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

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  • Reply 21 of 82
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sticknick View Post


    Now this idea intrigues me. Considering that both OS X and Windows 7 are pretty much on par now as far as mainstream operating systems go...



    I used ?OS X? as a general umbrella term, I?m note referring to Mac OS X. A demo for that won?t come next week, more likely at WWDC this year. I used ?OS X? instead of specifically stating iPhone OS X 4.0 and Tablet OS X 1.0, of which I think one or both could be demoed next week.
  • Reply 22 of 82
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ivan.rnn01 View Post


    Compelling about music --- no need to endanger iPod/iPhone sales.

    Not so much about gaming --- premium game console without any traces of elaborated controller part? the multitouch display just can't fulfill requirements. ummm...



    iPhone games seem to be doing just fine. You don't need a dedicated controller, just write games that lend themselves to being touch-driven.
  • Reply 23 of 82
    ilogicilogic Posts: 298member
    Every web site should be designed to navigate like an itunes LP.. okay maybe not all, but most - how else could we successfully bring the web to these devices... can't wait to see 4.0
  • Reply 24 of 82
    pmzpmz Posts: 3,433member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ivan.rnn01 View Post


    Compelling about music --- no need to endanger iPod/iPhone sales.

    Not so much about gaming --- premium game console without any traces of elaborated controller part? the multitouch display just can't fulfill requirements. ummm...



    Well, it's called being creative. The basic controller scheme for console games has not changed in 2 decades and no other other style has become even a little popul.......oh, wait......the iPhone/iPod touch changed all of that. Ok, so what's the next step in multi-touch gaming?



    My first answer would be, MORE screen real estate. A 10" sounds like it blow that request out of teh water.



    What's next? More input methods? Something more substantial than the accelerometer?
  • Reply 25 of 82
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by pmz View Post


    Who agrees that at least 50% of iPhone app developers probably did NOT use scalable vector graphics when doing their programming?



    For anyone who didn't, it's back to the drawing board, and probably no chance of it being "the same" app.



    But then again, why should it be?



    There are a lot of developers who use Adobe Illustrator to create graphics and illustrations (character designs, 2-D environments, UI elements, etc.), but the graphics format that is used by iPhone OS is PNG, not SVG.
  • Reply 26 of 82
    pmzpmz Posts: 3,433member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post


    There are a lot of developers who use Adobe Illustrator to create graphics and illustrations (character designs, 2-D environments, UI elements, etc.), but the graphics format that is used by iPhone OS is PNG, not SVG.



    I'm aware. SVG would not be part of the App itself. They are the source material for the PNG.



    Whether or not developers had the foresight to produce original graphics that could be easily scaled and PNG'd at a higher resolution, is entirely up in the air.
  • Reply 27 of 82
    str1f3str1f3 Posts: 573member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by pmz View Post


    Well, it's called being creative. The basic controller scheme for console games has not changed in 2 decades and no other other style has become even a little popul.......oh, wait......the iPhone/iPod touch changed all of that. Ok, so what's the next step in multi-touch gaming?



    My first answer would be, MORE screen real estate. A 10" sounds like it blow that request out of teh water.



    What's next? More input methods? Something more substantial than the accelerometer?



    While gaming on an iPhone is fine, it'll be a little difficult to hold up a 10" 2lb device while playing an FPS or driving game.
  • Reply 28 of 82
    ajpriceajprice Posts: 320member
    Games? I think Pop Cap will be pretty quick onto that one with Bejeweled, Peggle, Chuzzle etc. Oh and counting down to the first driving game with tilt steering control...



    And I think a big touch screen would be a good format, better than the iPhone, for the old Lucas Arts type stuff like Monkey Island, Full Throttle, Sam & Max... Some of these were HD updated for Xbox Live and Playstation Network as well as the iPhone, so the graphics quality shouldn't be a problem.
  • Reply 29 of 82
    Inviting Kotaku made me think. Although nog going to happen; wouldn't it be so much fun if Apple never intended to release a tablet but was working on a high-end gaming console for all these years?



    That would be a total surprise. Since I love my XBOX so much, I would buy it. OS / hardware makers aren't bad at building gaming consoles. If it is an Apple branded gaming console, it would be expensive, high-end and super cool .. I guess.



    Just a random thought .. super excited.
  • Reply 30 of 82
    paxmanpaxman Posts: 4,729member
    I am dead curious how the new device will work with an external keyboard and mouse, if at all. If through Apple or 3rd party add ons the device can be packaged efficiently and used as a laptop, it will become irresistible. I know this is counter to the essence of the tablet, and that it could cannibalize laptop MB sales but if you could park it on an angle and use a bluetooth super slimline keyboard in conjunction with mail / iWorks it will broaden the appeal to business users. Pure lust justified with business rational... how can it fail?
  • Reply 31 of 82
    gazoobeegazoobee Posts: 3,754member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by pmz View Post


    It's more than highly likely that game demos will be 50% or more of the entire keynote. A crying shame, since Apple should be demoing it's own software during their own events.



    You should hope that games *don't* make up anything close to 50% of the show.



    The tablet is Apples attempt to broaden the platform away from being just a gimmicky phone. They are trying to get very serious here. If the tablet is percieved as just a large game device it will certainly fail.



    Recent history has shown that games will show up regardless of whether Apple promotes them or not. I would expect some demos of games running on the larger screen and that they will look good, but the larger screen is obviously for reading, writing, and drawing, not games. Monkey ball works the same on the small screen as it will on the bigger one. Most other games are the same.



