Up next for Apple: the return of the Newton

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  • Reply 121 of 313
    This device is suspect at best, though I do believe that it will see the light of day. Why? One reason: Mobile Mac OS X. Surely they didn't develop a mobile version of Mac OS X purely for the iPhone and its widget-based Web2.0 apps, right? I feel that if this product is true (and I can see it being as such), it will run on a more complete version of Mobile Mac OS X and will have actual PROGRAMS instead of widgets.



    However, in order for this to happen, 3G is a MINIMUM requirement. Didn't someone say that 3G energy consumption would drop by sometime in mid-2008? What a coincidence that rumors have this releasing at around this same time. And in addition to that, there is that OPEN WIRELESS SPECTRUM being auctioned. Hmm...



    As for the phone part, I would bet my right arm that it won't have one, if only to ensure that the iPhone isn't pushed to the backburner here. Instead, I figure that the iPhone and i-whatever-you-wanna-call-it will sync via Bluetooth or what have you.



    So, that's my two cents.
  • Reply 122 of 313
    a thumb-hole to grab it and keep it secure, or a rubberized edge coat, or something. I dropped my 4G iPod and killed it when its sleek, shiny body slid from my desperately fumbling grasp.



    This iNewton will cost some bucks... I need a way to hang onto it better.
  • Reply 123 of 313
    I thought that i would have a go at making a newton mock up.



    Hope you like it... the images are on my wordpress blog... here's the link.



    http://iboz.wordpress.com/











    Thanks for your time.
  • Reply 124 of 313
    lafelafe Posts: 252member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by eckofish View Post


    I thought that i would have a go at making a newton mock up.



    Hope you like it... the images are on my wordpress blog... here's the link.



    http://iboz.wordpress.com/







    Thanks for your time.



    Where's the Starbuck's logo?
  • Reply 125 of 313
    vineavinea Posts: 5,585member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post


    There's no confirmation that such a beast will ever be released, but if an Apple product were able to successfully replace a paper-based Compact planner (Franklin-Covey) at a reasonable price, it could be a huge hit. The problem with trying to replace a paper planner is price and durability. Paper is very hard to beat in those areas, and I predict that won't happen until very high resolution, low-power e-ink displays are common... maybe 6 to 10 years off.



    Yes. I have various electronic doo-dads that were note takers and planners but none really worked well because they were either too big an heavy (tablets...even slates) or too small and wimpy (PDA + SmartPad). I even own a TransNote.



    This would be far far better since it could web surf, do keynote and PP presentations (hopefully) and possibly replace an ultraportable.



    If it had a mini-DVI port then I could attach it to a monitor and use a USB keyboard and mouse. Losing the tiny screen is of no real importance.
  • Reply 126 of 313
    vineavinea Posts: 5,585member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by pmjoe View Post


    For exactly the reason why they other poster mentioned. If Apple viewed this as a potential video player, flash memory is currently way too expensive for storing movies. That doesn't mean that the OS and other content stored on the device wouldn't be stored on flash.



    Streaming via WiFi or simply 32GB of storage which is enough for a couple movies and resynch via WiFi.
  • Reply 127 of 313
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Lafe View Post


    Where's the Starbuck's logo?



    The starbucks logo only appears when you are inside the iTunes Wifi Store. There is no widget for it.



    Its was pretty tough getting the icons right since i obviously dont have the apple source files.



  • Reply 128 of 313
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,486moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gilliam Bates View Post






    I'd rather see an induction based charging system where it sits on the base but that limits the charging to iMacs and they would need to be updated. I imagine a simple USB cable would suffice. The name iPad makes me think of women's sanitary products too.



    Does anyone think they'll use the Newton name and logo or will it be something different? I'd like to see that name and logo make a comeback and I kind of hoped it would be the name of the iphone.



    I think Apple's presence in the PDA market is long overdue. I know tons of people who have had to get PocketPCs and they hate them.



    I don't get it though, why make another device when an iphone would surely do the job of a PDA very well? I can understand having the bigger screen for letters and things but I wonder where they can draw the line between a UMPC and a PDA if the PDA will be much bigger than an iphone.
  • Reply 129 of 313
    vineavinea Posts: 5,585member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gilliam Bates View Post






    Yes...although I'd want a low power core than an arm for this.
  • Reply 130 of 313
    irelandireland Posts: 17,799member
    I'd say it'll be closer to 10" than 6 or 7". You wouldn't be able to use productivity apps on a 6 or 7" screen, sorry, well sufficiently anyway. Besides they want to make it an ultra-portable Mac, not a bigger just iPod touch that has some iPhone features. Make no mistake, this is a Mac we're talking about here. Sure sources have said screen sizes etc., but how do we know this is the total truth.



