When Steve Jobs hosts an Apple keynote event it’s a given that someone will splice together all of the superfluous adjectives used to describe the new product or service at hand. Last week’s announcement of the iPad is no exception, and this time that someone is Neil Curtis. Curtis says all adjectives used in this video were taken from the iPad keynote alone, and no scene is ever repeated. Magical!
[Via Gizmodo]
Today Apple announced its latest technological advancement, the Apple iPad. Before I jump to my initial reactions let’s break down all the announcements from the keynote event led by Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
The specs: The iPad features a 9.7 inch (1024×768 VGA) LED-backlit glossy fully capacitive multi-touch display with ISP technology (allowing for a wide 178° viewing angle); it’s powered by Apple’s custom-designed 1GHz Apple A4 chip (it’s a system-on-a-chip, packing the processor, graphics, I/O, and memory controller); it also includes a built-in accelerometer and ambient light sensor, AGPS, a digital compass, WiFi 802.11n, Bluetooth 2.1, and 3G (more on that later). It will ship with 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB solid state drives. Input and output includes a 3.5mm stereo headphone jack, a 30-pin dock connector, a microphone, built-in speakers, and a SIM card tray. It supports the usual video, mail attachment, language, and accessibility extensions. It packs a built-in rechargable lithium-polymer battery that lasts up to ten hours with usage and supports over a month of standby life. It’s also environmentally friendly. It has a very minimalist design; the external controls include the on/off (or sleep/wake) button at the top, mute and volume up/down switches to the right, and the home button at the bottom of the face. It’s dimensions are 9.56×7.47, 0.5 inches thin, and it weighs 1.5 pounds.
The software: Although it was not specified, the iPad runs an updated and iPad-optimized version of the iPhone OS software, presumably version 3.2. When you press the home button you enter an all-touch experience that is extremely similar to what you find on an iPhone or iPod touch today. After you get passed the lock screen, you are brought to your customizable home screen. Jobs noted that users will have the option to change their background images with preloaded screens or their pictures. The iPad will ship with the following apps: mobile Safari, Mail, Photos, Calendar, Contacts, Notes, YouTube, iPod, Video, and Maps (powered by Google). All of these apps are similar to their iPhone/iPod touch counterparts; they have simply been modified and enhanced by Apple to perform on a larger touch-based device. Two noteworthy enhancements include menu popovers and split-view workspaces that really take advantage of the larger display. And thanks to the built-in accelerometer, all apps support landscape and portrait modes. Side note: If you own a Mac and use iPhoto, the iPad will recognize this and further organize your photos into events, faces, and places categories. Most apps support an “almost life-size” virtual QWERTY keyboard that pops up when it’s needed.
The iPad comes with modified but familiar iTunes and Apps Stores. It will run “almost all” of the current 400,000 apps that exist in the App Store today. It runs the apps unmodified in two ways: you have the option to use them in a tiny format (so you don’t lose pixel quality) or you can tap a “x2” button that expands and scales the app full screen by automatically doubling the amount of pixels. Apple was quick to note that an updated version of the iPhone SDK (available today) will give developers the tools to modify and enhance their apps for the iPad. This will allow devs to take advantage of the larger screen and more powerful internals the same way Apple did with their apps. The keynote featured modified apps from Gameloft (Nova), EA (Need for Speed: Shift), MLB.com At Bat, The New York Times, and a paint app with Photoshop-like capabilities called Brushes.
Apple introduced a few new apps themselves. iBooks is Apple’s new e-reader app that serves as a place to read your collection of books and a portal to Apple’s brand new iBookstore. Here you can browse, preview, and purchase books from HarperCollins, Penguin, Simon & Schuster, Macmillian, and Hachette Book Group. Apples notes that they welcome all book and textbook publishers to join this new outlet for readers. Pricing details were not enclosed, but a demo revealed a number of books costing $12.99 and $14.99. The eBooks support the popular ePub format and are a visual treat. Once you purchase a book it is placed on your Bookshelf. Simply tap a book’s cover to start reading. You can change the font, font size, and search the text for keywords. The sleek UI includes tap or swipe gestures for page turning. Apple also intro’d a new version of iWork, built from the ground up for the iPad. iWork’s Keynote, Pages, and Numbers can be used to create slideshows, documents, and spreadsheets, respectively, right on the iPad. They will be sold separately at $9.99 each in the App Store.
Syncing the iPad to iTunes with a PC or Mac is done just like an iPhone or iPod does it. You can sync photos, music, movies, TV shows, contacts, calendars, bookmarks, and apps to it via the included 30-pin connector to USB cable.
