January 2010
50 posts
“Yes, it’s true… I’ve been beta testing the Apple tablet for...”
– Jason Calacanis founder of Mahalo.com. If he’s not lying, he’s giving away just about all of the specs on Twitter.
The Apple Tablet: a complete history, supposedly →
Laura June of Engadget:
And here we are, in January of 2010, on the verge of yet another expiration date for the rumored launch of an Apple Tablet (though let’s be honest — this thing is starting to feel pretty real). We thought now might be as good a time as any to take a look back — back through the rumor timeline of one of the gadget world’s longest-standing, and...
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50 tablets detected on Apple campus →
Phillip Elmer-DeWitt of CNN:
Using embedded code that reports hardware, software and GPS location characteristics, Flurry Analytics has detected approximately 50 devices that fit the description of the tablet computers Apple is expected to unveil on Wednesday.
“Regarding the Apple invite, and just throwing this out there: what if it’s...”
– Cabel M. Sasser of Panic (via Daring Fireball)
Apple's Proposed Multi-touch User Interface System →
Luke Wroblewski:
Yesterday, in anticipation of Apple’s “latest creation”, Patently Apple compiled a similar list of Apple patents that may see the light of day soon. Looking through their article and at several additional patents from Apple, I compiled a list of the new interaction design capabilities these patents cover. In aggregate, these interactions began to look like an...
“Apple event invite in my inbox this morning: “Come see our latest...”
– Ryan Block, co-founder of gdgt
What has two thumbs and can type on a 10" Tablet? →
Adam Lisagor (aka lonelysandwich):
But the Tablet’s quandary, and the quandary of all tablets before it, is not how to touch it, but how to hold it. So we look to how we pick up and hold a tablet. Both hands? A hand and a forearm? A surface? (The answer is not a surface, by the way.) Holding becomes a problem because interaction with the screen requires reach. On the iPhone, holding and...
Apple Tablet rumors: A comprehensive timeline →
The Week:
You may have heard the deafening buzz of rumors that a certain Cupertino-based computer maker is planning to unveil a world-conquering new gadget on January 27th. But few people are aware that speculation about the Apple tablet — much of it, of course, wildly inaccurate — began eight years ago and has been building ever since.
Apple Indirectly Confirms Tablet? →
Yukari Iwatani Kane of The Wall Street Journal:
Amid all the speculation about Apple’s upcoming launch of a new tablet device, Silicon Valley gossip site Valleywag started a scavenger hunt for the elusive product. That, in turns, appeared to have triggered some of the most concrete evidence yet of the device’s existence.
The Original Tablet →
John Gruber of Daring Fireball:
Thinking of the Newton got my gears turning. It’s a fascinating comparison point for both the iPhone and whatever it is Apple is set to release. I suspect most of you reading this have never used, let alone owned, a Newton, which is a shame. They really were remarkable, innovative devices.
Just the type →
Neven Mrgan:
But tell me, isn’t Steve Jobs just the type to walk out on stage this month, show a beautiful new handheld computer, and then go something like,
“So, how do you type on it?
*beat*
“You don’t. Nobody types anymore! So we thought, what if you could talk to your computer.”
It’s unlikely. Lord, it has to be. But I’m keeping my expectations in check. Courage.
Apple’s tablet is an “iPhone on steroids” →
Boy Genius:
One of our close Apple connects who haven’t steered us wrong dropped a little bit of information on us. Here’s what we know:
The tablet’s multi-touch gestures are “out of control.”
It’s powered by an incredibly fast ARM CPU
It runs on the iPhone kernel.
The internal model number is K48AP.
There hasn’t been an updated iPhone OS build because there’s too much tablet-related...
Apple takes down Fingerworks.com in nod to tablet →
Jason D. O’Grady of ZDNet:
Pulling down the Web site just two weeks ahead of a confirmed media event kinda is out of character for Apple. Cupertino either just gave us a huge hint or they’re bluffing and intentionally trying to throw us of the path. Cruel, but not out of character for Cupertino.
An Amalgamation of Predictions and Questions →
Shawn Blanc:
I think the rumored Apple Tablet will be a thin, unibody touchscreen device with a locked OS. My guess is that it will be more like a MacBook Touch and less like an iPhone Pro. And though I think its introduction to the world will be less full of “WOW” than the iPhone’s was in 2007, I still think the Tablet will be awesome and maybe, just maybe, reinvent our approach to personal...
