
IPad Event Confirmed: Apple Invites Press to 'Touch' Something - vinothgopi
http://mashable.com/2012/02/28/ipad-3-event/
======
raganwald
<grouch>An announcement that the announcement is next week is of interest to
hackers without being even remotely something that gratifies one's
intellectual curiosity.</grounch>

That being said... No doubt 99% of the comments will be repeating the same
speculation, leaks, and purported confirmations going around for the last
month. I’m interested in the remaining 1%: How will this “change everything?”
What markets could this disrupt? What (if any) new kinds of software would a
retina display (for example) make possible that were non-starters on an iPad
2?

~~~
anigbrowl
_How will this “change everything?” What markets could this disrupt?_

Not change so much, but if 'touch' refers to some sort of localized haptic
feedback mechanism (eg you can close your eyes and feel the position of
individual icons/controls as if the screen were slightly bumpy) then it will
cement the iPad's dominance as a musical performance tool. Imagine, for
example, being able to strum a virtual guitar and feel approximately where the
strings are, rather than receiving different messages from your fingers and
your eyes. It doesn't have to be perfect, just suggestive and consistent,
which will provide enough novelty to keep people busy until the iPad 4 appears
:-)

I have a strong hunch that that Apple has stolen a march on the competition
here. When I first picked up an iPad, one thing I looked at was some sort of
space shooter game (Galaxy on Fire or something). I played for 2 or 3 minutes,
and was impressed by both the graphics and the vibration every time my ship
took a hit, like the controller for a videogame console. Later I got an
Android Honeycomb tablet, and one day I noticed the same game was available,
so I installed it. Everything was fine, except that there was no vibration. It
seems that since large tablets are not phones, few, if any, manufacturers saw
a need to include a vibration feature and so Apple has had several years to
develop both the technology and a coherent set of UI conventions to employ it.

I know virtually nothing about haptic technology, but I have a guess about how
it might work. Imagine two vibrating motors at right angles to each other,
whose periods are fixed and proportional to the ratio of the device's
width:height. Now imagine a second motor for each of the pair, which vibrates
at up to double the speed of the first; by varying the speed of the second
motor in each of 2 dimensions, interference patterns are created in similar
fashion to the beating that occurs between two sine waves of different
frequencies. Where the periods of sinusoidal sound waves stand in neat integer
relationships to each other, you get the familiar notes of the musical scale
(warning: drastic oversimplification of musical tuning theory). I speculate
that people are so intuitively used to this - sound being just a more
sensitive version of touch - that it may allow a tactile illusion of up to 12
identifiable 'zones' in each screen dimension, resulting in a grid of up to
144 'touxels'.

If I turn out to be more than half-right about this, then I feel it ought to
be worth some sort of nominally compensated blue-sky consulting gig :-)

EDIT: of course you could go on and on with the other applications. A
lightweight keyboard for blind people, new models of games interaction,
interactive multidimensional graphing/modelling tools where constraints are
proxied by 'resistance' and so on.

~~~
karpathy
I'm not sure about the haptic feedback rumors. Apple doesn't have a strong
history with risky, new, experimental technology. I think their style is more
that of waiting for a technology to mature a bit before integrating it
thoughtfully into their product.

If you look at products like iPhone or iPad for example, most of their
features had a first, proof of concept not-too-usable bare-bones
implementation on other systems years ago (iCloud, Facetime, Siri, App store,
iTunes, pre-iPhone touch screen devices that almost worked... ). This has lead
many to complain that Apple unjustly implies that they invented these. What
they often do instead, is take existing technologies and add Apple magic sauce
to make it "just work". That's what they are good at.

I just don't see them releasing something experimental that has even a small
chance of not working as advertised.

