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Old 04-29-2009, 03:24 PM   #1
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Apple: Smaller than the Kindle, but with a bigger touchscreen

I know the Apple tablet has been discussed in many threads, but here is another one, from a source who supposedly has seen the thing:

Quote:
"SMALLER MEDIA PAD
The new Apple devices under development, if introduced, hold the potential to shake up the tech industry. The media pad is smaller than an Amazon (AMZN) Kindle electronic reader, but its touchscreen is bigger than the Kindle's, says the person who has seen it. Carriers such as Verizon and AT&T are keen on striking deals to supply wireless Internet access to these new small computing devices, such as netbooks, which represent revenue growth opportunities. Phone carriers also fear being cut out of their core markets for supplying land-line and wireless voice services." (http://www.businessweek.com/technolo...264_page_2.htm)

I believe Apple had placed an order for 10" screens last year. Still, it's going to be a backlit screen, which kills it as a reader for me. But for everything else, I bet it will rock.

Last edited by Sonist; 04-29-2009 at 03:27 PM.
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Old 04-29-2009, 08:13 PM   #2
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We will know for sure in 5 weeks or so, but I think these leaks are usually only credible if they come from the factory that is currently making 100'000 of the things..
I'd LOVE to get one, could sell my ipod touch and have a second reading device. My guess is that battery life is the issue as per usual.
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Old 04-30-2009, 12:21 AM   #3
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media tablet yes.
ebooks possible. though probably about as comfortable as a ipod touch.

Though of course the thing would be a godsend in the acidemic world. as from what i hear from teachers, professionals, and students, what they really want is a wireless tablet, that can do everything, do it easy. and be a real change to the way you work.

I think Apple Just invented the Star Trek "pad'

and over 300 years Early.
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Old 04-30-2009, 12:27 AM   #4
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this will be big
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Old 04-30-2009, 12:38 AM   #5
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Smaller than the Kindle with a bigger screen wouldn't be hard to do at all, so I don't see that as much of an accomplishment. Lots of Apple fans will eat this up, and I'm sure it'll be a nice device, just like I'm sure it'll be well out of my price range.
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Old 04-30-2009, 02:13 AM   #6
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Nope, not me. I love my Ipod Touch for what it does well. It plays music, music videos, gets me online at times, and plays little games, all of which it does well. I'll watch U2's video "Where the Streets Have No Name" a gazillion times (Bono, grow your hair back out dammit). However, I won't read much more than 5 pages on it. Nope, beyond that it has to go on my Sony Reader. Not interested if it's not e-ink...and if it were, still not interested because it's not LCD. Each one has a practical purpose.

I can fit both my Ipod Touch and my Sony Reader comfortably into my life, and my purse.

Last edited by katewilly; 04-30-2009 at 02:21 AM.
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Old 04-30-2009, 05:11 AM   #7
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Battery life would be its biggest problem to get the "ebook reader" label, I think. Other than that, I think it's going to be the next cool thing to have. I don't doubt that they're going to sell a couple of millions in the first 6 months after its launch.
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Old 04-30-2009, 08:17 AM   #8
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Now you'll get to really see the fingerprints and the battery will not be good. The iPod Touch has a dreadful battery. I can see this being just as bad. As for eBooks, you'll be lucky to get a day out of it.
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Old 04-30-2009, 10:57 AM   #9
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I don't know that I would buy this to replace my 505 reader for reading of novels, etc. But 10" might be just the size to allow me to download the digital edition of the NY Times and other papers and magazines and enjoy them without sitting at my screen. Also, pdf files would be clearly readable. For that type of reading, it isn't a chore to have to charge the unit more frequently.

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Old 04-30-2009, 11:06 AM   #10
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Did anyone else think "smaller than a kindle but with a bigger touchscreen" was a pretty easy bar, considering the Kindle doesn't HAVE a touchscreen?
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Old 04-30-2009, 01:16 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by yagiz View Post
Battery life would be its biggest problem to get the "ebook reader" label, I think. Other than that, I think it's going to be the next cool thing to have. I don't doubt that they're going to sell a couple of millions in the first 6 months after its launch.
Yep and with that comes the struggle to balance battery life with weight and heat, two things that make a device much less viable as a stand-in for a book. Personally, I'm more interested in Pixel Qi's new screen technology. If it's all they say it is, that would make a great reader as well as a netbook or tablet. If Apple uses that (or something else new and surprising) I'll be all over it.
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Old 04-30-2009, 01:32 PM   #12
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It is not going to be easy to beat the battery life of the current ereaders. I have to charge my iPhone every day... my Kindle every what? 2 weeks?
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Old 04-30-2009, 02:48 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by questionfear View Post
Did anyone else think "smaller than a kindle but with a bigger touchscreen" was a pretty easy bar, considering the Kindle doesn't HAVE a touchscreen?


The other difference with the Kindle, of course, would be e-Ink. Without that, the Apple media tablet (whatever it ends up being named) would end up being little more than a tablet PC that ran OSX (at most).

Of course, a Mac tablet would be nothing to sneeze at, necessarily (and a lot of Macheads have apparently been jonesing for one), but it's a little like comparing a Segway to a motorcycle. They serve very different purposes, and have different strengths.

Having said that, if this device (or devices ended up having e-Ink (especially color e-Ink) that might be a game-changer. Right now, though, any comparisons between this and the Kindle just smack of "Me too"-ism (especially after Jobs famously panned the Kindle).
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Old 04-30-2009, 03:59 PM   #14
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If this creates a new category (10" tablets that don't suck) then the PixelQi 10" screen (Multimode Displays from PixelQi due next month! ) will be well placed to exploit it. I don't see this as competition, yet, for 6" dedicated Readers, but netbooks are already competition for EInk devices with ~10" screens and this would make that niche even more crowded. A 10" tablet is probably better already for displaying PDFs than the DR1000S (say), because zooming does not have to wait 0.7s for the screen to refresh, and a tablet is a general purpose computer that can do other stuff (at a minimum surf the web and send emails).
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Old 04-30-2009, 04:50 PM   #15
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I don't see this as competition, yet, for 6" dedicated Readers, but netbooks are already competition for EInk devices with ~10" screens and this would make that niche even more crowded. A 10" tablet is probably better already for displaying PDFs than the DR1000S (say), because zooming does not have to wait 0.7s for the screen to refresh, and a tablet is a general purpose computer that can do other stuff (at a minimum surf the web and send emails).
I don't really see how a tablet like this could be competition. A netbook might be competition for a dedicated reader, either if you're talking about a Palm-sized device or the person in question is looking for a more versatile device. (Even then, I'd argue that those looking for a more versatile device wouldn't be looking at ereaders in the first place.) This tablet, though, if Apple follows its usual behavior, won't satisfy any of the criteria for a worthwhile ereader.

1) It (probably?) won't have e-Ink.
2) It will be relatively expensive. (This is Apple we're talking about. Count on that.)
3) For an ereader, it won't be as portable as a Kindle. (It might be as portable as that "Plastic" ereader we heard about a while ago, but IMO, that's not going to be portable enough for a reader.

Of course, if Apple markets such a thing, they probably won't try to sell it as a reader. It will probably be marketed as a tablet "done right". And it will probably sell some of them. (I would probably guess it would sell as well as the Macbook Air.) But I'd be really surprised if this reached anything approaching iPhone or iPod level.
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