Internet access: Apple is giving the user two options here. You can buy the iPad with built-in WiFi or you can opt to purchase an iPad that packs both WiFi and 3G service. The 3G service will be provided by AT&T with two different plans: (1) up to 250MB of data per month for $14.99; (2) unlimited data for $29.99. AT&T also throws in free use of designated WiFi hotspots. The AT&T plans are prepaid with no contract, so you are free to cancel a plan at any time. You also have the leisure of activating the 3G service on the iPad without going to a store or calling a company. It was noted that international deals should be sorted out by June, all iPad 3G models will come unlocked, and they use “new GSM micro SIM cards.”
Pricing and availability: There will be a total of eight different iPad models on the market. The first group of three are WiFi only and include 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB capacities priced at $499, $599, and $699, respectively. The second group of three are WiFi +3G and include the same capacities, each with a $129 price increase (so $629, $729, $829). The WiFi models will be available for purchase in about 60 days (late March) and the WiFi + 3G models will come soon after in about 90 days (sometime in April).
Accessories: Apple unveiled four accessories for the iPad. The first is a standard charging dock that doubles as a digital picture frame. The second is a keyboard dock ($69); it charges the device and also includes a full-sized physical QWERTY keyboard that attaches to the iPad via the 30-pin connector. The third is an Apple designed black case ($39) that can also be used as a stand for watching video. The fourth is a camera connection kit ($29) that allows you to import photos to the iPad via your camera’s USB cable or directly from an SD card.
What’s missing: Multitasking, camera(s), Flash video support, and HDMI out, for starters. We’ve come to accept that the iPhone and iPod touch cannot do multitasking, but there is no reason that the iPad cannot support at least two applications running at the same time. The powerful 1GHz chip can beautifully render HD video, load up and present pictures extremely quickly, and run graphics and power intensive games. For a processor that’s described as “a screamer,” the lack of multitasking capabilities is a real shame. How about a camera? Though rumors pointed to front-facing and standard webcam implementation, there should at least be one backfacing camera installed for video chat. And don’t tell me the the processor can’t handle that. The lack of Flash video support in mobile Safari is a real bummer; forget about watching Hulu videos on it. (This is Apple’s decision; Adobe is able and willing to share Flash software.) The inclusion of HDMI out would have made perfect sense. The device can play HD videos downloaded from iTunes; why not give the user the ability to extend their viewing experience to the TV? What of the newspaper/magazine digital revolution? I expected Apple to make a big push with partnerships with Time and The Wall Street Journal, formulate subscription-based models, and so forth. I guess things will start small with the intro of updated apps and this will eventually lead to more significant changes. Lastly there’s the decision to go with AT&T for data, again. The latest round of rumors were really pushing for an Apple-Verizon Wireless partnership for the iPhone and the tablet. Guess we’ll have to wait on that, too.
And that brings me to my initial reactions. Rumors of an Apple tablet have been swirling for years, nearly for a decade, in fact. All of us highly anticipated and theorized its pending existence as the never-ending rumors continued to pile up over the years. I imagined the mysterious Apple tablet to revolutionize the portable computer industry just as Apple forever changed the landscape of the mobile phone arena with the iPhone. Having watched today’s keynote in its entirety I was left surprisingly underwhelmed by the announcement of the iPad, though I do see a bright future for it. Continue reading Apple introduces the iPad; does it live up to the hype?
Celebrate the anticipation with a couple of comics.
(Catch the second one after the break.) Continue reading The Apple Tablet is coming, it’s almost here!
According to Rodney Charters, director of photography on 24, the show will try its best to somehow incorporate Apple’s still unannounced tablet device, pending Apple’s cooperation. Charters tweets: “Hmmmm looks like we may get an iSlate into Jacks hands for Ep 20 getting giddy with excitement” and later updated with: “Got a bit too excited probably more likely Episode 22 but Apple provided fingers crossed.”
As exciting as this proposition sounds, it all hinges upon the actual existence of such a tablet. We will know by tomorrow. Oh, and it better be announced. Because if it isn’t, you can be sure Jack will stationed outside the keynote doors waiting to interrogate Jobs (re-created for visual purposes above).
[Via Twitter page; Gizmodo]
Apple will be holding a special event Wednesday, January 27 at 10AM PST at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco. I think we all know what the big announcement will be: the oft-rumored Apple Tablet (aka iSlate aka Magic Slate aka iPad). The latest speculation believes Steve Jobs may announce one or more of the following: the tablet, a new iPhone, iPhone OS 4.0, and the next iLife suite. Obviously I have my money on the tablet announcement. The recent slew of rumors surrounding the tablet (including talks of Verizon and various book and magazine publishers involvement) has me really excited about this event. Be sure to check back here Wednesday evening for full coverage and a rundown of all pertinent announcements.
