The inside track on Apple's tablet: a history of tablet computing

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  • Reply 141 of 200
    olternautolternaut Posts: 1,376member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ireland View Post


    There will be a tablet. Stop saying there won't be. This was exactly like the time just before the iPhone launched, a whole lot of people here were saying Apple won't release a phone. There's going to be a tablet in a few weeks, just deal with it. Making the iPhone much more powerful would kill the battery, you can't avoid that fact. Also, Apple stand to make a lot more money by making a tablet and the iPhone, getting money from you twice, and not simply for a screened iPhone peripheral, but a full cost computing device.



    The tablet will be called Mac touch, or I'll eat my hat. I also have a sneaking feeling as of late it may actually have an OLED display. They can charge even more that way, make more money, and have superb viewing angles and contrast that would give this device an ever more revolutionary feel about it. Plus it would help make the tablet even thinner and give it improved battery performance, and super display refresh rates.



    Imagine watching a letter-boxed movie on this thing, when the black letterbox top and bottom boarders are "OFF", the movie would pop like you can't imagine.



    MacTouch ftw!!!.......or iPad.
  • Reply 142 of 200
    coraxcorax Posts: 47member
    I'm curious if there will be more than one model, like 7inch and 10inch, x86 and ARM...

    Personally I think that would be great. Oh and when they start shipping, I will definitly buy.

    It will not replace my MacBook, Desktop or iPhone, it will be added as just another nice Apple play toy.
  • Reply 143 of 200
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member
    First, a plug: if you like dance music, especially "dutch style" uplifting melodic trance, check out my latest track at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9KTGlOrk_Q ... Well, if you're not into dance music, you could have a gander just to see what's possible with a Macbook Aluminium 2ghz and Logic Pro 8 + Garageband instruments/samples.



    Thank you for your attention.



    Now, to the topic at hand.



    Okay, here's my prediction at this stage.



    Apple has to give a one week's notice to the Technomedia which means an invitation Monday or Tuesday next week for a Jan 27th or 28th event. If by next weekend we don't see an invitation then obviously Apple is going to move this event to Feb.



    My prediction is that the week of Jan 25th to 31st is going to be huge. With Jan 25th Apple announcing results then Jan 27th the special event.



    Now to the Tablet.



    It will not be called Mac Touch (sorry, Ireland). iSlate is very possible, alongside resurrecting the iBook name. iPad or NetPad possible too.



    Tablet is 10", LED not OLED, super cool touch, gesture, app store (will run your EXISTING iphone apps) but there will be app development for Tablet only. A more powerful ARM CPU and GPU.



    Functions:



    1. Web browsing, apps, media at home/ on the go when you don't want to take your whole notebook. I'm at the golf club (my parents play, I'm waiting for them) typing this and I would love taking a tablet for after gym/golf/etc and having *enough* functionality on a large enough screen without needing a full blown laptop. Meaning 2 to 3 hours possible usage.



    2. Games. Expect this to be important.



    3. eBook Reader. Essential.



    4. EDUCATION <-- this is huge. iPod and iPhone learning is useful, but screen is limited. For K-12, especially K-6 where a MacBook for each child may be a bit out of their scope, the Tablet would be ideal. With all the Apps, Podcasts, web browsing, and so on.



    5. Vertical markets eg. Medical



    Now, the Tablet is not going to be the next great iPhone. Mac, iPod and iPhone will continue to grow and evolve at Apple's preferred pace. The Tablet rounds out their offerings and gives a brand boost in 2010 and, I think, can do 10 million units in 2010 easily, if at $699 and $799 price points.



    Syncs with Mac and PC. Has webcam in front and camera at back.



    $699 model is 32GB with WiFi only. $799 is 64GB with WiFi and 3G functionality. However the 3G function would mean bundling with carriers which Apple is going to negotiate. Apple has not started these negotiations in earnest yet for 3G functionality because there is too much potential for devastating leaks.



    Edit: NO STYLUS.



    Edit2: The Netbook/Ultralight market is not going anywhere, but this will be Apple's and the "Premium" take on this market.
  • Reply 144 of 200
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Corax View Post


    I'm curious if there will be more than one model, like 7inch and 10inch, x86 and ARM...

    Personally I think that would be great. Oh and when they start shipping, I will definitly buy.

    It will not replace my MacBook, Desktop or iPhone, it will be added as just another nice Apple play toy.



    It's "there's an app for that" not "there's a tablet for that".



    So only one model, 10". It will not replace MacBook, Desktop or iPhone or iPod. But 10 million units globally in 2010? To people who already have iPhones and Macs and PCs? I think it is possible.



