Apple's tablet announcement: games could be a focus, music unlikely - Page 2

All Apple would need do it merge the Mac mini, Apple TV and add the ability to run iPhone/iPod touch apps. Or just make TV capable of running iPhone apps and releasing a remote input device, like a Bluetooth multi-touch pad, that can access an on-screen keypad.

It's not far off. I'd love to be able to run some of my iPod touch apps on my MacBook Pro and use the trackpad or my Wacom tablet to interact with them.

Don't these two quotes contradict each other? A says, "should use SVG"; B says, "iPhone doesn't use SVG but PNG". Which is it and what is best practice?

Original graphic made as SVG.

Scaled and saved as an iPhone compatible PNG.

Meh, your trying to compare two different types of gaming. Mobile gaming and Console gaming. You are correct that Apple has conquered the mobile gaming arena, but they are no where near conquering the Console gaming arena... unless this tablet is going to hook up to my livingroom TV, which it could, if Apple is smart.

I said it a few weeks back Steve / someone is going to show off "Asteroids and Ms. Pacman and Space Invaders".

Gamers will no longer be able to say anything negative or bad about Apple not being a gamers machine.

Now they may still choose not to purchase the "ablet", because it is an APPLE after-all, but they won't be able to say any thing negative.

Can you say "wii", PS3, and other game toys. If you think this wouldn't be worth it, tell those who own, market and see these units?

YES, it will have to be one hell of a unit to steal sales away, but this is Apple / Steve J. folks.

I know it won't be the only use or marketing of this unit, but it will be a large part of it.

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What makes you think like that?


This is why iPhone games are by now behind classic platforms in usability and scenic quality.

Really? You're seriously gonna compete with 102" screen game run on CBEA?

I would love to see Apple create some little wifi receiver gadget which hooks into your HDTV's dvi/vga adapter - so then you could control your whole TV experience with a tablet! I can totally see that being VERY useful - and awesome, don't ya think?!

wtf are you talking about?

Mobile gaming does not directly compete with console gaming, but indirectly very much so. If a person sees the value in a $300 iPod touch that has tens of thousands of games ranging from Free - $15, with the average around $3, they might very well spend the majority of available "game time" and "game money" on this high value option, instead of funding their Xbox or PS3 with $50 games.

In the mobile space itself, the iPhone OS left Nintendo and Sony far behind in terms of value and now installed user base. In 3 years. That is staggering to say the very least.

I think you need to do some more research on the success of iPhone/iPodtouch gaming, and the number of people who own 100" TVs.

I think you just need to try gaming on iPhone. You'll see.

I think the next generation of Apple Games will be very surprising because of the tablet horsepower and screen size.

The game World of Warcraft could help sell the device. Over 10 million people in this franchise alone.

With a touch screen that's ideal for the WoW interface and very portable so that people can play it anywhere, it would be a great device for those types of games.

If gaming will be a focus, I'd expect nothing less than Tegra 2. 9400M paired with Atom would be even better but if they are aiming for battery life and forcing people to pay for games all over again, Tegra is a better option.

I hope that drawing will be more important than games though.

You might not like it, but more than 50 million users and growing, are spending to a different tune. Download stats don't lie. Cash in the pocket doesn't lie either.

And Nintendo whining about, "Why does anyone need HD?" doesn't help their piss poor situation either.

I agree.

However, I contend that there will be a new SDK day one, i.e., January 27, which will give the developer the necessary tools to immediately port their iPhone/iPod touch apps to the new device. In effect, the current 136,429 and growing apps as cataloged by Macworld* could be available on launch day in March.

As Apple has done before, and for the current crop of developers, the new SDK will be a no-brainer.

More importantly, developers are already in the throws of refining or designing new iterations and new apps based on the increased screen size. I imagine that many developers will not simply adjust the resolution but increase functionality of their apps. And some will undoubtedly revise their business model based on the improved features.

As far as iLife 2010, I think that it will include a graphic program that will combine Pages/Numbers/Keynote with the likes of iPhoto, iMovie and a paint/illustration application to enable the creation of ebooks and hard-copy editions. in other words an 'iPub', much the same as the iTunes store. Certainly, Apple's latest forays and the building of the billion dollar server farm would indicate that something like this is in the wind.

And we should all take into account there are a lot more 'authors' than programmers. Being able to access all the content you want is one thing. Being able to create and distribute it yourself in another.

Coming January 27, Apple will be just the beginning of getting the 'cloud' off the ground.' The goal by the end of March, will be to get it into the atmosphere. But lets face it, expect this 'latest creation' will drive it quickly into the stratosphere.

*http://www.macworld.com/appguide/index.html

Apple has locked up the casual handheld gaming market. If the tablet (and the 4th gen iphone casing for that matter) has extra multi-touch controls in the back of the unit then Apple will also lock up the handheld hardcore gaming market. For instance, first person shooters and other similar games.

Man o man o man!

