Apple orders 10-inch touchscreens for mystery product

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  • Reply 101 of 243
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Alonso Perez View Post


    So I decided to grab a ruler and cut some paper to 10" diagonal size, with a 16:10 ratio.



    It turns out that if the bezel is really thin, as in the iPhone, a 10" diagonal tablet can be hand held comfortably, assuming it's light and thin. It's just on the edge of the comfort zone for my hands (average sized for a male)



    You should have just cut it out to this size, as I've done that a while back.



    Yeah, much smaller than you would imagine. I agree. If curved like the shape of an iPhone, and around 14mm at its thickest point, it would be damn sweet to hold in the hand.
  • Reply 102 of 243
    mdriftmeyermdriftmeyer Posts: 7,503member
    I'm thinking more in line with a 6" x 9" dayplanner style display with a diagonal just over 10".



    The OS Display shifts depending on landscape or portrait.



    In Portrait, native Book size is obvious.
  • Reply 103 of 243
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ireland View Post


    You should have just cut it out to this size, as I've done that a while back.



    Yeah, much smaller than you would imagine. I agree. If curved like the shape of an iPhone, and around 14mm at its thickest point, it would be damn sweet to hold in the hand.



    Your bezel is wider than what I had in mind. You should be able to shave a half inch or more from those dimensions.
  • Reply 104 of 243
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Alonso Perez View Post


    Your bezel is wider than what I had in mind. You should be able to shave a half inch or more from those dimensions.



    I didn't just throw on a bezel, I thought about it first. You have to remember you'll have to hold this thing in your hands some times, without wanting to interact with the display accidentally. Given that, this would be as thin as I'd ever expect this bezel to get. Heck, it's already thinner that the top bezel on the iPhone, if you own an iPhone check out the size of that bezel and imagine slightly smaller than that being grasped by someone's fingers. You'll need room for you thumb on that bezel.
  • Reply 105 of 243
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mercury7 View Post


    need more leaks



    As they said on "MacBreak Weekly" (podcast) with Steve out of the picture for now, Apple has suddenly become very porous.
  • Reply 106 of 243
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by vinea View Post


    Not really. It's ARM and Linux.



    Point taken, but if Apple enters this category, it will be one more competitor (and a low-priced one at that).
  • Reply 107 of 243
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ireland View Post


    Guys, the name of this "tablet" will be Mac touch. Please, stop with the crumby names.



    I got 10-to-1 odds it'll be called the MacSlappy.
  • Reply 108 of 243
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mdriftmeyer View Post


    I'm thinking more in line with a 6" x 9" dayplanner style display with a diagonal just over 10".



    The OS Display shifts depending on landscape or portrait.



    In Portrait, native Book size is obvious.



    You mean the 5.5" x 8.5" size I mentioned many moons ago? This would make it a standard paper planner size.
  • Reply 109 of 243
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post


    I got 10-to-1 odds it'll be called the MacSlappy.



    You got it!
  • Reply 110 of 243
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post


    As they said on "MacBreak Weekly" (podcast) with Steve out of the picture for now, Apple has suddenly become very porous.



    They are sort of wrong on this one, Apple have been porous for the last few years now. No more so now, as in right now really. Apple are growing, and as you grow it's simply harder to hide things. Unless you slide the object into a fold
  • Reply 111 of 243
    merdheadmerdhead Posts: 587member
    Ok, I know this forum is exclusively for mindless speculation by the mentally diseased, but forgive me if I try to inject some logic into the discussion.



    Lets assume the rumour is true for the sake of argument. Apple could be building one of two form factors: the tablet or the "netbook".



    Although people have said that Apple are building a netbook because they denied it, I'm not swayed by that argument. The main innovation of the netbook is that it is cheap. Its performance sucks. Even people who like them say they're only useful as a "second computer" for travel or whatever. (The idea of a second computer is pretty stupid for anyone who actually relies on their machine everyday.) It's underpowered, cramped and unusable for real work except under duress.