This is a mock up of what shopping at an Ikea store with an Apple tablet could potentially be like. And man is it slick. The experience is smooth, quick, and intuitive, just like we have come to learn on the iPhone. In fact, this device looks like a super-sized iPhone, and that is exactly what I expect the oft-rumored tablet to be. Jobs, we are waiting…
[Via Gizmodo]
Let’s get right to it, shall we? The Wall Street Journal reports that CBS and Walt Disney Company (among other major TV networks) are “consideringparticipating in Apple’s plan to offer television subscriptions over the Internet.” CBS will offer shows from CBS and CW and Disney will offer selections from its ABC, Disney Channel, and ABC Family networks. Though details are being kept under wraps, word has it that Apple will offer its iTunes customers a $30/month subscription to choose from the TV networks’ selection of shows. This is all starting to make sense now that Apple has ate up streaming company Lala; they might just have a Hulu-esque TV streamingservice in the works. Whatever it may be, “sources” claim that Apple could finalize licensing deals and switch on the service sometime in 2010.
The Financial Times delves further into this matter and regurgitates the followinginformation: “Apple has contacted other broadcast and cable networks, including Time Warner’s Turner Broadcasting System and Viacom, which have so far been unconvinced by Apple’s proposal. The computer maker has also courted the book publishing industry, sector executives say.” This is all very interesting, to say the least. Major publishers like the WSJ and the FT reporting on a potential iTunes subscription-based service can only mean that something is brewingat Apple HQ. Talks with CBS (Viacom), Time Warner, and ABC are vital if Apple plans on making such a TV show subscription plan work. And let’s not forget about their “court[ing] [of the] book publishing industry”…cue the Apple tablet/iPhone rumors.
Addional news comes from the Financial Times, and this time it’s about the impendingannouncement of the Apple tablet: “Apple is preparing an announcement next month that many anticipate will be the official unveiling of its tablet, but the company has so far declined to confirm the existence of the device. Wall Street analysts expect mass production of an Apple tablet to begin as early as February.”
To spread to the gaining hype around the tablet and the next-gen iPhone comes news today from a Silicon Alley Insider report: “Apple is preparing to show off a new, larger mobile device with a higher resolution display in January — probably a version of the Apple tablet we’ve been hearing about for months — according to a plugged-in source in the mobile industry.” This source says that Apple has asked a select group of app developers to prepare their apps to support a full-screen resolution (rather than the fixed 320×480 rez the iPhone currently uses) and to demo on a “new, larger mobile device.” In addition, the report says that the tablet will be demoed in January but not released into the market until a later date. This matches up with the FT news posted above; Apple will unveil it in January, ramp up production in February, and have it ready for the public by March 2010. And there’s more! DigiTimes reports that the next-gen iPhone will be packed with a 5 megapixel camera sensor.
And that’s it for now. Exhausting, huh? I think Apple just needs to come out with it already and unveil this coveted (albeit non-existent) tablet to calm our nerves and get us excited for something that we at least know is real. With Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster claiming that there’s a 75% chance that an Apple January event is coming and word that the tablet will be the main focus of the event I am waiting in much anticipation. An overhaul of iTunes, the next-gen iPhone, the tablet…so many potential topics to discuss! Here’s hoping that Apple hits at least one of them next month.
[Via Engadget, here & here; Gizmodo, here & here; Apple Insider]
We’ve been here before, so let’s do it again. According to an Oppenheimer research note from analyst Yair Reiner, who apparently has no real connection to Apple, the oft-rumored Apple tablet will release around March or April with production starting as soon as February. Reiner says that the tablet will feature a multitouch 10.1 inch screen, it will look similar to the iPhone, and will sell for $1,000. He also says that Apple has approached book publishers in hopes of forming “a very attractive proposal” to distribute their content digitally. Reiner: “As innovative as it is, we believe the [Amazon] Kindle has disgruntled the publishing industry (book, newspaper, and magazine) by demanding exclusivity, disallowing advertising, and demanding a wolfish cut of revenue. The tablet is set to change that.” According to Reiner, Apple has offered the publishers a revenue cut of 70% without requiring exclusivity. Sure, this is interesting and all, but there has still been no word at all from Apple about this tablet device and Reiner’s information is not entirely substantiated with proper evidence. Folks, take all of this with a grain of salt, would you?
In related Apple news, analyst Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray says that the Verizon network with be “the next big feature” of the iPhone. Munster: “We continue to believe there is a 70% chance that Apple will launch the iPhone with Verizon in mid-CY10.” He also mentions that the next-gen iPhone may feature hardware support to read RFID chips, enabling swipe payments. “The iPhone could feasibly become a full digital wallet,” says Munster. News of a new iPhone comes from another direction with Eldar Murtazin, editor in chief of Mobile Review. Murtazin tweeted “Foxconn received order for next generation iphone.” Engadget calls him “the ultimate insider” when it comes to mobile news, so maybe you can take his word of a manufacturer ramping production for a new iPhone with a smaller pinch of salt.
