Mysterious new Bluetooth Apple product given FCC approval

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  • Reply 61 of 78
    gromitgromit Posts: 37member
    Ever tried using a browser on your TV with AppleTV or Boxee on ATV Flash? It is very difficult and you soon give up. This is an accessory to accompany the new AppleTv probably selling for £19 which will bring gestures to your AppleTV running iOS4. Stuff which was difficult before become easy with a touchpad. Browsing the web, reading and replying to emails from your sofa will be childsplay.
  • Reply 62 of 78
    antkm1antkm1 Posts: 1,441member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by desarc View Post


    i think StarNYC has it right.

    who's going to use a trackpad on their MacPro that isn't alreay using a Wacom?

    I think this is an input device for an iOS to be used without a touchscreen [like your TV]. i'm thinking some form of pointer onscreen shows your fingers location on the trackpad, and additional finger pressure allows for iPad/iPhone style flip-scrolling and clicking.



    i think you guys are missing a huge aspect of why apple makes products. I think it will do everything. Look at the new remote they introduced two years ago. It works for the iPod/phone IR dock, the aTV and the Macbooks and the iMac. I think the new device will work for every product apple makes. It will probably be like a Magic Mouse replacement. My only hope is that they start introducing some of the multi-touch gestures from the Macbook trackpad into the iPad/iPhone screens, like 3-finger swipe forward/back.
  • Reply 63 of 78
    antkm1antkm1 Posts: 1,441member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by polymnia View Post


    I hope Apple has decided to complement the new media-friendly Mac Mini with a livingroom-friendly keyboard. I have been using a Logitech bluetooth keyboard with a crappy track-disc int he lower right corner. It's better than a keyboard & separate mouse (or so I thought until I got a Magic Mouse).



    I used to use a Mighty Mouse & Apple Bluetooth Keyboard with me Mini and I got sick of using two devices...The mouse is just not in its element on a couch.



    Apple has validated the living room, media center use of the Mac Mini with its recent redesign. Its only logical that Apple makes a living room savvy input device.



    yes, it's their blue-tooth keyboard...probably way smaller than what you use.
  • Reply 64 of 78
    antkm1antkm1 Posts: 1,441member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Prof. Peabody View Post


    I really doubt this. Their flagship product at this point is the iPad, and the iPad is both pretty bad for artists but also even closer in form factor to a Wacom pad.



    If Apple wanted to close that divide, and make a product that allowed folks to draw like a Wacom tablet, they could easily have added the functionality to the iPad and would probably add the functionality into their iOS product line before they would try the desktop.



    Apple has historically shown no interest whatsoever in making products for people who need to draw on the screen with the (slight/sorta), exception of the Newton all those years ago. Despite all the artists that use Macs it's a complete non-priority for them it seems.



    that's what makes me so peeved about the iPad. I'm an architect, and we sketch a lot and take notes a lot in meetings. The ability to physically write on the iPad with a stylus like the Wacom tablet would make that device so much more useful to me! What about doctors that take notes during exams and receptionists or any business person in general that needs a note pad for jotting notes. Heck, there is a notes app native in the device already!!! It's on my top 5 list of why i'm not buying the iPad, yet ;P



    Sorry for the trolling.
  • Reply 65 of 78
    akhomerunakhomerun Posts: 386member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by starnyc View Post


    the new Apple TV Remote control, with Apple TV running iOS4? This would be very scary to MSFT.



    possible, but i fail to see how this would scare microsoft. they have a huge installed base with the xbox 360 and the only other product they make that connects to the TV is windows media center, a part of windows that almost nobody uses anymore.
  • Reply 66 of 78
    akhomerunakhomerun Posts: 386member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by antkm1 View Post


    that's what makes me so peeved about the iPad. I'm an architect, and we sketch a lot and take notes a lot in meetings. The ability to physically write on the iPad with a stylus like the Wacom tablet would make that device so much more useful to me! What about doctors that take notes during exams and receptionists or any business person in general that needs a note pad for jotting notes. Heck, there is a notes app native in the device already!!! It's on my top 5 list of why i'm not buying the iPad, yet ;P



    Sorry for the trolling.



    you are trolling. there are special stylus pens made just for the iphone that wold work perfectly on the ipad.
  • Reply 67 of 78
    sequitursequitur Posts: 1,910member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rob55 View Post


    Agreed (for the most part). I'd much rather use the glass trackpad on my MBP than the Magic Mouse on my iMac.