    Multi-touch tablet Mac FTW!
  • Reply 131 of 313
    I scoffed at those who paid $600 for a phone. I didn't care when it came down to the low, low price of $400. I have a phone, which surfs the web, e-mails, c-mail, plays games, handles appointments, and even has some GPS wizardry to navigate me through Tokyo and the environs. No kidding, I walk, and it shows me moving on the map. It even knows which direction it is pointing--the map rotates as I do.



    It cost me $100 in Japan.



    But a new Newton? My stack of MP120s, an original 100, and my beloved 24-hr battery-life eMate 300 all tell me to run out and buy this thing.



    I scoffed at those who paid $600 for a phone. But for ten years, you couldn't get a new Newton at any price--now, any price is what I will pay.



    Hope this pans out.
  • Reply 132 of 313
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BlackSummerNight View Post


    This is why the iPhone and iPod touch is limited and Apple doesn't want you to put your own 3rd party apps on it. They have a PDA they want to push, and if some developer is writing apps that will do everything that this PDA offers it will equal low PDA sells. Just my .02.



    I agree as well.
  • Reply 133 of 313
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by haakondahl View Post


    I have a phone, which surfs the web, e-mails, c-mail, plays games, handles appointments, and even has some GPS wizardry to navigate me through Tokyo and the environs. No kidding, I walk, and it shows me moving on the map. It even knows which direction it is pointing--the map rotates as I do.



    It cost me $100 in Japan.



    Wow. What model phone is this? Who is the provider? (I am truly impressed that a cell phone provider in Japan has come up with all this cool, easy-to-use software). And, what does the service plan cost you per month?
  • Reply 134 of 313
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ireland View Post


    I'd say it'll be closer to 10" than 6 or 7". You wouldn't be able to use productivity apps on a 6 or 7" screen, sorry, well sufficiently anyway. Besides they want to make it an ultra-portable Mac, not a bigger just iPod touch that has some iPhone features. Make no mistake, this is a Mac we're talking about here. Sure sources have said screen sizes etc., but how do we know this is the total truth.



    Multi-touch tablet Mac FTW!



    I think Apple cares much more about scaling up the iPhone then it does about scaling down a laptop. The UMPC/small Tablet market has potential (I'd argue the eMate/Foleo/Asus EEE section has potential too, but the rumour is for a slate tablet), the 10"+ tablet market has gone nowhere.



    If you're worried about usefulness, consider resolution, and ignore the rumoured one. I have 1024x768 on my 12" PB and that is—just barely—enough. If one were to keep at least that resolution but at 5.5-7" you wind up with the same amount of space, looking much sharper. The pinch & resolution independence is where this comes in as you could zoom in and out with no loss of detail.



    Now sure this seems like a Mac, but it's (probably) running Mobile OS X and using Multitouch with maybe 32GB of flash. At the core this the next generation of Apple products, using Mobile OS X's interface (instead of the traditional OS X one), with programs from OS X requiring both porting (say to a new version of Cocoa, as Shipley proposed) and then a complete user interface redesign for Multitouch.



    If one were to make this 10" it would simply look like a Mac Tablet (which, given the tiny Windows Tablet market, is a miniscule target audience). People would expect OS X (with multitouch bolted on, I imagine) and the full multi-GB Leopard install and Photoshop and whatever. This is the exact same mistake UMPCs make.



    Now they could use Mobile OS X at 10" but I simply don't believe that people would accept such a large computer not running regular OS X (why I can't do Photoshop? Not ported. Why can't I play my games? Not ported. Etc…). It's just too close in size to a laptop. Especially if Apple ever expands their laptop line-up[1].



    Apple would want this to replace your laptop, I imagine, but at the same time be acceptable to carry with your laptop if you must. 10" doesn't do that, but 5.5-7" does. People carrie(d) Newton's with their laptops, but I don't think many people carry their Windows Tablet with their laptop.



    At 5.5-7" this is a Knowledge Navigator[2] using Mobile OS X that lasts for 24 hours on one charge (well, before we account for wireless). At that size people wouldn't expect regular OS X, and so the shininess of Mobile OS X & Multitouch along with the basics like iWork and iLife (perhaps minus GarageBand) beat not having Photoshop.





    [1] With a 11" MacBook Nano, a 13" MacBook Pro, and a 15" MacBook. Please Jobs? Probably depends on if their sales keep expanding.



