Samsung Exec confirms Mini iPad?

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

How about a compromise - a 5" iPod touch?

Latest rumor has the New iPhone coming in with a 4.6in Retina display.
(Whatever that means.)

Close enough?

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Latest rumor has the New iPhone coming in with a 4.6in Retina display.
(Whatever that means.)

Close enough?

It would be if it was for an iPod touch.

[ScotiaBurrell]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Latest rumor has the New iPhone coming in with a 4.6in Retina display.
(Whatever that means.)

Close enough?

Not to happen. Fails to be retina display.

Also

what's Apple's incentive? Why alter a form that sells millions upon millions every single year?

all from http://gizmodo.com/5895583

[petermillard]

I think we're more likely to see an iPod+ than an iPad Mini, personally. The iTouch line didn't have a spec bump at all last year, so maybe it's on its way out, replaced by a ~5.5" iPod+ at one end, and a new touchscreen iPod Mini at the other?

Either way, I don't see a place for a ~7.8" iPad, though as always, happy to be proven wrong

[Dylrob]

Originally Posted by tecweston

By Steve's logic the iPhone and iPod touch should come with sandpaper too.

Personally I'd love a mini-iPad. I have an iPod touch which I basically use as a pocket tablet. Having a slightly bigger one that I can also use as an ereader on the go would be awesome. I like the quality of the iPad but it's so big and so expensive that I can't see myself buying one. A mini version for under $250 that fits in my pocket? Yes please.

iPhone/iPod touch apps have UIs optimized for the small screen. iPad apps, when designed properly, have UIs optimized for the bigger screen. The problem is that if you try to take the latter's apps and stick them on a significantly smaller display some UI elements might become too small to reliably interact with.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by ScotiaBurrell

Not to happen. Fails to be retina display.

Not if you change the resolution (fragmentation?) or the definition of "retina".

[SeaKing]

Originally Posted by afv011

Will it come with sandpaper?

I don't see that as much of a mini-pad. But yes the "Loyal Apple Consumer" will gobble it up if it says "Apple." Never mind how perfect the 9.7" tablet was.

Still if Apple does this and also brings about a larger iPhone 5 then there will be a crack in the veneer and the "Loyal Apple Consumer" may start to doubt!

That doubt may mean the start of the end of the Jobs's Apple mystique and a further demise (oh shudder) in Apple's share of the market.

They will start to look like everyone else instead of "Leaders."

Some of the original "Loyal Apple Consumers" may well cringe!

[SeaKing]

Originally Posted by petermillard

I think we're more likely to see an iPod+ than an iPad Mini, personally. The iTouch line didn't have a spec bump at all last year, so maybe it's on its way out, replaced by a ~5.5" iPod+ at one end, and a new touchscreen iPod Mini at the other?

Either way, I don't see a place for a ~7.8" iPad, though as always, happy to be proven wrong

Again the "Loyal Apple Consumer" will buy anything, but I wonder if the number of total buys won't start to diminish.

The problem I see is how do you price a 5.5" iPod and a 8" iPad.
The Ipad 3 is now $500, the Ipad 2 is now $400, and a 3.5" Ipod is about $250 so where does a mini Ipad and a maxi Ipod go.

That could be too confusing for the "Steadfast Apple Consumers." Their heads might explode if too many of the Job's mandates are destroyed. That was Jobs secret weapon. Keep it simple so the customers could "believe."

These beliefs were a 9.7" iPad that performed "magic" and a 3.5" iPod and iPhone that your thumb could easily totally traverse using only one hand.

Change these Axioms and the foundation of these "Fervent Apple Consumers" would be shaken down deep into the roots. They would think "nothing is sacred anymore" now that Steve Jobs is gone.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by SeaKing

Change these Axioms and the foundation of these "Fervent Apple Consumers" would be shaken down deep into the roots. They would think "nothing is sacred anymore" now that Steve Jobs is gone.

Without the Reality Distortion Field Apple is going to have to shake those foundations sooner or later. Cook may prefer it be sooner and on his terms.
(shrug)

[elcreative]

Originally Posted by SeaKing

I don't see that as much of a mini-pad. But yes the "Loyal Apple Consumer" will gobble it up if it says "Apple." Never mind how perfect the 9.7" tablet was.

Still if Apple does this and also brings about a larger iPhone 5 then there will be a crack in the veneer and the "Loyal Apple Consumer" may start to doubt!

That doubt may mean the start of the end of the Jobs's Apple mystique and a further demise (oh shudder) in Apple's share of the market.

They will start to look like everyone else instead of "Leaders."

Some of the original "Loyal Apple Consumers" may well cringe!

Originally Posted by SeaKing

Again the "Loyal Apple Consumer" will buy anything, but I wonder if the number of total buys won't start to diminish.

The problem I see is how do you price a 5.5" iPod and a 8" iPad.
The Ipad 3 is now $500, the Ipad 2 is now $400, and a 3.5" Ipod is about $250 so where does a mini Ipad and a maxi Ipod go.

That could be too confusing for the "Steadfast Apple Consumers." Their heads might explode if too many of the Job's mandates are destroyed. That was Jobs secret weapon. Keep it simple so the customers could "believe."