    I agree; however, I hope this gadget is rechargeable. I get less than five days use from batteries in my Magic Mouse.
  • Reply 68 of 78
    sandausandau Posts: 1,230member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sequitur View Post


    I agree; however, I hope this gadget is rechargeable. I get less than five days use from batteries in my Magic Mouse.



    you're lucky yours works. mine lost its guestures after an update... so I quit using it.



    however the BT keyboard seems to work fine, the batteries lasted for almost 6 months.
  • Reply 69 of 78
    antkm1antkm1 Posts: 1,441member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ihxo View Post


    unlikely. Tomorrow is Apple's quarterly report.



    if they release it, it will be quiet. Sounds more likely that this is an accessory that will be part of a larger release.
  • Reply 70 of 78
    anonymouseanonymouse Posts: 6,857member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by myapplelove View Post


    It's awful mice, I do hope you are on the French speaking side of Canada.



    Or, "... an awful mouse," if you are referring to the strain or species.
  • Reply 71 of 78
    ameristamerist Posts: 77member
    How about a Bluetooth 10 Key number pad to go with the Apple Wireless Keyboard? That would make sense and is overdue.
  • Reply 72 of 78
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by amerist View Post


    How about a Bluetooth 10 Key number pad to go with the Apple Wireless Keyboard? That would make sense and is overdue.



    Interesting idea, but wouldn?t this be better served by simply creating a keyboard with the number pad attached? It seems to me that this would be a less than stellar option that would interest very few people (which is why they didn?t add it to the original keyboard). Plus, it seems too big to be a typical number pad addition.
  • Reply 73 of 78
    tetzel1517tetzel1517 Posts: 204member
    The more I think about this the more the Apple TV rumor makes sense. Controlling such an interface with a remote always seemed like a contrivance and very un-Apple. Plus, there haven't been any rumors about a stand-alone product that's like this device, and I just don't think the market for trackpads is big enough for Apple to enter at this point, especially since Wacom sort of controls that space.



    But as an accessory to a revamped Apple TV, this makes a ton of sense. Though I'll be sad in a way if that's the case, since I'll no longer be able to use my Logitech Harmony to control *everything* connected to my TV.



    But one question -- why a trackpad and not a Wiimote-like wand for navigation?
  • Reply 74 of 78
    kolchakkolchak Posts: 1,398member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by antkm1 View Post


    that's what makes me so peeved about the iPad. I'm an architect, and we sketch a lot and take notes a lot in meetings. The ability to physically write on the iPad with a stylus like the Wacom tablet would make that device so much more useful to me! What about doctors that take notes during exams and receptionists or any business person in general that needs a note pad for jotting notes. Heck, there is a notes app native in the device already!!! It's on my top 5 list of why i'm not buying the iPad, yet ;P



    What you're asking for is already available. You can buy a stylus for the iPhone/iPad for just a few dollars (or splurge for the Pogo stylus, although I can't imagine why). Alternatively, just use your finger, which works just fine and is a lot handier. There are plenty of apps ? many free ? that allow you to sketch or make notes on the iPad. iDraft is one freebie that will let you draw in various colors. myNotes can do a couple of extra things like automatically converting your scribbles into neat lines, rectangles and ovals. There's also Adobe Ideas and a lot more that I haven't sought out.



    As for doctors and exams, there are already apps that let them enter data into standardized forms with simple button presses. Much easier and faster than trying to scribble down something illegible.
  • Reply 75 of 78
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Damn_Its_Hot View Post


    Much more likely a Trackpad with all the bells and whistles of a MB/MBP trackpad that could bring older notebooks up to date as well as being an option to the mouse for iMacs and Mac Pros. I would look for it to be about $69 and designed to fit nicely with and iMac and allow the gesture capabilities that the desktops don't have.