    [2] That might not be a bad name for the device. It's not an iPhone or an iPod so iPhone Pro or iPad or whatever are out, and we don't want people to think this is a Mac so MacPad or MacTablet or whatever are out.



    Although I personally would love to see the Newton name come back



    How about Navigator, or iNavigator, or even iNewton .



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by haakondahl View Post


    I scoffed at those who paid $600 for a phone. I didn't care when it came down to the low, low price of $400. I have a phone, which surfs the web, e-mails, c-mail, plays games, handles appointments, and even has some GPS wizardry to navigate me through Tokyo and the environs. No kidding, I walk, and it shows me moving on the map. It even knows which direction it is pointing--the map rotates as I do.



    It cost me $100 in Japan.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post


    Wow. What model phone is this? Who is the provider? (I am truly impressed that a cell phone provider in Japan has come up with all this cool, easy-to-use software). And, what does the service plan cost you per month?



    There's NTT DoCoMo, AU/KDDI, and Softbank Mobile: all pretty much the same (Softbank's cheaper, with worse coverage, Au/KDDI occasionally puts out the coolest looking phones, like the Neon). The phone likely costs around $600-700 in real life, but is subsidized down to $100, they're really big on subsidies there. As far as I remember pretty much any new decent Japanese phone can do that sort of thing.



    Using Softbank you can get the White Plan for about 8 bucks a month, plus 4 bucks for the Super Useful Pack, 8 bucks to 40 bucks for 'unlimited' data (once you hit 40 bucks that's all you have to pay). For another 4 bucks you can get the Double White Plan & 50% off voice calls to non-Softbank carriers. Pretty decent, really.



    Note, however, that he said nothing about easy-to-use. Just because a map knows which way he's showing doesn't mean it's easy to use. In fact I'd lay odds his phone is as hard, or harder, to figure out all the neat things on it as any Nokia or Motorola or whatever model over in Europe or North America.



    Also note that the phone can probably be used as an e-wallet, and may even have digital (one-seg) TV. Plus barcode scanning, which is awesome.



    Advanced software and hardware features doesn't translate to a simple & good user interface to use them. That, as always, is where Apple has the upper hand.
  • Reply 135 of 313
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by audiopollution View Post


    You just typed a whole lot of 'what it's not'.



    What do you think it is? What is a "personal digital life manager"?



    Sounds like a PDA/UMPC to me.



    You'll notice I did put in a few things that it would be.



    My point was merely that everyone was comparing it to a past product.



    It won't be a UMPC, because it will run Mac OS Mobile, and therefore not full versions of the same programs that run on the full Mac OS.



    It will not be merely a PDA.



    If you read the posts that have come after mine, you'll see the many, many ways that such a device could be used, which gives rise the to name Personal Digital Life Manager i.e. it's not just going to hold your Contacts, Appointments, ToDo's, and Notes.



    It's going to run fairly capable apps on its own, but also be an extension of your laptop or desk PC, an extension of AppleTV, a way to control your Home Automation systems,

    a broadband or wi-fi extension of Web 2.0, a media manager/viewer, etc. etc. etc.



    Think somewhere between the iPhone/iTouch and a UMPC. It will offer you a lot of on-board features, but play much more effectively with your Desktop PC, Web 2.0, basically a whole lot of the digital world that you have in your home around you.



    Do you catch my drift now?



    I can't say exactly what it IS, since it isn't out yet. All I'm saying is that it will be a very unique device that will surprise us as to how much it can do as the center of our digital life... hence Personal Digital Life Manager.



    Think out of the box. Think of many devices out there and grab the features you like best and put them into the form factor that was mentioned in the article.



    You've got the device that is being reported here. The iPhone is a phone with a bit of web browsing thrown in. The iPods and iTouch are media managers, along with a bit of web browsing thrown in.



    This will be a device running a subset of the Mac OS, based on a single touch-screen that does pretty well everything else you want a device that size to do.



    Any idea what I'm trying to say now?



    Again, read the posts that talk about integrating things that aren't just Newton-like, or aren't a full UMPC that runs a full OS, and behaves similarly to a full laptop... think about an integration device for everything else... a window into the rest of your digital life.
  • Reply 136 of 313
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by vinea View Post


    Yes...although I'd want a low power core than an arm for this.



    This is what you're looking for.



    Mobile OSX plus mobile chips smaller than a penny but more powerful than Core solos. Amazing



    Oh and did I mention that WiMAX will be supported.
  • Reply 137 of 313
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Dazabrit View Post


    I have mentioned a product along these lines several times before (as has Ireland).