Whether these rumors about the tablet and next-gen iPhone are true or not, sompthin’ is a brewin’ at Apple and we can all smell it.
[Via Engadget, here & here; Reuters; AppleInsider]
According to the latest round of rumors the reveal and shipping date of the Apple tablet device will be delayed until the second half of 2010 due to component switches.
The source says Apple will ship two versions of the tablet; one with a 9.7 inch LG OLED display that may cost around $2,000 and one with a larger 10.6 inch TFT LCD display costing between $800-$1,000.
…gotta love rumors.
Today Barrons is reporting that one lucky analyst has actually seen and handled the hyped and rumored forthcoming Apple tablet device. From the article…
One veteran analyst who has seen first-hand a prototype slate-style computer from Apple says the device could be announced in September for release in November.
Whatever the exact dates, the computer industry is so anxious to see what Apple introduces that it has held off on competing designs until Apple CEO Steve Jobs gives the device his final blessing. “It’s close enough now to a final design that in Asia, there’s no other product in the waiting room or in the bullpen,” said the analyst. “There are dozens of ODMs [original device makers] making products for Lenovo and other PC makers that are all waiting to see what the Apple product is.”
The new device, which may retail for $699 to $799, could fulfill a variety of multimedia functions currently taken up by a gaggle of individual consumer electronics devices. It could be a home media center, somewhat like the current Apple TV, and it could be a gaming machine, opines Jon Peddie, head of Jon Peddie Research in Tiburon, Calif. “Gaming will be a big part of what this is about,” he adds.
The machine impresses with its display of hi-def video content, says the veteran analyst, who asked not to be identified. “It’s better than the average movie experience, when you hold this thing in your hands.”
…
A second source confirmed to me that news of the new device “is all over the supply chain in Asia.” The biggest question at this point, and the least understood by anyone outside Apple, is whether the company’s App Store will be the exclusive distribution point for software for this device.
As Steve Jobs says, it’s the software that defines these things.
So, what do we gather from this? A September announcement, a November release, a $699-$799 price point, media center and gaming capabilities, and computer manufacturers have put production on hold until official specs and other information is released. More rumors added to the spinning, gigantic rumor mill. What do you have up your sleeve, Mr. Jobs? September cannot come any sooner.
The Financial Times has joined the gang of rumors pointing to an Apple tablet device coming out in the near future. The FT is adding credibility to these rumors with the following information: the screen size “may be up to 10 inches diagonally;” it will run the iPhone OS; it will connect to the Interner via WiFi; it will have a book marketplace (think Amazon’s Kindle service). Here are some direct quotes taken from the article: “[The] tablet-sized computer [will ship] in time for the Christmas shopping season, in what the entertainment industry hopes will be a new revolution.” “[The] touch-sensitive device… will have a screen that may be up to ten inches diagonally,” and while it will “connect to the internet like the iPod touch, it’ll probably [do so] without phone capabilities.” Apple is known is release updated iPods and Mac desktop/laptop revisions in September, after the back-to-school season. This tablet device could very well slip into the launch window between this time and the holiday season. According to the FT, Apple is apparently rushing to complete this device and have it on store shelves by Christmas.
In other Apple-related news, Apple has decided to join forces with major music label companies (namely EMI, Sony Music, Warner Music and Universal Music Group) to come up with a plan to make consumers want to buy entire albums rather than single tracks when shopping at the iTunes Music Store. In order to stimulate consumers to go beyond the single track and dive into the entire album of a particular artist, Apple and said music labels will soon include “interactive booklets, sleeve notes and other interactive features with music downloads.” Up to this point, users have only received PDF files with their album downloads that includes only album liner notes. According to an insider, “…it’s not just a bunch of PDFs; there’s real engagement with the ancillary stuff.” Executives commented on this new initiative code-named “Project Cocktail:” Apple wants to make bigger purchases more compelling by creating a new type of interactive album material, including photos, lyric sheets and liner notes that allow users to click through to items that they find most interesting. Consumers would be able to play songs directly from the interactive book without clicking back into Apple’s iTunes software. Would you be enticed to pay for entire albums instead of single tracks if these kinds of additions were tagged with your purchase of the album? Both the Apple tablet device and Project Cocktail are rumored to be released side-by-side as soon as this September. Let’s cross our fingers and hope these rumors come to fruition; sounds like really cool stuff is on the way.
[Via Mashable; Gizmodo; Engadget; mock-up by Edwin Tofslie]