Sources: New Apple Tablet to Ship in March
The WSJ is reporting that Apple will be shipping its new tablet device in March 2010, according to “people briefed by the company.”
While the device’s ship date hasn’t been finalized and could still change, people briefed on the matter said the new product will come with a 10 to 11-inch touch screen—which would make it closer in size to Apple’s line of MacBook laptops than its smart phone.
Apple was working on two different material finishes for the device, one of these people said, though it was unclear whether the Cupertino, Calif., company was just testing the finishes or planning to come out with multiple versions of a tablet at different prices.
I am most curious about 2 things: 1) The price point, and b) what makes this different from my laptop.
We will find out soon enough . . .
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Source:
Apple to Ship Tablet Device in March
YUKARI IWATANI KANE And GEOFFREY A. FOWLER
WSJ, JANUARY 4, 2010, 7:10 P.M.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703580904574638630584151614.html
January 4th, 2010 at 8:47 pm
My thoughts exactly. I guess I don’t know why it’s anything more than a bigger itouch. It’ll be cool, no doubt but I agree, what exactly is going to be different than a laptop? Except of course for the smudgy screen??
January 4th, 2010 at 9:00 pm
Full disclosure: I have a Droid and would never ever switch to T/AAPL for my phone because of the god awful service/speed (and no matter how much the fat Wilson brother protests to the contrary, it never ceases to amuse me how much faster my Droid is than the Iphone, and I live in a major metro area and travel a fair amount).
That said, I don’t understand the hype and allure of this concept. What am I gonna do? Carry around a MUrse and lug this thing out when I need to do stuff? I can already VPN on my Droid (or Iphone if I had one) at very high speeds, use the Office Pack for Excel and Word, and surf the web. And if I really have to use my PC, I can just, ya know, use my PC.
So who is the target market? Hipsters with more money than sense?
January 4th, 2010 at 9:04 pm
Byno –
If you are happy with your Droid but are intrigued by the tablet concept, check this out tablet running the Google Android OS –
http://www.pcworld.com/article/185764/A_199_Tablet_for_Everyone_And_Its_Not_From_Apple.html
“The Freescale tablet reference design (pictured above) has specifications close to what we have been hearing about the mythical Apple tablet: a 7-inch touch screen, 3-megapixel camera and various sensors such as a three-axis accelerometer and an ambient light sensor. Next to the 512MB of RAM, up to 64GB of internal storage (microSD expansion) and a 1GHz processor, Freescale’s smartbook tablet features a potentially killer spec: a $200 price tag. Next to an Android or Linux operating system, it also includes Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity and options for a 3G modem.”
Projected price – $199 !!!
January 4th, 2010 at 9:09 pm
The only thing that a tablet could have that sets it apart from a notebook or laptop is handwriting recognition – that works. Just drop-dead works.
Not something like the first-gen Newton. Not something like the Palm Pilot. It would have to be much better than that. Add in enough CPU for multimedia playback, the right aspect ratio on the screen for DVD’s or movie playback, wireless connectivity, etc – and it could find a home. Trouble is, getting the price point down on something like this would be difficult.
January 4th, 2010 at 9:33 pm
Laptops are impractical for home automation.
January 4th, 2010 at 10:02 pm
Barry, why don’t you ask the same question for e-readers? What’s the difference between your laptop and an e-reader? The display and battery life obviously, but more importantly the form factor and the interface that’s tailored to being used like a device.
I think there’s reason to be concerned about over-hyping this, but I think an apple tablet has a huge amount of potential. I think the two biggest uses are as an e-book, obviously, and media controller — that talk of creating excitement around albums again. But the biggest potential is the app store. All apple needs to do is have enough uses when it releases it to generate robust sales, and there are lots of developers out there that will find the killer app for it. As thatguydrinksbeer said, it could be used for home automation, or a home media device, or a video phone, or all off those things.
January 4th, 2010 at 10:32 pm
The tablet will be successful once it drops below 600$, just like the iPhone became a much bigger hit after its price came to 200-300$.
January 4th, 2010 at 10:43 pm
The difference is this – IF Apple can pull it off.
A “netbook” device that doubles as an e-book reader. Then they are going after 2 markets at the same time.
The technical problem is getting a screen that is like e-paper (easier on the eyes than backlit) but with fast enough response time to use in standard computer applications (e-paper is notoriously slow on refresh).
Also, voice recognition would be good. Gets rid of the nasty software keyboard.
Then the device could also be used as the central console to control your networked home stereo, tv, toaster, whatever. Add a video camera and you can use it as a vid-phone too. Yeah, I know – but maybe it will have SOME of those capabilities…
January 4th, 2010 at 11:13 pm
My guess is that Apple has some kind of tie in with movie distributors and its going to be the evolution of Apple TV which has languished. You’ll be able to rent movies right on the tablet. Also will be a replacement for small home laptops that people use for surfing and messaging on the sofa. For most, a touch screen keyboard will be sufficient.