Yeah. PSP reports growth by hundreds of per cent, too. And a lot of reviewers note "laborious" manner of gaming on iPhone, which takes us back to the point, iPhone does not deliver useable game controller.

Quantity of games sold doesn't equal quality. Just because the iPhone sells a boatload of games doesn't mean it's the best gaming platform. Look at Wii, it sells tons of games too but you can count the number of good games on one hand. iPhone games are good for when you are bored and on the go, but I've yet to hear or see a game for it that gets people excited or gets critical acclaim.

True, but having a higher performance gaming device also doesn't mean the gaming is more enjoyable.

The only thing that is certain and is to the benefit of gamers with iPhones and Touches is that the larger the install base and the more sales game developers feel they can make the more likely increased investments into games will occur. If you [buy] it they will come.

I dunno. The tablet is a mobile device.

Do you really want to be playing WoW or Second Life or stuff like that at the local coffee shop? Or on the bus?

I would have thought that's the logical progression. At the moment AppleTV just feels like a loose end if Apple added an AppStore (and BBC iPlayer) it would really start to appeal to a much wider market.


Just like the last one then... Let hope they don't waste money including SCSI next time!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Bandai_Pippin

Moreover, there's absolutely no allusion to games as a focus point in Apple's invitation letter, sporting those colorful splashes.

Excellent post glh. I think you've nailed it where books are concerned. But they could also change the game for magazines. Think of a news magazine like Time: lower price, more photos, videos, expanded coverage, faster coverage of emerging news like the Haiti earthquakes.

I can remember when the iPod was first launched. That was October 23, 2001. Apple stock closed at $9.51 on the day before the announcement and dropped to $9.07 at closing on the day of the announcement. The pundits and wall street analysts were generally unimpressed. It had been hyped so much that they were disappointed to learn that it was 'just an MP3 player.' They failed to comprehend the importance of the overall concept (single song music sales for $1, easy online delivery via iTunes, syncing with your computer, both Mac and Windows support (later), Most pundits missed the significance entirely.

That Apple stock, which could have been purchased for $9.07 on the day of the announcement, is currently trading at $212.60. Much of that gain was due to the success of the iPod and iTunes.

By comparison, Microsoft stock closed at $24.70 on that same day and is now trading at $31.17.

Wonder if the pundits and analysts will do the same this time? Maybe they're more savvy now?

I notice that we've taken to assuming that iPhone apps will run windowed on a larger tablet screen. Trouble there being that iPhone apps are designed to function on an iPhone sized screen, with swipes, taps, pinches and multi-touch gestures all within a thumb span of the edge of the device.

The iPhone OS is even more intimately bound to the hardware than the Mac OS. Putting iPhone apps on a larger screen actually breaks the app in a lot of specific usability ways and might be something Apple would want to avoid, in much the same way that the quality of the experience mitigates against just sticking Mac OS on a tablet with some touch gestures standing in for mouse clicks.

Allowing people's iPhone app catalog to run on a new device seems like a big win, but not if the experience of running them is kinda terrible. My guess is that there will some kind of free or reduced price upgrade path, and iPhone apps will need to be tablet-ized before they can run.

I agree with what some of you are saying here. I don't think games with be the focus or even "a" focus. Like the iphone and ipod I think they will be a surprise success if anything. There will certainly be games for such a tablet device, but not sold as a core gaming machine.

The biggest reason is price and size. The games are so popular on the iphone/ipod because people already own those for other reasons. So spending a few bucks of a decent quality game to play while you're bored and waiting for your doctors appointment or whatever is no big deal. How about for a $600+ tablet? Games are not going to be the biggest draw. If anything, like the other devices, people will buy a few games for it simply because they already own one. But better yet they can buy iphone/ipod games to play on it. Some of which will scale in resolution.

I think these rumors are getting some of the tablet and iphone announcements mixed up.

If this table is going to focus on anything it will be reading, web browsing, content creation and productivity. Apple has fallen behind in the corporate world. A table like this could easily get them into some companies doors for such things as shipping and inventory, medical, point of sale units and so on.

Posted by PMZ.

lol, imo.

BINGO! Books, magazines, COMIC BOOKS, gravic novels... The tablet will change the publishing industry like the iPod changed the music industry.

There were MP3 players before the iPod, just like there are digital book readers out now. Apple will get it right.

Sure, it will probably also do the great stuff that iPod Touch can do and more. But the game changer (and i am starting to hate that phrase) will be about how we read.

Maybe the pundits missed the overall concept because it did not exist. The iPod was just an MP3 player. It was designed to play music that you RIPped from your CD collection. The music labels had conniptions. Apple responded in sheepish ads with the tagline: "Don't steal music." The iTune Music Store came later. Apple lined up the five major labels and got them to over their catalogs for sale on the new iTunes Music Store. The iTMS used DRMed AAC rather than MP3. Excellent quality in small file sizes.

Apple managed a miracle. Music downloaded from the Internet had been almost exclusively the domain of pirates. Apple showed that people would actually buy music via the Internet. As miraculous as it was, however, it was not how the iPod started.

