Looks like it might be unveiled sometime in January.

http://brainstormtech.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2009/12/24/jobs-extremely-happy-with-tablet/

12/25/2009 2:30:02 PM

i'm not gonna lie. i am looking forward to seeing this thing

12/25/2009 2:52:52 PM

in thinking about this product I could see myself getting rid of my iphone in favor or one of those mobile hotspots and the itablet

12/25/2009 2:53:50 PM

^why would you get rid of your phone? lol.

I've never been a fan of tablets so I'm curious to see what apple does. Previous tablet PC's had poor designs...the whole swivel screen was not pretty at all.

[Edited on December 25, 2009 at 2:58 PM. Reason : .]

12/25/2009 2:58:00 PM

well you can be sure that there will be no swivel and no hardware keyboard. It almost certainly won't be meant as a general purpose computer, but more of a "media tablet"

Also, i don't see anythign like this making it into a product this soon, but nonetheless, it could be really cool
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/12/24/possible_apple_tablet_multi_touch_tactile_keyboard_detailed.html

12/25/2009 3:07:49 PM

^thats what I"m hoping to see that they drop the whole swivel screen concept.

12/25/2009 4:13:45 PM

islate ... really?

12/25/2009 4:57:40 PM

I haven't seen a swivel tablet in a long time. All our field tablets are screen only.

12/26/2009 12:29:14 AM

i don't like iSlate either

12/26/2009 11:33:05 AM

one guy wished the islate was a clear tablet like in avatar and i seriously questioned whether people would want everyone to see what they're looking at lol

12/26/2009 1:11:35 PM

You can't have a clear tablet that would be worth a damn. You could take your LCD screen out of the mountings if you would wish, but remember that it's only a polarizing filter.

Problems with clear screen:
-No control of background
-Most screens are either light generating (OLED) or light filtering (LCD) and lead to two anomalies in a clear-screen device.

1. LCD screens turn "clear" for white, so if you're staring at the floor, you'll instead see the floor.
2. LED screens wouldn't have contrast as light would bleed through, but I think the substrate only allows moderate bleed through anyway.

iSlate sounds like a horrible name. Can't call it the iTablet either. Why not call it the iCarpalTunnel? Realistically, the only iName I can think of would be the iNspire.

12/26/2009 2:29:31 PM

Here are top tablet pcs form last year
http://gadgetophilia.com/top-10-tablet-pcs-of-2009/



Apple is going to dominate this market

12/26/2009 4:39:11 PM

I'd say that's doubtful. People like real keyboards, but I can see it getting a good following. Software will most likely be restricted in operation.

12/26/2009 5:29:38 PM

Quote :

"I'd say that's doubtful. People like real keyboards, but I can see it getting a good following. Software will most likely be restricted in operation."

Yeah that iPhone is such a piece of garbage, no one likes that trash, right?

12/26/2009 7:25:13 PM

Different design for a different usage.

I think there would be troubles with trying to type on a flat tablet and then having to pick it up again to view where you just interacted with it. Laptop displays and current tablet PCs operate under the convention that screen viewing needs to be high enough to not strain the neck and the keyboard low enough to not strain the arms.

When you read a book at the table, do you keep it flat on the table or do you prop it up in your hands?
When you write on paper, do you lay it low and flat, or place it on a plane normal to your viewing axis?

12/26/2009 7:53:07 PM

Honestly the success of any Apple tablet computer is ultimately going to ride on whether they try to pass it off as a real computer (like a MacBook Air), or an extension of your main computer (like an iPhone or Apple TV). If they try to pass it off as a real computer, they are going to need to have really perfected the Inkwell tech they've been sitting on for a while, or perhaps the speech recognition tech. If they try to pass it off as an extension of your main computer, it will come down to the sync software and they'll say that the input on a virtual keyboard is "good enough" since it's not a primary computing device. Since Apple generally isn't one for "good enough" I'm betting if you see a tablet, you're going to see a new input method too.

12/26/2009 8:04:20 PM

^^ you're assuming that Apple is making a clone of current tablets, which is not a valid assumption really, especially considering we know NOTHING about this device.

Apple clearly knows what people like and what they don't like. It's possible they're going to release garbage that no one likes, but this is the outside scenario.