    Like I said, I need one when chilling at home, and before/after gym, and as a eBook reader/ tablet/ etc when travelling where I don't need a full laptop.
  • Reply 145 of 200
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JaylikeBird View Post


    secret licensing deal with James Cameron to call it the Avatar



    oh i better stop this



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JaylikeBird View Post


    face recognition with the embedded camera: press the screen in a corner and the AppleCore will launch an application based on your facial expression or hand gesture. throw a gang sign to chat, smile to launch videophone & say your friends name. all. working. seamlessly.



    it's my day off, i can have a few little pipe-dreams.



    No problem. As our ideas go into the global consciousness things will bubble. A shipping product is not always the final say on the matter. We can always dream.



    There is still a chance that there is NO TABLET this year OR EVER.
  • Reply 146 of 200
    ivan.rnn01ivan.rnn01 Posts: 1,822member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by vinea View Post


    False. First other folks besides Motion make slates. Viewsonic, Tablet Kiosk and Fujitsu to name three off the cuff...not including the new slates from HP, dell, etc seen at CES.



    Well... Formally speaking, no, my statement wasn't exactly true. There's kinda list of computers sporting true tablet form factor. Moreover, Apple's tablet already exists! (Made by someone else and shown at MacWorld in 2009)







    Yet, we have to be extremely careful when listing tablets just by maker. Fujitsu doesn't make tablets. They make convertible laptop computers.

    Yet another thing to mention is tablets are now rather niche products, which don't impact the industry much.

    And, no, I'm not going to count tablets just having been shown at last CES. Too early. They're no more than kinda prototypes.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by vinea View Post


    Second, convertible tablets ARE tablets. Hence the "tablet" in the name. When fllipped they act just like slates, just a little heavier and thicker due to the keyboard. The key requirement is some kind of ink technology to capture user input and a digitizer to provide that input.



    As soon as a device has a full-dimensional physical keyboard, it's no more tablet, it's convertible laptop computer. Fujitsu "tablets" weight 5 lbs and are 1.5" thick, while MBA weights 3.0 lbs and measures only 0.76".



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by vinea View Post


    From your definition then the upcoming iSlate wont be a tablet either.



    Had we but names to squabble over, I'd say iSlate will never exist. OK, whatever the thing is, I don't think it has full-dimentional physical keyboard.
  • Reply 147 of 200
    ivan.rnn01ivan.rnn01 Posts: 1,822member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by seek3r View Post


    For some reason Appleinsider missed a few of the real, slate-style tablets out there. Most are used in rather specialized industries though. An example i used in another thread, motion computing, markets primarily to the medical arena. There are companies that market to the automotive arena too, etc.



    This is exactly what I've been trying to say. I just expanded on it a bit more to show why tablets are rather niche products being poorly known today.
  • Reply 148 of 200
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nvidia2008 View Post


    It will not be called Mac Touch (sorry, Ireland). iSlate is very possible, alongside resurrecting the iBook name. iPad or NetPad possible too.



    Pick one name.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nvidia2008 View Post


    Tablet is 10", LED not OLED.



    You're probably right about this, though I desperately hope you are wrong. OLED is so much better than LED-Backlit LCD. The difference is huge! I repeat, HUGE!
  • Reply 149 of 200
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ireland View Post


    You're probably right about this, though I desperately hope you are wrong. OLED is so much better than LED-Backlit LCD. The difference is huge! I repeat, HUGE!



    As is the price tag. I?ll be surprised if it has OLED. Happy, because the price mens little to me, but still surprised.
  • Reply 150 of 200
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ireland View Post


    Pick one name....



    Macbooklet
  • Reply 151 of 200
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ireland View Post


    ... OLED is so much better than LED-Backlit LCD. The difference is huge! I repeat, HUGE!



    Is OLED hard to see in the sun? Or is that FUD I got from somewhere.
  • Reply 152 of 200
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nvidia2008 View Post


    Macbooklet



    "Introducing the iTabBookMacTouchSlatePad"
  • Reply 153 of 200
    alfiejralfiejr Posts: 1,524member
    with all the fun speculating here, no one has raised the issue of the iWhatever's aspect ratio and screen resolution. which makes a big difference for its integration with other consumer devices - its ecosystem.



    the iPhone aspect ratio is 3:2. will the iThing have the same? so iPhone apps would need only to be scaled up for its display? rather than windowed like a widget?



    if then the screen resolution were 1280x854, the iThing could display 16:9 media at 1280x720 without any scaling. which would be great for compatibility with all HD content from/to any device and iTunes.



    or something else entirely different?
  • Reply 154 of 200
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by drdb View Post


    I'm not really all that sure that using photoshop on a tablet is all that appealing anyway. Surely a bigger screen is much better for such software?



    I see so many people here claiming that they want to use CS 4 on this tablet that I have to wonder if they are honestly designers. It isn't just a question of screen size either. Even if such apps did run on the tablet I don't think people would see them as productivity apps at all. Rather they will be seen as tools to use in a pinch.