I am all for bashing the pundits. But keep your facts straight.

Update I don't think that the new tablet (like the original iPhone) will be 3G, have assisted GPS or an integrated compass. As such all apps requiring such will be excluded.

I could be wrong, but I don't think that the new device will be a large iPhone per se. At least not this round.

My interest drops considerably if there is no cellular data access. Using it only on WiFi does not fit my needs.

I am hoping that the 3G data card is including by default like with the Kindle for access to the iTS, even if its just for print material, but with an option to subscribe to carrier for full access data.

I don't play those kind of games but from what I've heard of people who do, they spend a decent amount of time in the game. At least with a mobile slate, they can have some semblance of a social life while gaming.

It's not so much the aspect of taking it outside though, more the ability to lie in bed or lounge on the sofa and play. This applies to more than just gaming - it's comfortable computing. Even the laptop form factor is awkward when you lie on a bed or sofa.

Concerning controls for games, there could be a wireless or wired gamepad.

Tethering with an iPhone is one of the most important features to me. I really hope it is there. $30 a month each for your phone, tablet, car, or whatever other connected device they come up with next just isn't a feasible practice moving forward. I don't really care if this tablet has 3G or not, since I already have a 3G connection (but obviously others would want it). Either way, I don't think I should have to pay for 3G on this tablet (if it has it).

Luckily, I currently live in a market where unlimited tethering is permitted at no extra charge, as it should be. Data is data, I should only have to pay once for the data that travels to my iPhone, not pay extra for the data that I send from my iPhone to my laptop or (hopefully) tablet.

The price was actually $4.035 split-adjusted. I bought Apple at $13/share pre-split.

There are also a lot of tunes that are available on iTunes that are not available on CD. Not only things like Neil Young's Bridge School Collection and other live performances (like iTunes Originals), but also albums that never made it to CD, like "Lee Michaels" or "Sunrise" by Bob Brozman & Debashish Bhattacharya (two off the top of my head).

It looks like these tunes and albums may never make it to CD, so I'm really hoping for a lossless download alternative. (HD Tracks has lossless downloads for $1.49 per song or $11.98 per album, and they have some surprising albums (like all the later Kinks albums), but still not a super large collection).

I can appreciate your dilemma.

However, I don't think that the new device is an eBook per se. Unlike the relatively small Kindle, the new iSlate will be a new paradigm in multi-media entertainment.

Having a 3G connection would require another/updated wireless account/connection contract, thus another cost to contend with. Certainly it will have Wi-Fi and if anything, it will be a requirement even at home. No ethernet, no Firewire. Perhaps we will charge it by induction.

I would also suggest that the device is not meant for just picking up the odd black and white text-based book to read. But for higher resolution graphic-based multi-media content whether it is in the form of an 'Architectural Digest' or a full blown movie epic. Thus requiring higher speed internet connections to maximize its accessibility.

Right now TV is a bust. Content is getting worse. There is no need to watch commercials and as such, no monies are available from advertisers to produce better programming. The print industry is hanging themselves. The only saving grace is that consumers are dying to be entertained.

The Mac suffices most of us here. It is the rest of the family/world that it doesn't. My wife doesn't need a full blown computer. She loves to surf for decorating/food/fashion ideas. The kids, well that varies with age and their friends' activities. The grandparents, well, 'rabbit ears' are still better than cable.

However, most of us have cable. The iSlate will satisfy just about everybody in the family for what it will be designed to do. And the only cost will be the device. All the materials that we downloadable at a reasonable price and it won't feel any different than if we went to the local variety store and picked up a magazine or two. That is, it will be incremental, giving us the option to get as much as we want and primarily guided by affordability.

Jobs is not going to introduce a device that everybody else has attempted to do. It won't be universally accepted. There will be naysayers right from the get-go. However, the naysayers will gripe and gripe without much thought and the competition will swamp the market with so-called me-toos. In the meantime, the App Store will double or triple in size, Apple will dominate another unforeseen market and Jobs will entrench himself as Man of the 21st Century.

Now if Apple could have bullied AT&T into providing a $20/mon Unlimited 3G Data Plan for it, and that was the only monthly fee associated with AT&T, I think most people would agree that this model would be preferable. Even if it were unsubsidized at the likely $599 and $799 price points.

I say $20 because I believe it would be the magic number for iPhone users. $30 and iPhone users would scoff at doubling their monthly AT&T data bill, for slightly better experience, or :-o ! consider dropping the iPhone in favor of the cheaper Tablet.

$20, an most iPhone users would shrug and decide it was reasonable enough. And AT&T would benefit from essentially providing ONE unlimited plan for $50 instead of $30...cause after all you're not likely using both at once.........

Hmmm. I have more iPhone games(10) than I have games on classic platforms (0)

A $1,000 gaming device for mediocre games? NO thank you.

Well Apple got the Apple TV (living room) WRONG but I keep forgetting- it's only a hobby!

Good one.