Cube and the MBA, two products who's unique design didn't make up for the high initial selling price.

Schools would seem to be the most likely users of this device in any quantity, but schools won't be able to afford it.

[Trajectory]

Yay, fake videos of an un-announced Apple product! That's more like it. Was wondering how long it would take for one to show up.

Isn't it odd that the person who made the video went to great pains to not show the device itself and only an extreme closeup of the screen? It looked like a laptop screen, as you can see the white edge briefly in one of the videos. You can also see how the screen "gives" when touched by a finger, just like a matte LCD screen. Notice it's not a glossy screen or glass with a black border.

Nice try, but, not at all convincing.

[Ubuntuud]

I'm not buying those videos.

For instance, the note application is dragged by simply touching and dragging. How would that work by application that respond to moving touches (like maps).

Also, the iPhone keyboard is simply unuseable on such a big device - you can't use your thumbs. If they spend 4 - 6 years developing I would figure they would've came up with something better.

But maybe that's just me...

[Rokken]

Originally Posted by hobBIT

A $900 iPod touch better have some goodies in store that goes beyond just a bigger screen and faster CPU...
Even with 128GB storage that price seems steep.

OLED would be very nice, but I doubt Apple is ready for OLED. But perhaps...

Is it going to be even thinner than the iPod touch?


I wouldn't be surprised if it somehow can run both iPhone apps _and_ Mac OS apps by incorporating some Intel x86 core too. The latter would suck battery juice and be slow still, but users would have a choice to run a few Mac apps they must run.
Use Word if you have to, or use the iPod variant of Pages.
Use iPod Safari or Firefox with Flash if you really need the latter.
etc.

With that feature set $900 seems fair.

You can expect some more Youtube videos showing someone slicing cakes with an iTablet if it's even thinner than an iPod Touch.

[astrosmash]

Yeah, sure. I suppose it will have two batteries and a slide out keyboard as well?

Also, those videos are hilariously fake. There's nothing to discuss.

[elliots11]

I don't know if that video is for real or not, maybe it's an early software/hardware testbed (that's a resistive touchscreen right? Apple won't do that.). The way the apple logo transitions out on boot is really smooth.
I don't think my mbp does that, maybe some of the newer ones do, but that's pretty slick in itself.

The way the iphone style alerts pop-up is pretty cool. It may be a test mule, and s/he may not want to shoot the bezel because the software interaction is the only info s/he wants to show. Maybe the bezel is marked to ID whose it is or something. Notes is real laggy as it is on the iPhone and the whole thing looks pretty legit to me. I don't write code, but to get that whole thing set up with (maybe) the transition, the alerts, the interaction with iPhone apps and all that... it seems like a lot of work to just put it up on YouTube with no profit motive. I'll bet it's a leaked product, either by Apple for hype or a rogue dev.

I like it, and I'll buy it once I get a steady gig, especially if I can use it as an additional screen/wacom pad type device with a solid, capacitive front and a stylus or finger option. That'd be a dream come true.

[antkm1]

$899 is way to steep for that!
I would say $349 - $499 is more fair. Heck with what it's rumored to have (software wise) it's really no better than a 10" iPod Touch with Multi-tasking. As yourself, is $899 a fair price compared to a $499 netbook, which has a FULL OS and the ability to add any app you want?

Apple's smoking some major dube to think we'll pay that much.

I'm for a REAL keyboard and a full OS thank you very much.

[doyourownthing]

I say either $499 or $599

[1984]

Originally Posted by fryke

I might be the only one, but the videos look quite astonishingly "true" to me.

It's fake. Note how he hesitates when tapping on an icon as if he trying to do it in sync with a preprogrammed animation. Also, the way the notes application dragged, the screen distortions that occur when pressing on a display without glass, etc.

[allblue]

You have to admire Apple's supreme marketing acumen. What a frenzy of expectation is abroad for a device that no-one knows for sure even exists, and if it does exist, no-one knows what it will do! They are truly the Zen masters of hype - to make the loudest noise, remain silent.

[Ronbo]

Originally Posted by John French

$900 is too much for that sort of device. Something closer in pricing to the lower end Mac Mini would be appropriate.

Originally Posted by Dr Millmoss

What sort of device? Need I remind you, the product -- and everything about it -- is nothing more than a series of vague and contradictory rumors at this point. Yet, some are sure it's too expensive. Funny, that.

I'll second that. I'd also remind people that the 1st gen iPhone I'm carrying around cost $599. I find it hilarious that people expect a similar device with a 10" screen to somehow be the same price. (Granted, they're a couple of years apart, but really).

[AdamIIGS]

Originally Posted by backtomac

If so those are the best fake videos of all time.

Really, that could easily be one of the "touch books" that are out there and anyone can buy, hacked and running the Iphone OS or just something he created in director or flash for all we know, you notice you NEVER saw a shot from further away to show the device, just close ups (way to close actually) of the screen.

I too call bullshit on these videos.

[AdamIIGS]

Originally Posted by antkm1

$899 is way to steep for that!
I would say $349 - $499 is more fair. Heck with what it's rumored to have (software wise) it's really no better than a 10" iPod Touch with Multi-tasking. As yourself, is $899 a fair price compared to a $499 netbook, which has a FULL OS and the ability to add any app you want?

Apple's smoking some major dube to think we'll pay that much.

I'm for a REAL keyboard and a full OS thank you very much.

So you think it should be the same price as a 32gig iTouch huh ...

I really don't get all of the "i think it should be .. 12 dollars! heck apple can afford it and the price they want is too much for me to pay!!"

[Trajectory]

Originally Posted by allblue

You have to admire Apple's supreme marketing acumen. What a frenzy of expectation is abroad for a device that no-one knows for sure even exists, and if it does exist, no-one knows what it will do! They are truly the Zen masters of hype - to make the loudest noise, remain silent.

Sounds just like the iPhone before it was finally announced after a year of wild speculation. Even the keynote was at first purposely misleading by introducing 3 different handheld devices, which we eventually learned was actually one device, the iPhone. Clever Apple!

[cmf2]

Originally Posted by antkm1

$899 is way to steep for that!
I would say $349 - $499 is more fair. Heck with what it's rumored to have (software wise) it's really no better than a 10" iPod Touch with Multi-tasking. As yourself, is $899 a fair price compared to a $499 netbook, which has a FULL OS and the ability to add any app you want?

Apple's smoking some major dube to think we'll pay that much.

I'm for a REAL keyboard and a full OS thank you very much.

Sounds like this is what you want. Funny that Gigabyte can't even get down into the price range you consider fair.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B002HP5X3U

[Logisticaldron]

Originally Posted by Ireland

Videos are fake, tablet is real. Gizmodo story is bull though.

"Ireland you're crazy, Apple will never do a tablet."

The problem I’ve personally had with yours and others mockups is that they all had Mac OS X on a small touchscreen display. The idea of a tablet in and of itself isn’t crazy, but it needs to have an OS interface that is well adapted for that type of computing. It’s only been very recent in the tablet rumours that we’ve heard about and seen mockups that actually aren’t trying to shoehorn Mac OS X into the mythical device (or making it just an expanded display for the iPhone OS X).