    How come noone mentions the Mac Mini?
  • Reply 76 of 78
    antkm1antkm1 Posts: 1,441member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Kolchak View Post


    What you're asking for is already available. You can buy a stylus for the iPhone/iPad for just a few dollars (or splurge for the Pogo stylus, although I can't imagine why). Alternatively, just use your finger, which works just fine and is a lot handier. There are plenty of apps – many free – that allow you to sketch or make notes on the iPad. iDraft is one freebie that will let you draw in various colors. myNotes can do a couple of extra things like automatically converting your scribbles into neat lines, rectangles and ovals. There's also Adobe Ideas and a lot more that I haven't sought out.



    As for doctors and exams, there are already apps that let them enter data into standardized forms with simple button presses. Much easier and faster than trying to scribble down something illegible.



    you obviously don't get the daily activities of my profession or many others. We draw with fine, medium and thick felt-tip pens...in meetings, at our desk to discuss ideas with others and to clients. We sketch a lot, create a lot of paper in the recycling bins every day. it's what we do, and the iPad or phone doesn't really cut it for that, but it should. Drawing with your finger is like trying to draw schematic for the space shuttle in sand, plus you finger covers up what you're drawing.



    the other argument you're not getting is about integration. I don't want to have to go to 3 different apps just to take notes in a meeting. I want all of them in one app, and one that can be saved out as PDF's and emailed. the "Notes" app should include all this. Typing will never replace the speed of handwriting and the simplicity of a note pad, but why couldn't the ipad do this. Architects, Structural-Civil-Electriacal-Mechanical-Plumbing Engineers, Graphic Designers, Doctors, Lawyers, Construction Managers, even Receptionists could use this to transcribe meeting minutes. Just think about all the paper they all go through that could be solved if the iPad worked like I describe.
  • Reply 77 of 78
    programmerprogrammer Posts: 3,457member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by antkm1 View Post


    you obviously don't get the daily activities of my profession or many others. We draw with fine, medium and thick felt-tip pens...in meetings, at our desk to discuss ideas with others and to clients. We sketch a lot, create a lot of paper in the recycling bins every day. it's what we do, and the iPad or phone doesn't really cut it for that, but it should. Drawing with your finger is like trying to draw schematic for the space shuttle in sand, plus you finger covers up what you're drawing.



    the other argument you're not getting is about integration. I don't want to have to go to 3 different apps just to take notes in a meeting. I want all of them in one app, and one that can be saved out as PDF's and emailed. the "Notes" app should include all this. Typing will never replace the speed of handwriting and the simplicity of a note pad, but why couldn't the ipad do this. Architects, Structural-Civil-Electriacal-Mechanical-Plumbing Engineers, Graphic Designers, Doctors, Lawyers, Construction Managers, even Receptionists could use this to transcribe meeting minutes. Just think about all the paper they all go through that could be solved if the iPad worked like I describe.



    I completely get the drawing/painting argument against using your finger to do so... but "writing is faster than typing"? I type way faster than I can possibly write, even on the iPad's virtual keyboard. And more accurately than a handwriting recognizer would do. Even one-handed while cradling the iPad on one arm I can one-hand type at a competitive speed to how I write on paper (which is faster than on a screen w/ stylus). I've used handwriting recognizing devices before and am very happy that Apple chose the virtual keyboard and direct finger manipulation of the screen instead of a stylus (but I don't need to draw beyond the level of general sketching/painting that does work well on the iPad). Best of all, there is no stylus to misplace.
  • Reply 78 of 78
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by antkm1 View Post


    that's what makes me so peeved about the iPad. I'm an architect, and we sketch a lot and take notes a lot in meetings. The ability to physically write on the iPad with a stylus like the Wacom tablet would make that device so much more useful to me! What about doctors that take notes during exams and receptionists or any business person in general that needs a note pad for jotting notes. Heck, there is a notes app native in the device already!!! It's on my top 5 list of why i'm not buying the iPad, yet ;P



    Sorry for the trolling.



    The Pogo and many apps come somewhat close, but for your needs, hopefully there will be other tablets. Apple has a product, it's time for the other manufacturers to truly blow open the gates and our minds.
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