Apple Rumor: It’s not a Tablet, It’s a Giant iPod
Image courtesy Apple
The rumors about an upcoming Apple Tablet just won’t go away. There have been many reports about Apple gearing up for the production of a tablet type of device. The company supposedly has ordered tons of flash memory chips and 10-inch displays to gear up to make a tablet. A recent rumor even has Apple negotiating with Verizon to put the mystery tablet on the carrier’s LTE high-speed wireless network. That one may be a bit far-fetched since Verizon hasn’t launched that network, yet. The constant tablet rumors indicate that a lot of folks are anxious for Apple to get a tablet on the market. The current rumor makes me think that perhaps Apple is not thinking about a computing tablet, rather a giant iPod.
Those of us who have been tablet enthusiasts for a long time immediately think of a slate device with a computer’s typical functionality. We immediately think of inking on the screen, along with the typical functions that can be done on any computer. This may not be what Apple has in mind, however, as it’s sounding like they are looking to produce a “media tablet”. This tablet would be designed from the ground up to make it easy to consume media, in different forms.
I can see such a tablet used for reading e-books, watching movies, and of course listening to music. This would feed right into the Apple model of selling content through the iTunes store. They already sell content, but this tablet would enable them to compete directly with Amazon in the e-book retail space. That’s a business that has already been proven to be successful for Amazon, so Apple would just be joining the fray.
This giant iPod, or iPod DX borrowing from Amazon’s Kindle naming convention, would be running the iPhone OS. That’s the same OS running on the iPod Touch, so it’s not a stretch by any means. The OS could handle a larger screened device quite handily, although apps would need to take advantage of the big display. This tablet could work just like the iPod Touch today, just with better interaction given the larger screen. No phone capability is needed; Apple could just go with Wi-Fi.
This giant iPod would have a huge advantage over other slate devices- the App Store. Running the same OS as the iPod Touch (and iPhone), the tablet would be able to run the tens of thousands of apps in the App Store right out of the box. They might not be optimized for the big screen (and big touch interface), but apps that do that will come in time. The point is there would be a huge selection of available apps at the launch of such a tablet.
So, the giant iPod tablet will handle the existing iTunes content, the App Store products and also add e-books to the mix. This presents a huge business opportunity for Apple so we may very well see this tablet soon.
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Agreed and that’s exactly what I thought as soon as I read this morning’s rumours in the FT. Apple are going after Amazon and it has more to do with the content than the hardware or computer power. This is potentially a good move for Apple as it would put them in a position where they sell a range of digital content making iTunes the single one stop shop for digital entertainment.
Of course, the bit they’ll likely struggle with here is the price. I don’t think this should cost any more than an iPod considering that it seems to be designed purely as a vehicle for selling content through iTunes. Combining an iPod with a Kindle seems like a niche product to me (even if it does include a browser) so they would be silly to charge too much for it.
I am thinking of Gaming Platform as well. This could be a PSP/DS blowtorch depending on its graphics capabilities. Also I believe it will be a unibody designed out of a solid piece of aluminium. The high price will not be an obstacle if this device has a few must-have features that are not found in iPhone/iPod device. I hope Apple knows what its doing, then again with hords of cash they can afford a flop or two. I actually wish they would step up the pace of new devices and start retiring some of their older devices.
it would me nice if there were an energy efficient reading mode for ebooks and maybe rss-feeds.
I would like to believe (no clue though) that they are not going to a 10″ touch size without keyboard. That would be so much the Archos mistake, and wouldn’t fit into the Apple “right way”.
Anyway, I would rather want to see a 5″ iPod with full OS (so what if there is a contradiction here; I bet the full OS can run iPhone apps on the safari browser if they want to) with cellphone capabilities. Would win the MID phone segment before being invented :) … that is kill moorstown devices before even going to market.
Tal
The Rumor Mill is working overtime on this device. I hear it will contain a Super Atom processor, has a 24hr battery life and runs so cool that if you tilt it just right it will dispense ice cubes for your favorite beverage.
And come with full beverage recipes- there’s an app for that. :)
If it is a giant iPod touch, I hope it is 9x (3×3) of the number of pixels (1440×960). The pixel density would say about the same. And for apps that don’t scale, it should be easy to setup a 9 pixels to 1 ratio. A 9x mode. Or if it looks too big, 4 pixels to 1, 4x mode with black border.
If it can run all the iphone apps, and a few key one that have apps that scales right. It would be OK with me.
I am thinking media player ebook reader .
No inking.
hopefully no inking, instead nice multitouch and onscreen keyboard.
I think the device will flop though. Its a non starter. A big gamble
I agree. I don’t think anyone would want to carry something with a 10″ screen around and I don’t see this doing anything that a netbook couldn’t do for a lot less. I just don’t see a market for something with a 10″ screen that doesn’t run Windows.
Well, I hope they’ll include a “kiosk” mode on this one. My middle daughter is multiply handicapped, and so DVD players are out (she tends to drop or crack them). She currently gets by with my old Nokia N800 running a program that gives here a touch interface for a group of videos. But it doesn’t keep her from hitting the home key or others, and so a few times a day I usually have to get her out of someplace she accidentally got into.
If the Apple Tablet (or even the ipod touch) had a kiosk mode where you could tell it you only want it to display videos (or play music depending on your needs), and couldn’t exit out without hitting a couple keys at once or such, it would be a big help to my daughter and many other handicapped kids and adults who have trouble with fine motor control.