We don't know what Apple is going to release, and it's really foolish to try and bash it based on what it might/might not have.

12/26/2009 8:09:16 PM

Yes, I'm assuming that Apple's recent patents are for technologies they have developed and their application on a screen device as shown in a tablet form.

Price and application will determines the device's success, but if it has a screen simulated keyboard and is meant for more than just "note taking" and mobile connectivity applications, I'm not sure how well it would fulfill a gap between a traditional tablet and an iPhone.

Due to the suspected date for the unveiling, I'm going on the assumption that things listed aren't completely wrong. This device has been in development for years, and the leak about developers only needing to change their programs to accept an arbitrary screen size must imply something about the device's application ability or suggested usage.

12/27/2009 12:26:58 AM

Quote :

"Here are top tablet pcs form last year http://gadgetophilia.com/top-10-tablet-pcs-of-2009/ Apple is going to dominate this market"

its an entirely different product, i would be very surprised if i would be able to replace my x61t with a tablet for the stuff i need to do. they will dominate over the current media tablet type devices, but you'll never see a technician in the field with a apple table.

12/27/2009 9:07:39 AM

1. just like you'll never see an employee in a non-apple store with an apple point of sale device, right?
2. Who cares about the technician market?? It's a low volume, low-profit market. Apple will do as they always have -- skip the existing whiney nerd market and create a newer, larger, richer market of general consumers by selling them a device that easily let's them do things they didn't know they needed to do

12/27/2009 12:17:21 PM

you're arguing against a point i didn't make

i'm saying that its retarded to compare the apple tablet to most of the tablets in that list because they are entirely different products for entirely different tasks

12/27/2009 12:57:54 PM

I'll bet they'll make the tablet like the iPhone, and make it not do tons of shit that every other tablet already does and has done for years, but they'll still market the hell out of it.

Quote :

"Apple clearly knows what people like and what they don't like."

Which is marketing and hype

12/27/2009 7:06:22 PM

^ The trick is, Apple tends to do it in a way that doesn't remind people of chewing on glass while gargling lemon juice on a bed of nails.

12/27/2009 7:53:04 PM

?

12/27/2009 7:58:32 PM

What's going to be awesome:

Bringing it to your desk and snapping it into a "monitor-like" frame. Connected to the wireless keyboard and mouse already at your desk via bluetooth? = Most excellent "desktop" ever.

12/27/2009 8:13:19 PM

Yeah, maybe if you plan on lugging around a 17"+ version of it.

12/27/2009 9:02:26 PM

Quote :

"^ The trick is, Apple tends to do it in a way that doesn't remind people of chewing on glass while gargling lemon juice on a bed of nails."

Hardly.

12/27/2009 9:03:26 PM

As far as docking goes, laptops have alwyas had the possibility to quickly dock and undock at a station, but I don't think that configuration is ever often used. Docking also removes the "good" angle in whick to interface with the screen in a touch fashion. I'm interested in the intended usage of the Apple tablet.

12/27/2009 11:42:58 PM

Quote :

""Apple clearly knows what people like and what they don't like." Which is marketing and hype "

That's probably mostly true now, but the iPod didn't come to dominate the market by just marketing and hype. And iPhone didn't dominate initially by marketing and hype. The products were legitimately leaps and bounds better than anything else on the market at the time.

12/28/2009 12:02:23 AM

iphone users make me roll my eyes. they remind me of kids who found themselves "fashionable" because they wore abercrombie and fitch clothes in highschool.

so apple has permeated our society by dominating the mp3 (iPod) and phone (iPhone) market--both devices no larger than something we can easily fit into our pockets-- and now apple thinks it will go big when it has NEVER dominated anything other than small devices ever before? apple laptops and desktops have always--and continue to be--a niche market.

12/28/2009 12:26:24 AM

desktops - yes
laptops - not so much a niche market these days. look around.

12/28/2009 1:27:15 AM

I guess it depends where you look

coffeeshops-yes, a lot of apples
business conferences--6.8% of the heads

12/28/2009 2:04:57 AM

^ and guess which is the largest market? most profitable market?

12/28/2009 2:18:49 AM

the iPhone doesn't dominate the mobile market. It leads the market for the smartphone category. That's a bit different than its strangehold on the pmp market.