    Now I think a fully powered small laptop is something Apple might build (the Air is not a small laptop), but it would be useable. A full keyboard and a decent screen would be in the package and at 10", the screen is a bit too small. Also, why would Apple put a touchscreen in a laptop form factor? It doesn't really delivery any real benefits if you have a mouse and keyboard attached.



    Now the idea of a tablet has more weight. It requires a touchscreen and 10" is an interesting and practical size in that form factor. Apple would be looking to capitalise on their new touch interfaces and the attendant hype, so it sounds much more probable.



    The question is then what hardware would it run, the choices obviously being x86 or ARM. The former would provide greater compatibility but would use much more power and for something that obviously would be used as a handheld, that is a big issue. And Apple uses battery life as a selling point. Since Apple have issues about different architectures chances are they will run ARM hardware.



    That brings us to software. One might expect that the choice is between the desktop OS and the touch OS, but that's not so obvious. Since they're the same code base with some tweaks for this hardware or that and with one set of frameworks or the other, there isn't really much restricting the use of one or the other except for processor power and memory (besides usability, and we have to assume APple will try to get that right). If Apple load up this machine with a large battery and a mutlicore ARM, they could realistically run any combination of use interface elements and software, freeing them up to build whatever works. You could easily put a keyboard and mouse on such a machine and have it do double duty.



    So if it's true, Apple is probably looking to build a bridge between their desktop and handheld devices, with this devices being both. It may be an "experiment" in bringing the two together and seeing how the market responds. Making a usable desktop-level tablet would obviously have a huge payoff, and this sounds like a reasonably strategy for pulling it off.
  • Reply 112 of 243
    olternautolternaut Posts: 1,376member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ireland View Post


    You have a few valid points there, and it would really be a dream display to have on this device. Heck, I've been screaming for it on the iPhone for a while now. It's one of the crucial upgrades I see the iPhone needing. But... don't hold your breath. Apple won't invest in a full production line for OLED displays, and they'll be trying to get away with this LED backlight malarkey (as seen in those awful MacBook displays) for as long as they can.








    I'll bet you a penny that is where Apple is going with either the new iphone or the mactouch or both. It would be a total failure on Apple's part if they let someone else be the first company to mass produce consumer grade OLED mobile devices close to 10" in size.



    And for gawd sakes who doesn't want an OLED iphone with the screen stretched to cover the entire face of the unit?
  • Reply 113 of 243
    Convertible tablets have always seemed outside Apple's design aesthetics. Similarly, cheapo netbooks aren't Apple's thing.



    I'm still betting on a dual touchscreen like the OLPC 2 based on the iphone OS. Of course, Apple will have to do something above and beyond the OLPC 2 reference design just to make it their own.



    My guess is that they will come up with some new "seemless" way to join the 2 screens when folded flat.



    I'd suggest waterproofing and induction charging to make it more kid friendly, but wouldn't bet on it.
  • Reply 114 of 243
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by macworld2009 View Post


    Apple might spy an opportunity to sell top-tier touchscreen tablet-style computers, but the fear is that the presumably big price tag won't be an easy fit in the netbook cheapening trend.

    As analysts have noted, Apple ultra-cool, luxury devices are not quite in tune dvd ripper for mac with the steepening global recession and a flight to cheaper gadgets.

    Consider it from slightly blunter angle. Consumers face an interesting choice: Buy an Apple computer, video converter for mac, or buy four netbooks for the same price.

    From: thestreet.com



    And what are they going to do with the four netbooks?



    Consumers are facing the choice, and a large enough group (including many on this forum) is choosing... Mac.



    If Apple were to take the advice of analysts (who don't actually know how to make anything), it would have closed its doors 12 years ago. Analysts apply standard, imagination-free formulas to all companies. Their menu of "solutions" is always the same: merge, cut costs, cut headcount.