    Finally, someone has already said it, but if the demo of the tablet and OS itself doesn't take up the majority of the time, then the tablet is also likely a fail. iPhone 4.0 should be (by the numbers), a *major* revision with lots of changes. If that also doesn't take up a very large part of the time the whole event could be similarly fail-ish.
  • Reply 32 of 82
    In the last few weeks we've seen:



    1. This story's suggestion that games will be a focus.



    2. The Wall Street Journal story several weeks ago saying Apple was in talks with Disney and CBS about subscription-based access to TV shows.



    3. The Wall Street Journal story yesterday saying Apple is in talks with HarperCollins and other publishers about making books available for the tablet.



    4. The New York Magazine and Wall Street Journal stories yesterday that the New York Times is expected to make an announcement in the next week about a pay wall to begin a couple of months from now, plus the NYT editor's comments a few months ago about "the impending tablet."



    5. The Fox News story yesterday that the announcement next week will include iLife 10 and iPhone 4.



    6. Multiple stories the last few weeks about touch-driven, interactive textbooks.



    7. Demos in December of touch-driven, interactive versions of Wired and Sports Illustrated.



    8. Stories in the last several weeks indicating an SDK for developers to modify iPhone apps to run on the tablet in time for launch in March/April.



    9. Apple's purchase of Lala and rumored development today of a web-based version of iTunes/iTunes Store.



    Depending on how much of that is true, it points to tons of content to drive tablet sales and accessibility of the content from other Apple devices and browsers and could have the same halo effect that the iPod and iPhone have had for Apple products.
  • Reply 33 of 82
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    I think it can be deduced that there will be a new OS X demo and new SDK. Whether that means iPhone OS SDK, Tablet OS SDK, or both is unknown.



    I?m not sure why a game developer is confused by the invitation when every single demo of the iPhone and Touch since the SDK announcement has relied heavily on games to showcase the capabilities of the HW.



    Agreed, I think a new version of the OS for the tablet and associated SDK is inevitable. I suspect the current iPhone OS will run 'as is' within a special window (supporting cut/copy/paste) so all that is available on the apps store is useable and all in your iTunes library/apps will sync onto the tablet immediately. This gives the tablet 100,000 apps from day one with the release of full screen dedicated apps following asap along with whatever Apple has all ready, iLife 2010 etc. including a new MacPaint hopefully . I can imagine upgrade specials pricing from iPhone to Tablet versions of many apps being offered by the apps store.
  • Reply 34 of 82
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MiRAGe View Post


    Inviting Kotaku made me think. Although nog going to happen; wouldn't it be so much fun if Apple never intended to release a tablet but was working on a high-end gaming console for all these years?



    That would be a total surprise. Since I love my XBOX so much, I would buy it. OS / hardware makers aren't bad at building gaming consoles. If it is an Apple branded gaming console, it would be expensive, high-end and super cool .. I guess.



    Just a random thought .. super excited.



    Assuming the tablet will support games at least as well as the iPhone does, how is it not a high-end gaming console? Because it won't be marketed as something you hook up to your TV?
  • Reply 35 of 82
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by str1f3 View Post


    While gaming on an iPhone is fine, it'll be a little difficult to hold up a 10" 2lb device while playing an FPS or driving game.



    That is the beauty of the product range, use the iPhone / iPodTouch when appropriate and the tablet when it is ... and the MacBook/iMac /MacPro when they are. All synced, all simple to use. Plus I suspect there will be technologically game altering (no pun intended) possibilities offered by the tablet to make it unique (until the usual suspects copy it) and a 'must have' for many.
  • Reply 36 of 82
    cmf2cmf2 Posts: 1,427member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MiRAGe View Post


    Inviting Kotaku made me think. Although nog going to happen; wouldn't it be so much fun if Apple never intended to release a tablet but was working on a high-end gaming console for all these years?



    That would be a total surprise. Since I love my XBOX so much, I would buy it. OS / hardware makers aren't bad at building gaming consoles. If it is an Apple branded gaming console, it would be expensive, high-end and super cool .. I guess.



    Just a random thought .. super excited.



    If Apple ever releases a gaming console, it will be in the form of an updated Apple TV with apps. They wouldn't make a dedicated console, and thus the games probably wouldn't be quite as good as what Sony and Microsoft would have at that time.
  • Reply 37 of 82
    posted in the wrong thread... apologies.
  • Reply 38 of 82
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by pmz View Post


    I agree it sounds like ham-handed scam, but would you honestly not pay another $0.30 per song to get FLAC or WAV or Apple Lossless?



    I sure as would. Currently I consider it to be a travesty that I have hundreds of dollars worth of sh*t lossy audio that I had no choice but to purchase (work related).



    I don't mean to sound hard-assed, but why complain? You KNEW you were buying low-resolution music files. You get what you pay for.



    Personally, I haven't spent ONE CENT on those lo-res things. To me, it makes no sense to spend $10 on a digital album that's ripped at low-resolution, when for a few bucks more, I get a CD and can rip it at whatever rate I choose. When I first got an iPod, a ripped some music at 256k, when I didn't like the results with some music (Mahler, Shostakovich, Messiaen, etc.), I re-ripped in Lossless. Now, I just rip everything in Lossless.



    Eventually all music files on the iTunes Store should be Apple Lossless. It's long overdue.
  • Reply 39 of 82
    Quote:

    Porchland;1552076]In the last few weeks we've seen:



    Great job tracking and summarizing. All signs point to....... something!
  • Reply 40 of 82
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MiRAGe View Post


    Inviting Kotaku made me think. Although nog going to happen; wouldn't it be so much fun if Apple never intended to release a tablet but was working on a high-end gaming console for all these years?



    That would be a total surprise. Since I love my XBOX so much, I would buy it. OS / hardware makers aren't bad at building gaming consoles. If it is an Apple branded gaming console, it would be expensive, high-end and super cool .. I guess.



    Just a random thought .. super excited.



    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.
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