EDIT: As linked below, <http://senseg.com/> seems to suggest that this
technology is more mature than I've anticipated. Still, if this at least half
works I'd first expect to see it first on an Android tablet and a year later
on an iPad.

~~~
glenra
Apple was essentially the first mover (by which I mean, the first to package
the new tech in a viable consumer-focused product) with multitouch gestures,
which we saw first on Apple and then a year or so later on Android. Apple also
led with the mouse and with various screen technologies. Haptics aren't brand
new any more than multitouch was; it does seem plausible they might do
something with haptic stuff, and it would seem to explain that teaser.

The main things that we've seen on other platforms which Apple might
conceivably copy are wireless charging systems (like WebOS had) or handling
NFC payments (like a few Android phones had)

------
AmericanOP
Apple market cap now same as entire retail sector. Thoughts?

[http://www.zerohedge.com/news/ibubble-apples-market-cap-
now-...](http://www.zerohedge.com/news/ibubble-apples-market-cap-now-same-
entire-retail-sector-bigger-all-semis)

------
tomelders
the word "touch" makes me think of this...

<http://senseg.com/>

~~~
orofino
I thought the same thing. There is real innovation in tablet computing
available through this avenue.

The current haptic feedback that some devices offer is really inadequate. To
give you actual controls that you can feel would be a leap forward.

Also, if you think about the way Apple typically does these things, it would
be a huge advantage if they got there first. Apple has a tendency to buy years
worth of production from a given vendor, if they could tie up access to this
technology for a year or two while production ramps to accomodate demand, they
could gain a huge lead (well, larger than they already have).

~~~
bergie
Proper haptic feedback would be huge. This might also help to explain the
leaked pictures where the new iPad is thicker than iPad 2.

------
ZitchDog
Retina iPad: confirmed. Also, I really doubt they are showing that iPad in
landscape mode, which means that most likely the home button is gone. Not sure
how I feel about that one.

~~~
roc
For me, removing the Home button would turn an automatic upgrade into a wait-
and-see. I've had too many bad experiences with capacitive buttons on
everything from smartphones to laptops to keyboards.

Not to mention the inherent problem of a capacitive button that lives on a
bezel that people use to grasp the device. There'd be no grazing the home
button while turning or moving your hand positions without possibly-activating
that button. Absent some bullet-proof pressure-sensing technology, it would be
incredibly frustrating.

So mark me down for hoping that the "touch" bit is either an allusion to some
haptic feedback technology, or some pressure-sensing technology, or even just
an ad-copy play off "see" that people are reading too much into.

~~~
chrisdroukas
<speculation>

In all likelihood, multitasking is probably a 'swipe up' gesture from the
bottom of the screen now, similar to what Apple is doing with the trackpad in
Mountain Lion's notification system.

I'm imagining a WebOS-style gesture, but the swipe action is from the screen
edge, not the bezel.

</speculation>

I agree, though. Capacitive buttons are awful, especially on an iPad where
there's so much room for an accidental press.

~~~
zephjc
iPad already does that (off by default): four-finger swipe up shows the list
of apps, and four-finger swipe left or right takes you to other apps.

Edit: and I think four-finger pinch takes you back to the home screen. The
only real use for the Home button on an iPad now is for taking screenshots
(remapping double-click the Power button could probably replace this)

~~~
ConstantineXVI
Trouble with the pinch gesture is the iPhone. The gesture is impossible to use
with one hand, and even with two hands, it's still rather awkward on a small
(sub-7") screen. Remove the iPhone home button in favor of this gesture and
you ruin the user experience. Leave the home button and now we've broken
consistency with the iPad (which is one of the main selling points on the iOS
ecosystem). Not saying they can't drop the home button, they'd just need a
more practical way to do it (for example, webOS/BBX/Win8-style edge swipes)

------
bstar77
Seems like Apple is moving away from the home button. Not sure how I feel
about it, but at least it'll let my 3 year old focus a little better on the
app I want him to play rather than him constantly hitting the home button and
going to Shrek Kart.

