Two partners leak info about Apple Tablet
It appears that McGraw Hill and Silicon Alley Insider have confirmed and leaked some information about Apple’s Tablet product being announced today at 10:00AM Pacific Standard Time. The Apple Tablet will essentially be a jumbo sized 10 inch iPhone ARM based (rumored to be a PA Semi CPU acquired by Apple) slate device rumored to have Verizon 3G (presumably EV-DO Rev A or B) connectivity for mobile data. Prices that have floated around are $1000 for the unsubsidized model and $800 for the Verizon subsidized model with 3G contract.
Now I’ve been playing with tablet computers since the early 2000s when I worked at Fujitsu Computer Systems. I even tested some of the first prototype Microsoft Tablet PC models, and everyone was eager to put their hands on it to try out the device. But one major shortcoming about the form factor quickly became noticeable which is the fact that you had to constantly hold the darn thing and there was no good way to prop the device up at the optimum viewing angle. Now I assume that an ARM based tablet could be built to weigh 2 lbs or less, but trust me when I say that it will feel heavy very quickly if you had to hold the device in your hands.
The big problem with the slate form factor (aside from the lack of a physical keyboard) is that it has no base with a movable hinge like a laptop. We take this feature for granted because it’s near ubiquitous, but it is an essential feature to the laptop form factor. Furthermore, the lack of a physical keyboard is a real problem. People might be willing to give up a keyboard in exchange for more screen space on an device you can put in your pocket, but I have a hard time believing people won’t care if it’s missing on a netbook sized computer.
Now if the pricing rumors are accurate, I don’t know how many people have $1000 to burn especially if it’s an additional device to the laptop or netbook people will continue to carry. We’re also expecting to see cheap sub $300 or even sub $200 ARM based tablet computers within the next year so I can’t see too many people justifying that much of a premium even if the economy was healthy. I certainly can’t see this replacing notebooks or netbooks, and carrying an additional device when you have an much bigger LCD display in your laptop seems silly. So while Apple’s tablet may very well become the most successful slate computer in the history of computing, I can’t see it moving beyond a niche product for wealthy people.
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Looks like they have come up with a couple accessories that may meet your concerns.
[...] Digital Society » Blog Archive » Two partners leak info about … [...]
[...] Digital Society » Blog Archive » Two partners leak info about … [...]
Those actually look usable Nick, and you can put it in a bag and still end up being just over 2 lbs including those accessories.
It’s a bit of a shock that AT&T would offer “unlimited” (I’m assuming 5 GB limit) 3G access for a device with such a large display and usability. These things are going to dwarf iPhone Internet usage.
With the keyboard, it might be attractive enough to start damaging the ULV notebooks or netbooks.
The only downside is the lack of a standard SDHC slot and the 1024×768 resolution.
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