The Mac Touch →
Jonas Wisser from his blog Malum Elegans:
The tablet is the perfect form to carry around. Book sized, so it fits in backpacks. Computer-sized, so it fits in laptop cases. No hinges to be broken, no keys to get stuck, and a minimum of buttons to get pushed or broken. Small enough that it can be used as a computer in your car—and believe me, car manufacturers will learn to provide a dock for it...
Gaming on an Apple Tablet →
Levi Buchanan of IGN:
If you have ever used Microsoft Surface, you know that it inches us ever closer to that Minority Report-style of control. You use fingers to slide, zoom, rotate, and select on-screen elements. It really is quite easy to manipulate on-screen stuff with Surface, with the exception of one thing: typing. It remains to be seen if Apple has developed an alternate typing scheme...
The Apple Tablet →
Elliot Jay Stocks:
THE TABLET WON’T BE A TABLET
Not in the way that everyone’s thinking, anyway. Because that’s just not Apple’s style. Have they ever just made a Mac-ified version of whatever’s already out there? No. Look at their history; especially their recenthistory: the iPod revolutionised the MP3 player. The iPhone revolutionised the mobile phone. We may have become used to them now (it’s...
“And, for what it’s worth, I’m hearing there is no camera, webcam or otherwise,...”
– John Gruber of Daring Fireball
Some things to think about... →
Patrick Rhone of Minimal Mac:
What if the iPhone were just the beginning? What if it is the establishment of a new paradigm not just for the smartphone but for the personal computer itself? It is no secret that the interaction metaphor established in 1984 is dated and not well scaled for the future we can see in our mind and feel is just around the corner. What if that thing we keep hearing...
Apple's mythical tablet: the text's the thing →
Dan Moren of Macworld:
If rumor proves true, the Apple tablet will boast a screen in the 10-inch range. I have a hard time picturing how I would enter text on a device of this sort. Obviously, I’ve got no insider knowledge of what the tablet will look like, as I’m sure will become readily apparent the moment it’s actually released. Still, I’m curious enough about how I’m going to use this device,...
If you could pre-order the tablet, without seeing... →
Kevin Rose, founder of Digg, wants to know and has created a poll.
Apple Tablet on the Way? Orange Exec Says ‘Oui’ →
Brian X. Chen of Wired:
Stéphane Richard, who is set to be Orange’s CEO, responds “Yes” when French media asks whether the rumors are true that an Apple tablet will debut soon. The interviewer then asks Richard whether the tablet will be available for Orange customers, to which the executive replies, “Of course.”
A Deluge of Devices for Reading and Surfing →
Brad Stone and Nick Bilton of The New York Times:
“The tablet should offer any number of unique multitouch experiences — for example, three fingers down and rotate could mean ‘open an application,’ ” said one former engineer, who asked not to be named because Apple demands secrecy from all current and former employees.
Another former Apple designer said a team at the company had “spent the past...
Dreaming of an Apple Tablet →
Tim Van Damme shares his ideas (on his blog Maxvoltar) on how the new device could work:
Maybe you love using a laptop, but would like something more powerful for when you’re in your office. Maybe you’re a die-hard fan of desktops, but you mis having all your files with you when on the road. The possibilities are endless, especially when you add the option to install third party applications...
Thoughts on what an Apple tablet should be – or... →
Andy Ihnatko of Chicago Sun-Times:
It’s not so much the quality of the latest “Apple will unveil their long-rumored tablet” scuttlebutt that convinced me to make the gamble…it’s the velocity. It’s hard to codify but as the debut of an under-wraps Apple device becomes imminent, Apple begins to collectively sigh with relief. The noise leaks out through the weatherstripping of the company’s...
Apple to Ship Tablet Device in March →
Yukari Iwatani Kane and Geoffrey A. Fowler of The Wall Street Journal:
Looking to build on the momentum of its iPhone and iPod, Apple Inc. will unveil a new multimedia tablet device later this month, but isn’t planning to ship the product until March, say people briefed by the company.
While the device’s ship date hasn’t been finalized and could still change, people briefed on...
Major Apple Product Announcement Set for Jan. 27 →
John Paczkowski of All Things Digital:
Sources in a position to know tell me Apple (AAPL) is indeed planning a media event later this month at which the company will announce a major new product. The gathering is to be held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, a space Apple often uses for media events like this. According to other sources, it will occur on Wednesday, Jan....