    It makes perfect sense and you can see the pieces coming together, in a HUGE way. The problem is marketing the device. What is it? A Macbook, A Mac Mini Replacement or a bigger iPod/iPhone?



    All I know (and I've mentioned this before) is Leopard is slapping us round the face with the clues!!!



    Why does the 3D Dock exist? (Because it wants to be touched?)

    Coverflow in Finder

    Core Animation

    Quicklook Documents with a Single Touch



    Give me a break!!!!!! It's everywhere. This is the biggest stealth project in History!!



    This could be the first Mac to dock in every area of your life.

    The Home, The Car, The Office and The Pocket!!







    Very good observations. Kudos for this comment.
  • Reply 138 of 313
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JakeTheRock View Post


    I wonder if this will play music/video like the touch. It does'nt seem that this would cut into those sales of the Touch, even if it did, because of the size. i think it will have wi-fi an BT. what else?



    I think there are 2 markets.. a bigger device does have its place (both for screen realestate, and for an increase in processing power - assuming that is useful!). For instance, I mentioned maps on the iPhone to a friend as something that (once iPhone has GPS) would obsolete portable standalone GPS map devices ... and he said the screen was too small for a good map.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ncee View Post


    Ture, but there are those of us, who don't want / need an iPod or iPhone, who will gladly purchase a iNewton:, iPDA, itrack, iplan or whatever they end up calling it



    iPod plus Newton MessagePad.... has to be the "iPad" right?



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ruc2827 View Post


    The PDA is merely new functionality that will be added to the iPod and iPhone. Why on earth would you want a stand alone PDA without iPod or phone?



    I would be surprised if the iPod functionality wasn't in there as a side effect. I'd also be surprised if Apple wasn't looking at built in 3G data for laptops (and iPad?).



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Hobbes View Post


    Well, admittedly, it's not that big - according to the mock-up it's around the size of a small paperback book (and much much thinner).



    It's just not comfortably pocket-size.

    <snip>

    It's too big to be used as a music player or phone (though it'd be an fantastic video player or e-reader), and too limited to be used wholly as a laptop replacement. Unless Apple is counting on a large group of people who just want to watch videos and check e-mail on trips but (a) don't want to bring laptops (b) for some reason don't want an iPhone which does almost exactly what this device does plus is a phone, and (c) and are willing to spend hundreds of dollars for yet another device, I don't quite get it.



    Price will be critical. Certainly, if the iPhone does exactly the same thing and is cheaper, you'll buy an iPhone right?



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rolo View Post


    I have the original Newton. When I got my iPhone, the first thing I thought was the iPhone didn't have some of the capabilities of the Newton. Combine the best of the Newton with the iPhone and Apple would have something truly amazing. Add a bunch of killer apps and you'd have a palmtop Mac.



    So Newton users of the past.... what would you need to add to the iPhone to give it equivalent functionality?
  • Reply 139 of 313
    irelandireland Posts: 17,799member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Dazabrit View Post


    I have mentioned a product along these lines several times before (as has Ireland).



    It makes perfect sense and you can see the pieces coming together, in a HUGE way. The problem is marketing the device. What is it? A Macbook, A Mac Mini Replacement or a bigger iPod/iPhone?



    All I know (and I've mentioned this before) is Leopard is slapping us round the face with the clues!!!



    Why does the 3D Dock exist? (Because it wants to be touched?)

    Coverflow in Finder

    Core Animation

    Quicklook Documents with a Single Touch



    Give me a break!!!!!! It's everywhere. This is the biggest stealth project in History!!



    This could be the first Mac to dock in every area of your life.

    The Home, The Car, The Office and The Pocket!!







    Yeah, great comment.
  • Reply 140 of 313
    irelandireland Posts: 17,799member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tokolosh View Post


    There would be no point to an entirely different device when you can just increase the features available on the iPhone and touch. My guess is that this would be released as another piece of the iPhone lineup rather than as the much discussed Newton replacement.



    A.I. has it all wrong, this is going to be Apple's ultra-portable. Newton 2.0 is the iPhone as is. Who gives a crap about hand recognition, the stylus is old news anyway. I suspect this will have 9" or 10" screen, come in one screen size (could even be 8", but not any smaller), and will run either Leopard, or something very close to it.



    Screen resolution tips aside, the screen res. could end up being 1280 x 800, or even higher. This is going to be a Mac people, not a P.D.A.



    You seem very confident in your opinion Ireland? Yes I do. The iPhone is as-P.D.A. as Apple is going to get, possibly ever. I repeat, this will be Apple's ultra-portable.
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