    Have you ever, ever heard any analyst say "X company should sit down and design a really good, unique product"? Of course not. These guys are trained to look at numbers and think in terms of market sectors. Apple is "consumer tech", so in their world, Apple competes on price with Dell or MSI. But to an Apple buyer these companies are not even on the radar.



    Analysts are fine for standard companies, but they miss the boat entirely with companies like Apple.



    By the way, if Jim Cramer's shop is your source for wisdom, I'm sure you are still holding to that Bear Stearns paper. Go Bear!
  • Reply 115 of 243
    merdheadmerdhead Posts: 587member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Olternaut View Post


    I'll bet you a penny that is where Apple is going with either the new iphone or the mactouch or both. It would be a total failure on Apple's part if they let someone else be the first company to mass produce consumer grade OLED mobile devices close to 10" in size.



    And for gawd sakes who doesn't want an OLED iphone with the screen stretched to cover the entire face of the unit?



    Apple doesn't manufacture screens, Apple doesn't manufacture anything, and no-one manufactures 10" OLED screens for mobile devices. Sony has 11" OLED screens which are very expensive in a very limited run.



    The fact is that large OLED screens won't happen until someone takes a big risk and invests a very large amount of money in a new fab to build them, which is unlikely in this economy.
  • Reply 116 of 243
    merdheadmerdhead Posts: 587member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Alonso Perez View Post


    And what are they going to do with the four netbooks?



    Consumers are facing the choice, and a large enough group (including many on this forum) is choosing... Mac.



    If Apple were to take the advice of analysts (who don't actually know how to make anything), it would have closed its doors 12 years ago. Analysts apply standard, imagination-free formulas to all companies. Their menu of "solutions" is always the same: merge, cut costs, cut headcount.



    Have you ever, ever heard any analyst say "X company should sit down and design a really good, unique product"? Of course not. These guys are trained to look at numbers and think in terms of market sectors. Apple is "consumer tech", so in their world, Apple competes on price with Dell or MSI. But to an Apple buyer these companies are not even on the radar.



    Analysts are fine for standard companies, but they miss the boat entirely with companies like Apple.



    By the way, if Jim Cramer's shop is your source for wisdom, I'm sure you are still holding to that Bear Stearns paper. Go Bear!



    Uh, you're arguing with link spam.
  • Reply 117 of 243
    olternautolternaut Posts: 1,376member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by merdhead View Post


    Apple doesn't manufacture screens, Apple doesn't manufacture anything, and no-one manufactures 10" OLED screens for mobile devices. Sony has 11" OLED screens which are very expensive in a very limited run.



    The fact is that large OLED screens won't happen until someone takes a big risk and invests a very large amount of money in a new fab to build them, which is unlikely in this economy.



    I know they don't manufacture anything. Ok then I should have said that it would be a shame if Apple isn't the first company to SELL large quantities of devices with OLED screens covering the entire front face of the unit.



    Also, NOW is especially the time where companies (whom have the means) should be investing heavily in this hibernation period. And we all know that Apple has the means. Its only going to cost them a few billion to invest in other companies to make this happen.
  • Reply 118 of 243
    mdriftmeyermdriftmeyer Posts: 7,503member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post


    You mean the 5.5" x 8.5" size I mentioned many moons ago? This would make it a standard paper planner size.



    I was going more for 9 x 6 larger book format. We don't worry about .5" margins and a inside seam margin. The reason I brought it up was simply due to everyone at Apple [when I worked there years ago] wanted to design one of that form factor.
  • Reply 119 of 243
    Why not a netbook with two 20'' screens that can be folded like a book? It will be an ebook reader that will turn into a netbook when turned 90 degrees, with one screen converted then to a touchscreen keyboard? When closed, a bookcover (or any other pucture) can show up on the outside.
  • Reply 120 of 243
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by merdhead View Post


    Uh, you're arguing with link spam.



    Oh well. My bad.
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