Apple iSlate specifications revealed →
Phone Arena:
We have just received some images of what seem to be internal Apple documents, revealing the Apple iSlate specifications. And what specs these are! A 7.1-inch multitouch display with fingerprint-resistant coating, 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB DDR3 RAM, 120GB hard drive, built-in projector… actually you can check the list yourselves. We cannot be sure if that information is to...
Apple's Tabula Rasa →
Mark Potts:
Indeed, I believe the Apple tablet has the potential to strikingly transform large swaths of the media business, from newspapers to television to movies, pretty much all at once. Reading the tea leaves of all the rumors, and making guesses based on following the company closely for 25 years as a reporter, fan and (full disclosure: very small) shareholder, I think there’s a...
Oh, Joe, the world doesn’t need a Tablet? Really? →
Robert Scoble’s reply to Joe Wilcox’s aforementioned article:
Tablets and devices that look like tablets are all around. If that’s a “niche market” it’s fine with me. Niche markets can be quite profitable.
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And the Most Eagerly Anticipated Product Is ... →
Alice Rawsthorn of The New York Times:
Mr. Jobs is expected to show off the iSlate (as we’ll call it, if only because that’s the latest rumor) in San Francisco later this month. If the bloggers are right, it will hit the stores in March. At the risk of party-pooping, we should note that not every new Apple product has been a hit. Remember the Newton PDA? Or the G4 Cube computer? But if the...
The world doesn't need an Apple tablet →
Joe Wilcox of Betanews:
So I’ll assert what should be obvious to anyone thinking rationally and not emotionally: Tablet is a nowhere category. For all the hype about an Apple tablet , it is at best a niche product. The world doesn’t need an Apple tablet, no matter what the hype about rumored features or regardless of what actually releases (if anything).
Antacid tablet →
John Siracusa of Ars Technica:
There’s also the popular notion that Apple has to do something entirely new or totally amazing in order for the tablet to succeed. After all, tablets have been tried before, with dismal results. It seems absurd to some people that Apple can succeed simply by using existing technologies and software techniques in the right combination. And yet that’s...
10 Million Apple Tablets? →
Harry McCracken of PC World:
But this much is interesting: If Apple does sell ten million tablets in 2010, and you count the tablet as a computer, and Mac sales are neither radically higher nor radically lower than they were in the last fiscal year, then Apple thinks it can sell roughly as many tablets a year as it does Macs.
Apple’s Tablet Device →
Aaron Mahnke:
We aren’t privy to Apple’s roadmap for this mythical device, but I have a few theories. One involves that patent that appeared about a year ago for a Cinema Display or iMac with a slot in the side (where the DVD drive currently sits) for a tablet-shaped item to “dock in”. This might be the next step up in evolution from connecting it to an iMac or monitor with a cable, or it might...
The Name
I’m with Marco Arment with regards to the naming of the rumored device:
And while I’m talking out of my ass about this like everyone else, “iSlate” is a stupid name. I’ll predict that the product’s name won’t contain “tablet”, “slate”, or the “i” prefix.
If I had to guess, I’d go with MacBook Touch.
Predict Our Apple Tablet Coverage, Win an Apple... →
Dylan F. Tweney of Wired:
So here’s the deal: Predict how many stories Wired.com will publish about an Apple tablet during 2010. Whoever comes the closest will win an actual Apple tablet (assuming one exists). If there is no such thing at the end of 2010, we’ll give the winner a consolation prize: A subscription to Wired magazine.
Apple will reveal iSlate tablet on 26 January →
Owen Fletcher of Macworld UK:
The holiday season saw no let up for Apple tablet rumours, with former Google China president Kai-Fu Lee claiming a January unveiling, a price tag below $1000 (approx £600) and 3D graphics.
“The Tablet” and gadget portability theory →
Marco Arment of Tumblr and Instapaper fame:
Normally, I’m perfectly willing to join in and endlessly talk out of my ass about this sort of thing, but I honestly don’t have much to say on it. Nothing I can imagine about “the Tablet” gets me particularly excited. Considering one of its roles as an ebook-reader competitor is interesting, but Apple would never go with e-ink, so the Tablet wouldn’t...