Likely to be a crowded field. As hgordon mentions there’s the new freescale.
Archos has been making increasingly large tablets over the past year from 5″ to 7″ and now to 9″. The earlier ones ran android.
http://reviews.cnet.com/portable-video-players-pvps/archos-5-internet-tablet/4505-6499_7-33771161.html
and linux and the new one is running Win7. It’s pretty sharp looking:
http://www.archos.com/products/nb/archos_9/index.html?country=us&lang=en
There is also a flood from others, e.g. Lenovo has an interesting combo tablet; it’s able to operate independently as a tablet, but docks to form a notebook. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2357588,00.asp
I expect everyone and his grandmother to be selling tablets, many using Win7. I expect some will be running Android.
I just hope I don’t have to hear how Steve Jobs invented the tablet just like he invented cut and paste for the iPhone last year.
Bill Gates has been pushing the idea of tablets for years; the technology is finally catching up to the idea.
The question will be: Can Apple give people a reason to pay the Apple tax? Since you can aleady rent and play movies from Netflix using Windows 7, a variation on Apple TV won’t be enough. There will have to be some other real differentiation between the Apple tablet and others. I suppose Jobs can do it if anyone can.
January 4th, 2010 at 11:15 pm
Advocatus: The problem is that ATT was desperate enough for the iPhone that they are giving Apple a huge subsidy on each iPhone, allowing a low price. The low price was a product of our screwed up cell phone market. I don’t know who will do that for a home based tablet.
January 4th, 2010 at 11:32 pm
ok I care-
oh . . .maybe not
January 4th, 2010 at 11:41 pm
The price point is just a matter of time. It doesn’t really matter what it is today, next year it will be $299. If someone dropped a magazine sized iPhone on my coffee table it would get used to do things I have yet to imagine. Sure you could do it all on a PowerBook or an iPhone but I think it will be much more shareable in that form factor, from kids to grandma in seconds.
January 4th, 2010 at 11:52 pm
YoPortland: Price won’t be $299 for Apple. It don’t do business that way. That’s what kept it out of the netbook market: Too many low priced models. That may be the problem with the Apple tablet.
Thought of another possibility: Could somehow be tied into the new iPhone to act as the interface if you have the iphone and tablet with you. Although not sure how that would beat skype.
January 5th, 2010 at 12:01 am
Illinois is going broke (just a random state I picked…many others are too)
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/news/1971602,2_1_AU04_STATEMONEY_S1-100104.article
Ok…back to discussing tablet computers. (That’s the American way)
January 5th, 2010 at 12:30 am
Steve: I expect not too many tablets will be sold there.
Mish has a new post about Illinois and it’s finances.
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MishsGlobalEconomicTrendAnalysis/~3/On4Fmt6H3Lo/school-bills-due-but-state-cant-pay.html
Main problem with reading his posts is the one-track anti-unionism, as if unions are the problem. Many governements have problems that can’t be attributed to public employee unions.
January 5th, 2010 at 12:33 am
What if the display is 10″ but folds in half (like a book)?
Assuming a 16 x 9 screen format, that would mean the tablet would fold into a roughly 6 x 5″ rectangle – small enough to fit in the pocket of your suit jacket. If done right the vertical split would be just a minor inconvenience.
Otherwise, guys will have to lug it around in a European Carryall like Seinfeld had in The Reverse Peephole episode…
January 5th, 2010 at 12:35 am
My guess, and hope, is that this Apple device will NOT be designed for individual computing. Rather it will be a ’social’ computer designed to be used most of the times by multiple people at the same time and can be used by individual as well (as eReader, etc).
‘Social’ computer will be kind of table top computer designed to play multiple player casual games and board games. Think about playing chess, scrabble, etc sitting on your dinning table, etc during the day and then taking it with you to bed at night to either read of watch video content.
January 5th, 2010 at 1:45 am
This thing isn’t meant to be a ‘laptop’ … they are making a Kindle competitor. They are going to offer all the books through the Apple Store and probably equip the thing with bluetooth so that it can be a phone too.
Price point … probably about $700 if I had to guess (guess I just did!). Put color on that thing and decide whether to buy the hip Apple gizmo or the Kindle? Look out Amazon.
(PS – I still buy used books for ’bout a dollar and if I drop it in the pool my heart keeps ticking)
January 5th, 2010 at 1:51 am
Just buy the stock.
January 5th, 2010 at 5:28 am
Stephen: You may be right and all it will be is a fancy Kindle at twice the price. I suppose the faithful will buy it anyway, although I think Amazon will wind up releasing the software for other tablets as it has already done for the iPhone if competitive pressure is intense. It would still make money off book purchases a la the Gillette model.
January 5th, 2010 at 5:33 am
Well, I suppose I should look before I talk. Found that Kindle has already released Kindle for PC and it’s free. They should make a deal with the tablet makers to have it included on each one.