Quote :

"desktops - yes laptops - not so much a niche market these days. look around."

Apple's market share is about the same for desktops and laptops. Yes laptops are more popular, and yes there are more Apple laptops. The same is true for every other manufacturer too, which keeps the shares about the same. Apple is growing well domestically.

12/28/2009 4:28:05 AM

apple makes great hardware. so this should score well in that category.


just worried about the OS on this thing and the software.

12/28/2009 11:23:35 AM

Quote :

" so apple has permeated our society by dominating the mp3 (iPod) and phone (iPhone) market--both devices no larger than something we can easily fit into our pockets-- and now apple thinks it will go big when it has NEVER dominated anything other than small devices ever before? apple laptops and desktops have always--and continue to be--a niche market. "

actually apple has over 90% market share in new sales for computers over $1000 since last year and growing. They don't really sell any under $1000 except the mac mini. Do some research next time.

12/28/2009 11:55:27 AM

i'm sure they'll move a lot of them at first, but i just don't really see myself ever wanting one. i have a netbook, an iphone, and a desktop and i just don't see where a tablet would fit in.

12/28/2009 12:02:24 PM

Quote :

"90% market share in new sales for computers over $1000"

why the fuck does that matter? what percentage of computers are for sale for over $1000 these days?

edit: was your point that apple has dominated hoity-toity expensive laptops? cause that's not a niche market...



[Edited on December 28, 2009 at 12:14 PM. Reason : .]

12/28/2009 12:07:32 PM

The point is apple today isn't what apple used to be. But the hate will never change.

12/28/2009 12:17:47 PM

Quote :

"Apple is going to dominate this market"

Their only real compitition is from the Samsung and Fujitsu on he link above, and from the Archos 9.

Of those nobody uses the Fujitsu, the Samsung is too small, and the Archos is the usual underpowered POS we've come to expect from that company.

Their only real competition is from obscure (to Americans) companies on China and Korea. With a market like that then any decent product with good marketing could dominate.

12/28/2009 1:25:33 PM

Quote :

"90% market share in new sales for computers over $1000"

Not surprising at all. There's also a ~70% attach rate of Windows to Apple computers. If you have 1000+ dollars to spend on a PC laptop, there's nothing better than an Apple notebook most of the time

12/28/2009 3:29:21 PM

Quote :

" There's also a ~70% attach rate of Windows to Apple computers. "

umm… where are you getting this from?

12/28/2009 3:48:07 PM

fixed it for you.

Quote :

""90% market share in new sales for computers laptops over $1000""

12/28/2009 4:17:11 PM

^^

12/28/2009 4:18:47 PM

^^no, actually you didn't fix it. Seriously, google isn't that hard to use.

12/28/2009 6:11:31 PM

^Yep, it is for COMPUTERS over a 1000 bucks. At least from NPD's numbers. Keep in mind this is Computers sold at US Retail.

Which doesn't include direct-sales, business, academic or government. Which means it doesn't include the majority of Dell, HP or Lenovo's sales.

So take the number with a grain of salt.

12/28/2009 6:18:58 PM

^true but is that really apples demographic? I would say in their demographic they do just fine. OS aside, Apple computers are really nice pieces of hardware. Slap windows 7 on there and you've got yourself an awesome PC If Windows PC is what you're looking for.

When you say academic are you talking students or units bought for academic facilities? As far as student use I'd say they are doing well.

[Edited on December 28, 2009 at 7:28 PM. Reason : .]

12/28/2009 7:26:23 PM

to be fair someone already said they were doing fine in their market, you posted that statistic to try to pwn them and show how they were doing well across the board but noen laid the smackdown. so yes, they do just fine in their demographic.

12/28/2009 7:47:49 PM

Quote :

"The products were legitimately leaps and bounds better than anything else on the market at the time."

you can say that, and it still doesn't make it true. For the most part, every other MP3 player out there has had more features than an iPod at the time, and for almost half the price. it was always just marketing and hype.

12/28/2009 7:55:03 PM

except until you actually own both of them and realize the other one is a poorly built piece of shit that could have 10x the features and still be damn near useless

12/28/2009 8:02:00 PM