~~~
ddagradi
If Apple is getting rid of the Home button, there's a lot of complex
interaction to account for:
[http://www.codinghorror.com/.a/6a0120a85dcdae970b0168e681447...](http://www.codinghorror.com/.a/6a0120a85dcdae970b0168e6814472970c-pi)

Color me doubtful, though I'd love to be proven wrong. Lots of devices already
do a good job with gesture-only interaction, but it requires redefining large
chunks of the iOS vocabulary.

~~~
ugh
You are looking at it wrong. Also: You are wrong.

The iPad already supports gestures. Three gestures replace all you need the
home button for (one or two small and insignificant exceptions, but those
would be easy enough to add).

Those gestures already declutter the interaction considerably. They make for a
much smoother experience than that clusterfuck which is the home button.

It’s a nice fallback, so I’m not sure whether it’s a good idea to remove it,
but I haven’t touched it in ages (it’s always not where I expect it to be,
anyway).

~~~
ddagradi
Part of the iPad's experience, and part of its success, is that it shares a
common language with the iPhone. Removing the home button removes part of the
easy transition from one device to the other. If an iPhone owner is thinking
of buying a home-button-less iPad, they'll launch an app, and then stare in
confusion trying to figure out how to leave it again. Eventually someone will
come and explain to them that if you pinch your fingers this certain way, it
will take you back to the home screen. And the experience is lessened.

I love the system Apple is building. The gestures built into iOS 5 make it
faster and easier for me to use everyday. But gestures are like keyboard
shortcuts - they require instruction and they're not discoverable. I think
having a so-called "Panic" button exist on the device is important for the way
it functions for consumers (not to mention integral to Siri's interface if
that makes its way to the iPad). Will it be a physical button? Maybe, maybe
not. Removing the only physical button on the device requires a more
fundamental change than "three gestures replace all you need the home button
for" though.

~~~
Raphael
The iPad and iPhone are closely related. If one drops the home button, then
likely the other will follow shortly.

~~~
ugh
Nah, the gestures work amazingly well on an iPad, but not at all on the
iPhone. It's too small.

------
justjimmy
Did anyone else notice (or care) about the icons shown in the picture?

Google Map for 'Where', Calendar for 'When', Keynote for 'How' and iPad itself
for 'What'. Just missing the Apple logo for 'Who'~

~~~
sylvinus
they usually embed little cues like this in their product announcements

------
mayoff
It doesn't have to be iPad 3. It could be iPad 2S.

~~~
InclinedPlane
They're ditching the iPad name, this'll be the Newton.next.

------
nod
Anyone care to do an analysis of the pixel density underneath that finger?

~~~
wmeredith
It's a retina display.

------
dr_
while I look forward to a retina display iPad, I think people are reading too
much into the touch portion. The event description itself does not say
anything about the iPad, so the touch hint probably refers to the fact that
the event is about one of their touch devices, which we presume is the next
iPad.

------
morsch
So it's settled, 300+ppi display _and_ haptic feedback, then? That would be
pretty breathtaking.

~~~
tvon
Haptic feedback would be great but there hasn't been any evidence of the
feature existing.

------
planb
The Maps icon in the dock might be a hint that Apple is finally moving away
from Google maps - though this would be a better fit for the next iPhone.

~~~
timothya
That matches the current icon and label for Maps on iPad.

~~~
planb
Yes, but Apple never shows the Maps icon in the dock of the iPad in PR
photography.

~~~
martingordon
Yes, but I think it's more to indicate that you have to go somewhere [Maps] on
Wednesday the 7th [Calendar] for a presentation [Keynote].

The "Let's Talk iPhone" invitation used the Calendar/Clock/Maps/Phone
application icons to present the same concept:
[http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/03/apples-lets-talk-
iphone-e...](http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/03/apples-lets-talk-iphone-event-
is-tomorrow-get-your-livebl/)

------
bwarp
It'll be another ceremony. A parade of metal and glass. A celebration of our
supposed progress. Another device for consumption. A window into a walled
world. Another false need. Another life not really improved despite their
insistence that it is

Please at least spare a thought for those around the world who are too busy
trying to stay alive on this day to worry about a new monolith to worship.

I like technology, but I'm a human first.

~~~
tvon
I think that may be a bit over-the-top...

~~~
bwarp
Possibly, but isn't the entire carnival of Apple the same?

Tell me which bit of my post was not factual?

~~~
tvon
Which bit was not factual? There isn't a single factual statement in there
except in the most absurdly pedantic sense, it's all mocking hyperbole.

