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Apple Tablet mockup by Matt Skach
Gadget Lab has been accused of being somewhat obsessed with the Apple tablet. Guilty as charged! We are obsessed, we admit it.
After all, who wouldn't be obsessed with a device that promises to revolutionize mobile computing, make our iPhones look tiny and stupid, overhaul book publishing, inject new lifeblood into the consumer electronics industry, and maybe even save the dying world of print magazines upon which our livelihoods depend?
Okay, so we may be going a bit over the top, especially for a product that doesn't exist - and may never exist.
It's important to remember that Apple has never confirmed it's even working on a tablet. Everything up to this point is speculation and conjecture. But the signs are very suggestive, and most industry observers, including Gadget Lab, expect Apple to release a tablet-like device in 2010.
Even if Apple doesn't release a tablet, other manufacturers likely will, from startups like Fusion Garage to (rumors suggest) HP, Dell, Nokia and others.
Still, most eyes are on Apple, thanks in part to its impressive track record with the iPhone. Love it or hate it, the Cupertino company definitely knows how to reimagine a product category and reinvent an industry.
For that reason, we'll keep covering the rumors, the leaks, and - if it emerges - the device itself. We cover this topic because you readers have let us know, with your comments and your many, many clicks, that you are interested in it.
But that doesn't mean we can't have a little fun with it.
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."
Ideapad hybrid tablet. Toshiba has a similar and sensible concept for a medical computer: The Toshiba Rx replaces the traditional clipboard and medical sheet used in hospitals in favor of a touchscreen tablet: “Using state of the art medical software, nurses and doctors can document, diagnose, communicate and educate while bedside or on the go.”
It’s an elegant improvement over traditional notetaking – a digital clipboard means less paper, less waste, and easier filing and archiving. For instances that call for heavy typing, the tablet can dock into a charger/keyboard module. As Coroflot’s Geoffrey Cooper said, in the future it would be cheaper to have these docks scattered throughout a hospital as opposed to buying an equivalent number of conventional computers.
Toshiba's got a new take on mobile internet devices, and it is one that sorta kinda makes sense. Its 7-inch JournE Touch is based on Windows CE, has an ARM processor and isn't meant to leave the living room.
Touted as the "Ultimate Home Media Tablet" Toshiba's Wi-Fi tablet has its own icon packed user interface on top of Windows CE. It will allow you sit back on the couch and run a full Web browser and according to this release you can access Picasa, YouTube, Flickr and your instant messaging clients from the Wi-Fi device.
It has an ARM chip inside so chances are it won't handle true high def content all that well (though the video says it can). This thing has Nivida Tegra written all over it but no word on what is exactly powering the thing. A base station will be sold separately that will have USB and HDMI outputs.
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Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer tonight demoed some of the first Slate PC tablets running Windows 7 at his press day keynote at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show. In addition to an Archos tablet that has already been shown, Balmer unveiled a prototype of HP's upcoming Slate PC, which remained unnamed, showing, ironically, Amazon's Kindle application, positioning the tablet as a competitor to Amazon's own E-Ink Kindle device.
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what...they only have one guy in the back room and he's too busy cranking out tablet rumor photos so he can't click SEND on the next scheduled iPhone 'fix' ?!?
"We were told that Apple pre-ordered them all. All 10 inch LCDs, and all 10 inch OLEDs too," our source continued, redundantly adding "it's for the Apple tablet."
Rumors about whether or not a version of the Apple tablet will have an OLED screen have been flying back and forth for some times now, but if it is indeed true that other firms can't get their hands on any of the expensive little screens, it may just give more credence to the claims.
Apple has a knack for spotting problems we didn't know we had. It can leave us wondering how we survived without vast libraries of music and TV shows in our pockets or the comfort of knowing "there's an app for that."
Now, speculation is growing that in two weeks Apple will unveil a tablet-style touch-screen computer that is bigger than an iPhone but smaller than a standard laptop. If indeed that is Apple's next move -- the company won't comment -- it would have to show us why we ought to pay for yet another Internet-connected screen, on top of the TVs, computers and smart phones we already have.
As a crowd of tech companies roll out tablets at the upcoming CES 2010, lurking underneath will be Apple's alleged iSlate tablet. Rumors swirl everywhere, and now here's yet another concept of what the actual Apple tablet might be like. That is, if it even exists, or if it will be actually be introduced on January 26 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.
Frantic Steve Jobs Stays Up All Night Designing Apple Tablet
CUPERTINO, CA—Claiming that he completely forgot about the much-hyped electronic device until the last minute, a frantic Steve Jobs reportedly stayed up all night Tuesday in a desperate effort to design Apple's new tablet computer. "Come on, Steve, just think—think, dammit—you're running out of time," the exhausted CEO said as he glued nine separate iPhones to the back of a plastic cafeteria tray. "Okay, yeah, this will work. This will definitely work. Just need to write 'tablet' on this little strip of masking tape here and I'm golden. Oh, come on, you piece of shit! Just stick already!" Middle-of-the-night sources reported that Jobs then began work on double-spacing his Keynote presentation and increasing the font size to make it appear longer.
I'm just aching to know if the new Apple tablet (insert caveats, weasel words and qualifiers here) is a potential Cintiq competitor. I don't think it will be, but you never know. It may also have a built in barometer and bird call generator.
I'm never sure if Apple does themselves more good than harm with the secrecy and anticipation that surrounds the run-up to these announcements. Unless there's something truly jaw-dropping about whatever device rises from the stage when Steve Jobs reaches that particular slide in Keynote, the reaction may be muted disappointment: "Oh." "Huh." "Wait a minute... my life is still the same miasma of thwarted potential and spiritual anomie that it was half an hour ago!"
That said, what are you expecting on Jan. 27?
that would be a huge hit, but the pricepoint target is scarey. I can see this really taking off however--my kids all have iPod touches now, and when within a wireless zone, have more fun and do more stuff--at the expense of their computer and cell phone. An inexpensive, single interface device, that can supplant the phone, the laptop, the mp3 player, the camera, the gaming system, and provide direct access to social media would be THE category killer of the new decade. Some bright retailer will figure out a mechanism to provide these 'free' with branded advertising access at all interface levels (wal-mart?)
Cached
fishead ...*∞º˙ on 02 Jan 10" * * Apple Tablet mockup by Matt Skach Gadget Lab has been accused of being somewhat obsessed with the Apple tablet. Guilty as charged! We are obsessed, we admit it. After all, who wouldn't be obsessed with a device that promises to revolutionize mobile computing, make our iPhones look tiny and stupid, overhaul book publishing, inject new lifeblood into the consumer electronics industry, and maybe even save the dying world of print magazines upon which our livelihoods depend? Okay, so we may be going a bit over the top, especially for a product that doesn't exist - and may never exist. It's important to remember that Apple has never confirmed it's even working on a tablet. Everything up to this point is speculation and conjecture. But the signs are very suggestive, and most industry observers, including Gadget Lab, expect Apple to release a tablet-like device in 2010. Even if Apple doesn't release a tablet, other manufacturers likely will, from startups like Fusion Garage to (rumors suggest) HP, Dell, Nokia and others. Still, most eyes are on Apple, thanks in part to its impressive track record with the iPhone. Love it or hate it, the Cupertino company definitely knows how to reimagine a product category and reinvent an industry. For that reason, we'll keep covering the rumors, the leaks, and - if it emerges - the device itself. We cover this topic because you readers have let us know, with your comments and your many, many clicks, that you are interested in it. But that doesn't mean we can't have a little fun with it. 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."