These beliefs were a 9.7" iPad that performed "magic" and a 3.5" iPod and iPhone that your thumb could easily totally traverse using only one hand.

Change these Axioms and the foundation of these "Fervent Apple Consumers" would be shaken down deep into the roots. They would think "nothing is sacred anymore" now that Steve Jobs is gone.

Why can't you let people have a reasonable thread without the pollution of your anti-Apple diatribes... we've heard it all before...
Double yawn... change the record...

[afv011]

5 reasons why the stupid 4.6 inch iphone won't happen.

[SeaKing]

Originally Posted by elcreative

Why can't you let people have a reasonable thread without the pollution of your anti-Apple diatribes... we've heard it all before...
Double yawn... change the record...

Hey. Sorry. That does look overboard!

When you show all those "**** Apple Consumers" references lined up like that it does look like I am trying to ring your bell. That is not the case. I was just trying to indicate that Apple Consumers more than any other group in the market are an extremely cohesive group. I would say that they are unique in that, far more than any other product purchasing group.
Hey I have them in my family and love them dearly, and even buy them Apple equipment. Just bought a son a super duper Apple computer and a girlfriend an iPod Touch though I argued for something else with the girlfriend. I know better not to try and argue with one of my children.

I have said it before and I will say it again. Apple makes excellent hardware. Very Good Software. I really don't like the iTunes store which by the way I have a latch to on my desktop because that is where I set that iPod Touch up. It now officially goes to her Toshiba now, but it is still emailing me as well. I haven't removed that because if there is a problem I might need it because that is the set up computer though probably it would be ok.

I come down hard on Apple because the analysts, the pundits, the tech writers, magazines and commenters everywhere push it so much. It certainly is good equipment but it costs way too much.

Anyway, that is why I tend to push back on Apple. It is just to maintain a little balance in this world.

[petermillard]

Originally Posted by SeaKing

The problem I see is how do you price a 5.5" iPod and a 8" iPad.
The Ipad 3 is now $500, the Ipad 2 is now $400, and a 3.5" Ipod is about $250 so where does a mini Ipad and a maxi Ipod go.

As I said, I don't think we'll see an 8" iPad, so if (big IF) Apple were to produce a tweener device then one way they could make space for it in the iPod line-up would be to kill the current iPod Touch, introducing a new larger-size iPod Touch+ at $249. Maybe they'd leave a single entry-level 8Gb iTouch Original at $179 for the people who want it, or maybe the iPod Nano could double in screen size (~2.75"?) to become the new $179 iPod Mini?<shrug>

[Prestidigitweeze]

Originally Posted by Phogg

A new iPple product in that size range might help iPple retain some market share, but iPple's sleek, stripped down units are never going to oust full featured machines from the marketplace.

In terms of UI, permitted variables and levels of integration, do you consider Android to be "full-featured" at the moment? Compared to full-on Linux on a desktop, I find it to be as compromised as iOS was in comparison to Snow Leopard. And is Metro going to be as "full-featured" as Windows 7 once was, or will tablet use under Metro/Windows 8 be gimped as well?

This concern goes beyond Apple and Apple users. It addresses the future of complexity-friendly operating systems across all platforms.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

And is Metro going to be as "full-featured" as Windows 7 once was, or will tablet use under Metro/Windows 8 be gimped as well?

This concern goes beyond Apple and Apple users. It addresses the future of complexity-friendly operating systems across all platforms.

Well, Win8x86 Tablets *will* have a desktop mode parallel to the Metro GUI/HTML5 mode so there is no loss of functionality there: Win8 *will* run all Win7 apps the exact same way Win7 does. No need to fret there.

Win8Arm tablets will be a step *up* in functionality and capability from WinCE which is already a far more robust and flexible OS than Android or iOS on the techie stuff. (It is used in mission-critical embedded systems, after all.) What it will not be (for obvious reasons) is backwards-compatible with Win7 Apps so until the Windows ecosystem finishes its migration to the new programming model, the Win8Arm app catalog will be leaner than Win8x86.

That much is a known certainty.
What is not known is how the hardware guys (HP, DELL, ASUS, ACER, Lenovo, to name just the top 5) are going to spec-out and price their entry-level/consumer-focused offerings. The business grade tablets we already know what they will look like (Ultrabook processors and screens, slightly higher prices--probably in the $899-999 range for starters). The Wacom pen-capable models will likely list north of $1299 with lower street prices.

The consumer pads? And especially the ARM-pads?
No clue yet. Probably they'll list with the iPads or a bit higher with street prices a bit (say $20) less.

One thing to look forward with the Win8 consumer tablets (both x86 and ARM-based) is that they *will* be LINUX hackable. Not sure it'll make any commercial difference but with core LINUX adopting some Android elements we may see some genuinely robust LinDroid implementations for the techie crowd. And Apple is already (quietly) acknowledging that they need to bring more of OS X to iOS and *soon*.

So, my guess is that, longer-term (ca 2015) we'll see growing functionality in the consumer tablet space bringing it closer to what Windows TabletPC's have had for the last 10 years. Those of us that are used to full-computer functionality in our tablets are not going to go wanting.