
Large Form iPod Touch To Launch in Fall ‘09 - transburgh
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/12/30/large-form-ipod-touch-to-launch-in-fall-09/
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aston
The argument that this sort of device makes sense because of the app store is
bunk, at the least. You don't take an app running on a high-resolution 3.5
inch screen and just throw it onto a screen 4x as big.

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markessien
If you read through the Apple SDK documentation for the iPhone it's stated
that the dimensions you are working with are NOT pixels. On the iPhone and
iPod, the dimensions you are working with scale 1:1 to pixels, but that you
should keep in mind the scale will be different with future devices.

So all apps will scale automatically to bigger screens. And it seems that they
planned from the start that bigger screens would come along.

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icey
This falls firmly in the "I'll believe it when I see it" category.

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fallentimes
I don't really follow consumer electronics closely so I'll ask the dumb
questions: Why's it so hard to believe? Have these flirtations happened
before?

~~~
wildwood
Oh, my, yes. People have been wanting tablets for ages, and they've especially
been wanting a tablet from Apple for ages.

It's possible that they might be able to mass produce something like this in
the $800-$1k range, given that the base MacBook Air starts at $1800. And this
would have a lot more in common, hardware-wise, with the Air than with the
Touch.

To get sufficient buyers, I think they'd have to get it down at least to the
$500-$600 range, or maybe even lower. And I don't think that will be feasible,
especially given how people would expect to use it. The screen area is 4x,
which multiplies requirements for memory and processor and network throughput
and batteries... which all still has to fit in a sexy form factor.

Still, it would be sweet. :)

~~~
jodrellblank
Why would it be sweet? What do all you people who want tablet computers want
them for?

I completely see that laptops with digitizer screens that can be turned into
tablet form factor are enhanced laptops. Laptops+. Laptops 2.0. Yet they
haven't really taken off, and nobody (except me) seems to think they're cool.

Instead people (you included) want Eric-the-half-a-laptop.

Why?

~~~
jhancock
I use the iPhone for web browsing. My wife uses it a lot for e-book reading.
It would be much better with a bigger screen. If your mostly reading with only
a little input, a tablet about the size indicated is very interesting.

~~~
jodrellblank
I also use the iPhone for web browsing, but there are scant few places where I
am all of: not at home or work _and_ didn't bring my full laptop, yet can't
manage with just an iPhone _and_ would have been willing to bring a midsized
thing _and_ wouldn't prefer device with keyboard. Which isn't to say I want an
Apple-netbook, but instead dream of an even better iPhone.

The iPhone wouldn't be better with a 7" screen; it would be at home because it
wouldn't fit in my pocket - after all, I really only want one convergence
device and that's got to be centered around my phone because a) that's the
main functional thing that I want to carry around everywhere and b) what good
is a portable device without a cellular radio these days anyway?

However, I can probably sum up my reply to:

I feel unjustifiable _angst_ that Apple might be spending some of their
limited quantities of human effort building a wretched minitablet _instead_ of
any of the iPhone improvements I want to see, therefore I don't want it to
happen, therefore I wont believe it even if trusted sources have actually held
one.

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11ren
So this is Apple's "netbook"? But sans keyboard.

Apple made a tablet PC in 1989, the _Newton_. It was attractive, but never
really took off. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Newton>

Microsoft had a _Windows XP Tablet PC Edition_ , which likewise went nowhere.

Typing is simply a _better technology_ than writing, for text entry.

~~~
pfedor
There are people who still to this day use Newton for taking notes at
meetings.

~~~
evgen
Taking notes? I still have a web server running on one of mine :)

The sad truth is that it probably wasn't until the past year or two that
PDAs/net-tablets caught up to what the Newton had in '97. It was definitely
ahead of its time, but I was sorely disappointed to wait almost a decade to
see just how far ahead of its time those little boxes really were.

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halo
This is exactly what's needed. Current tablets are clunky to use, using a
stylus is annoying and multitouch is clearly the future.

Shame that it'll probably be crippled by not having a full OS that allows the
use of arbitrary applications. The idea of owning a larger PDA doesn't really
appeal to me, so I'll probably wait for UMPC and Netbook manufacturers to
steal all the good ideas.

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alaskamiller
Here's my prediction for Fall of 2009:

Apple makes another gadget

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schoudha
Do people find the iPhone/iPod touch inadequate for browsing the web?

I can see he value of a large form iPod for digital book reading, but for
basic web consumption the netbook is the iPhone/Android (For me at least).

~~~
lallysingh
Typing decent amounts, and Flash, are important to a lot of people.

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jodrellblank
Macbook Lighter-than-Air?

A 7" screen is too big to be an iPod, so it would have to be focused around
films and apps. Yet a 7" device is pretty big to be a device with an
accelerometer and no D-pad and be used as a game controller, but not very big
to watch films on. And it would be limited as a general netbook competitor by
having no keyboard and running the limited iphone-ipod-OS.

Can they make a touchscreen so much bigger and still as good?

Would it be netbook style Intel Atom based and expensive with short battery
life and much thicker than the current ipod touch, or the same very low
powered phone/pda processor currently used? Could they make it structurally
strong if it is as thin as the iPod touch yet much bigger?

I can't see it filling any particular niche given that it would be too big to
be pocketable, too limited to be a macbook air competitor and likely not cheap
enough to stand far away from the iPhone/iPod touch/macbook.

Who would want one and what would they want to do with it?

~~~
ojbyrne
Niche? People who fly a lot. Basically the same size screen as what's on your
seatback, but completely under your control. In general when I travel I'm
almost always too lazy to drag out the Macbook Pro. Still small enough to fit
in a jacket or parachute pants type pocket.

~~~
yef
Most people who fly a lot do so for work, so they tend to use that otherwise
lost time to work rather than sit back and watch movies. Something that's good
for typing is better for work, namely a laptop or blackberry.

I'm also very skeptical about the battery life lasting long enough. Every
Apple portable device I've had has sucked battery much too fast to last on
long trips.

~~~
pfedor
The new macbooks have powerful processors so they run out of juice very fast,
but the older ones are much better. PowerBook G4 can last almost an entire
flight from CA to New York.

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vegai
Apple will fall on its face because nobody will want luxurious computergadgets
in '09.