    In any event iPhone OS is already fully capable of running such apps. All you really needis a larger screen and maybe a few more tools in the framework. It still amazes me that we see people daily expressing the opinion that iPhone OS isn't capable of running apps.





    Dave
  • Reply 155 of 200
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jlebrech View Post


    Dear Mr Jobs,



    Please make it have xcode



    I understand but XCode is a hungery program. It eats RAM and screen real estate like crazy. If the tablet is powerful enough to run XCode I will be very impressed.



    As an alternative I'd love to see either a Python or Ruby based scripting environment. That would allow for on device development of light weight apps. This would be most excellent but probably will never happen. In away it would be a throw back to the old days of computing when every device had a BASIC built in.





    Dave
  • Reply 156 of 200
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ivan.rnn01 View Post


    Well... Formally speaking, no, my statement wasn't exactly true. There's kinda list of computers sporting true tablet form factor. Moreover, Apple's tablet already exists! (Made by someone else and shown at MacWorld in 2009)



    I wouldn?t call the Axiotron ModBook ?Apple?s tablet?. It?s a tablet made from Apple?s MacBook and running Apple?s Mac OS X, but the tablet formation is all Axiotron.



    Quote:

    Yet, we have to be extremely careful when listing tablets just by maker. Fujitsu doesn't make tablets. They make convertible laptop computers.

    Yet another thing to mention is tablets are now rather niche products, which don't impact the industry much.

    And, no, I'm not going to count tablets just having been shown at last CES. Too early. They're no more than kinda prototypes.



    I think we can count convertible notebooks as also being tablet devices. If it can be used as a tablet without accessing the keyboard and the display is the primary means of input while being held then I think it counts.



    But I see your point and I suppose it depends on the topic, perhaps we?ll need to qualify statement as ?dedicated tablet devices? in order to specifically exclude these convertible notebooks which won?t be able to compete with dedicated tablets on size and weight.
  • Reply 157 of 200
    olternautolternaut Posts: 1,376member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nvidia2008 View Post




    Now, the Tablet is not going to be the next great iPhone. Mac, iPod and iPhone will continue to grow and evolve at Apple's preferred pace. The Tablet rounds out their offerings and gives a brand boost in 2010 and, I think, can do 10 million units in 2010 easily, if at $699 and $799 price points.




    I think your partially correct. I think it will be the next great big thing. I don't think it's going to be earth shattering but I do think it's going to be a bigger hit than you (and many others) think.
  • Reply 158 of 200
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    It is bad enough that people underestimate the capability of iPhone OS here but the negativity towards ARM is uninformed.



    ARM supplies IP for the cores used in many Apple products. The newest versions A8 & A9 are very good processors and are known to be capable of easily out running ATOM. More importantly this IP can be integrated into a SoC that can be highly tailored to the builders needs. That means an A9 based SoC can have anywhere from 1 to 4 cores with caches and other support circuitry custom sized.



    Add to this a OpenCL compliant GPU and you end up with a heterogenous computing environment. Put a frame buffer on that SoC and you should be able to lower power significantly while increasing the performance of that SoC. With careful engineering and good software design Apple should be able to match the performance of many of todays Wndows based laptops.



    That is no BS and depends upon how agressive Apple will be with this first spin. The key here is that the whole device might max out at 8 to 10 watts. That is a bit more than iPhones 2.5 watts max but is very doable with a larger battery. I think things look really good for Apples first PA Semi based device.





    Dave
  • Reply 159 of 200
    olternautolternaut Posts: 1,376member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wizard69 View Post


    It is bad enough that people underestimate the capability of iPhone OS here but the negativity towards ARM is uninformed.



    ARM supplies IP for the cores used in many Apple products. The newest versions A8 & A9 are very good processors and are known to be capable of easily out running ATOM. More importantly this IP can be integrated into a SoC that can be highly tailored to the builders needs. That means an A9 based SoC can have anywhere from 1 to 4 cores with caches and other support circuitry custom sized.



    Add to this a OpenCL compliant GPU and you end up with a heterogenous computing environment. Put a frame buffer on that SoC and you should be able to lower power significantly while increasing the performance of that SoC. With careful engineering and good software design Apple should be able to match the performance of many of todays Wndows based laptops.



    That is no BS and depends upon how agressive Apple will be with this first spin. The key here is that the whole device might max out at 8 to 10 watts. That is a bit more than iPhones 2.5 watts max but is very doable with a larger battery. I think things look really good for Apples first PA Semi based device.





    Dave



    One week, one day and 21 hours to goooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!
  • Reply 160 of 200
    welshdogwelshdog Posts: 1,897member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Olternaut View Post


    MacTouch ftw!!!.......or iPad.



    In England wouldn't iPad translate to iTampon?
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