Inside info: the padless tablet.

matsu · June 6, 2002 11:23AM

Look at the Ink gesture recognition very carefully.

Think of bluetooth.

You're going to get a very neat graphics pad product, only it doesn't have a pad, just the stylus and a dock.

Minituriazation means that a sharpie (white board marker) sized pen will contain all the neccessary battery and hardware to understand it's relative position and orientation and communicate that to a bluetooth node.

Tap to start/center, move it around and your cursor follows. Click to write, tap to click, flip to erase. Trace paper on your desk or on a book, use it beside your laptop in the library, or on any relatively flat surface. Charges via a USB/keyboard dock.

OK, OK, so it's from the inside of my head, but it's a cool idea anyway,

or is it...

A cool idea, or inside info?

justaguy · June 6, 2002 11:34AM

I seem to remember seeing a bit on this sort of technology not too long ago. The idea was for computers in pen form, so you could pick up a napkin, draw a calculator and use it for real. Or write a memo on the other side of the napkin, draw a little box with "email to mark" inside it, tap the box and voila!

The main sticking point came about with the tracking technology. The prototype pens would quite often be upwards of 20 ft off of their real location by the time the pen tip traveled 10 inches (the height of a pad of paper).

But... solve that and anything is possible, I suppose.

blue2kdave · June 6, 2002 11:35AM

Very cool idea, I think I've seen it bandied about around here some. I definetly think that Apple has some Bluetooth magic up its sleeve, and this would make perfect sense.

keyboardf12 · June 6, 2002 12:00PM

it alread exists almost. some dos company out there (pilot pens) but without bluetooth

ssmurphy · June 6, 2002 12:05PM

Sounds like a great idea. here is an article from Wired that talks about the same idea using special paper

<a href="http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.04/anoto.html?pg=1&topic=&topic_set="; target="_blank">http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.04/anoto.html?pg=1&topic=&topic_set=</a>;

Later Steve

keyboardf12 · June 6, 2002 12:06PM

mostly. not exactly. i'd buy an apple pen though in an instant. spill it matsu

harald · June 6, 2002 1:25PM

You don't even need a tablet.

You can buy it TODAY.

They invented Bluetooth.

The SonyEricsson "Chatpen" which was released almost exclusively to piss off Nokia.

... <a href="http://www.sonyericsson.com/spg.jsp?page=gis&Redir=template=PS1&B=ie&C ID%3D104%26PID%3D9753%26LM%3DPSM_V" target="_blank">Here's a fairly Mac-unfriendly URL</a>

[ 06-06-2002: Message edited by: Harald to make the URL work]

[ 06-06-2002: Message edited by: Harald ]

cdhostage · June 6, 2002 2:47PM

I liek the idea. i've heard of it before though. yeah I think it was in Wired.

allen · June 6, 2002 5:50PM

Perhaps something like the vPen <a href="http://www.otmtech.com/vpen.asp"; target="_blank">http://www.otmtech.com/vpen.asp</a>; . Of course Apple would use Inkwell technology.

microsoftosxp · June 6, 2002 10:26PM

I like the idea of a touchscreen on an imac but wouldn't that leave the power mac users out in the cold? So could there be a new display line that does touch screen?

Personally I really love the idea of a blue tooth pen that writes on any surface. Its a really freaking cool idea. I would buy a new mac just for the pen

kidred · June 6, 2002 11:34PM

Well it's almost a given that Apple has something planned for inkwell, why else waste the R&D?

preston · June 6, 2002 11:36PM

Doesn't make sense to me as a tablet user... the boundaries of the pad are integral to its functionality..

I'd probably buy one anyways if Apple made one though

Pres

warria · June 7, 2002 7:40AM

The gestures in Inkwell remind me Harry Potter instead.

I think MWNY will see the iMagikStick.

<img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Chilling]" /> <img src="graemlins/bugeye.gif" border="0" alt="[Skeptical]" />

By the way, I think something is coming so they preview a tool to let us drool.

nitride · June 7, 2002 10:03AM

Apple will include a special stylus with the iBook and TiBook to allow you to "write" on the trackpad area.

What, you haven't noticed how large the trackpad area is now? Unless you have giant man hands its quite large.

undotwa · June 8, 2002 8:19AM

How bout this: Tablet with a UNIX CLI

Now how will that work?

nitride · June 12, 2002 12:01AM

Ahahaha!

Ryan Meader got home from his job at the movie theatre and must have read my comment about the trackpad area of the iBook and TiBook being large enough for use as a writing area, if Apple only included a stylus. That exact concept is now on MacOSRumors.com.

Whee! He may really have "inside" contacts, but sometimes he really just scans message boards and collates that info into rumor fodder.

And he really had a photo of the iMac before its intro too. And he knows where Elvis is where he is using the Apple PDA Steve Jobs refuses to release because of his total hatred of Sculley of course!

[ 06-12-2002: Message edited by: Nitride ]

hir · June 12, 2002 9:41AM

Is this what we had in mind? This thing is EXACTLY what I want. It's unobtrusive like a PDA and has complete computer capabilities like a laptop.

Please oh please Apple, take this idea and Macify it!!! Though, I have to admit that IBM did a pretty good job the first time around. Check out the review and all of the features from this Pen Computing <a href="http://www.pencomputing.com/frames/ibm_transnote.html"; target="_blank">article</a>.

THE PEN!!

[ 06-12-2002: Message edited by: hir ]

jonathan brisby · June 15, 2002 7:36PM

Hum.... Lets see. $3000 for a 600 mhz P3, with no optical or magnetic drive, and a 2.5 hr battery life. Sounds just like something IBM would make. The article there even says that it just didn't sell. Apple did so something like this. The iBook. Jotting notes doesn't happen THAT much that people need the hand writing recognition. This IS a novel idea though....the flip and fold is kinda cool.

digix · June 17, 2002 4:47PM

[quote]Originally posted by Jonathan Brisby:

Hum.... Lets see. $3000 for a 600 mhz P3, with no optical or magnetic drive, and a 2.5 hr battery life. Sounds just like something IBM would make. The article there even says that it just didn't sell. Apple did so something like this. The iBook. Jotting notes doesn't happen THAT much that people need the hand writing recognition. This IS a novel idea though....the flip and fold is kinda cool.<hr></blockquote>

iBook X Vadem Clio/Sharp Tripad X eMate = Stylus iBook that is capable of transforming from notebook, to presentation mode, and to tablet mode.

Anyway. Concept like the Sony/Ericsson's Chatpen and OTM Techology's VPen is quite a good idea, I suspect we will be seeing more of this kind of smart pen.

retroneo · June 18, 2002 4:45AM

Hint: Apple is licensing technology from a company called Anoto to make their magic pen.

I'm sure it will be a simple pen, not like the Ericsson one which has too many features and is too bulky.

curmi · June 18, 2002 5:37AM

[quote]Originally posted by retroneo:

Hint: Apple is licensing technology from a company called Anoto to make their magic pen.

I'm sure it will be a simple pen, not like the Ericsson one which has too many features and is too bulky.<hr></blockquote>

Let's hope this ISN'T true. The Anoto stuff requires special paper. That is a crap solution. If it can't be used on any surface, you might as well just have a special pad.

Inside info: the padless tablet.

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