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Larger iPod Touch In Apple's Future?
Posted by
samzenpus
on Thu Jan 01, 2009 12:52 AM
from the is-there-heat-in-taco's-future dept.
from the is-there-heat-in-taco's-future dept.
Ender_Stonebender writes "TechCrunch is reporting that three independent sources have mentioned to them a large form factor version of the iPod Touch, with either a 7- or 9-inch screen, to be released fall of 2009. The device is expected to have access to the iTunes App Store. Beyond that, everything about it appears to be pure speculation."
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7 or 9 inch iPhones (Score:2, Funny)
Re:7 or 9 inch iPhones (Score:5, Interesting)
Seriously, I look stupid enough holding a normal phone to my ear.
I just don't see the value of a larger iPod touch. The point of the touch is that it (a) shares apps with the iPhone and (b) fits in a pocket. This would do neither.
A slate-type tablet Mac, if it could run full desktop apps, would have some value. But not if it was crippled to run iPhone apps on a bigger screen.
Parent
Re:7 or 9 inch iPhones (Score:4, Insightful)
Now, personally, I'd be a bit surprised by Apple building a much larger device that takes iPhone apps, because introducing two completely different screen sizes to that niche would play aesthetic hell with existing apps and possibly result in an unpleasant bifurcation of that market. Apple, though, seems quite fond of the "all your apps are approved by us" concept, so I strongly doubt that anything smaller than one of their existing computers is not going to be getting open platform treatment.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
I think a faster smaller iPod Touch might put a large dent into the sub-notebook market. All Apple has to do is give it's iPod Touch a better keyboard, more speed and more battery life, hence the larger size.
Re:7 or 9 inch iPhones (Score:5, Interesting)
You are assuming this will be a music player.
I spueculate this will be an e-ink ereader. Perhaps iTunes will start selling newspapers subscriptions and books. They sell music, movies anyways, might as well tackle the next medium.
Good for apple. I like their competence at UI. The ereaders now, like the iRex DR1000S are often panned as being more prototypes than finished products.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
I can't imagine Apple making an e-ink product unless it were full-color -- but if they did do that, it'd be pretty awesome!
(I would want it to have a Wacom digitizer too, like the iRex iLiad.)
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So yeah. The (small) ebook reader industry could certainly use the boot up the arse that Apple would give, and it might even get
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http://9to5mac.com/iwork-going-cloud [9to5mac.com]
"We just got a truckload of Macworld information dumped on us from our best source. As we piece it together we'll trickle it out. The first big piece of information is that iWork is going into the Cloud. Not just storage, either. We are talking interface for Numbers, Pages and Keynote (which is going to see some interesting new templates and transition additions). Yes, the iWork
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Products fit form factors (Score:2)
There's an "average" laptop size that's a pretty damned good mix between size, cost, usability, and portability. In my current laptop, I decided to go for the wider screen and bigger laptop [notebookreview.com], and I don't like it as much as my smaller, lighter, "standard" sized previous model. (a Dell 600m [cnet.com]) While I've seen much smaller laptops, I figure they are probably in much the same camp as my larger, heavier, more annoying laptop - they deviate from a standard size that has proven to be an awfully good set of compromis
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
It's the return of the '80s.
The brickphone is making a comeback.
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Re:7 or 9 inch iPhones (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
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Larger iPod? I want more GB (Score:2)
Would it be so hard to allow you to pay a fee for Apple to fit your iPod classic with a bigger hard drive? It can't be harder than refurbishing one, no? With the increased sales of videos and movies, I imagine more people will run into the problem of "space".
iBook (Score:4, Interesting)
Sounds to me like it has the potential to take up the name iBook. At that size of screen, it may be marginally useful as an ebook reader.
PDF reader, please.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
even a 3.8" vga screen is already useful for reading ebooks. pdf sucks as ebook format, though.
Further speculation (Score:3, Interesting)
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so it is like a simpad [tabletpccorner.net], only with modern hardware. how very innovative.
Stating the obvious (Score:5, Funny)
at first blush, no, but then... (Score:4, Insightful)
When I think about how Jobs operates, I think maybe yeah. Here's the reasoning:
Jobs hears people cry out for the 'xMac', and we get the Mac mini, way too small to be what people wanted (ridiculous expansion, so small in requires more expensive laptop-class components, etc.)
Jobs hears people cry out for the return of the 12-inch Macbook Pro form factor, and we get the MacBook Air, so slim and badly-realized that it lacks essential ports on the back (even though it's big enough to fit them).
Jobs hears people cry out for a netbook-class machine, and we get a MID.
So I'm thinkin' yeah, because it's exactly what people aren't asking for. That's my 2009 prediction! :)
As another poster said, this formfactor would be great to take up the iBook name. Either that or the return of the Newton. Well, the iNewton. Or i(of)Newt. Something along those lines, I'm sure.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Jobs hears people cry out for the 'xMac', and we get the Mac mini, way too small to be what people wanted (ridiculous expansion, so small in requires more expensive laptop-class components, etc.)
I rather like my mini, though. Sure, it has less oomph than a "full size" machine, but it's not too expensive, it has a small desk footprint, and it runs silent. I don't care about not being able to cram in 346 PCI cards, USB works for an increasing range of products nowadays.
Part of the charm of Apple is that they don't follow the market. The fact that every computer maker is making underpowered netbooks nowadays doesn't mean Apple will do the same, unless they can find a way to get it right. They're not g
Re:at first blush, no, but then... (Score:4, Funny)
I hate to say it, but... "MacPad".
Nah, that's being reserved for their inevitable line of feminine hygiene products. "Bleed Different."
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Maybe "MacPod"?
Zune bug sim? (Score:3, Funny)
I don't see it (Score:3, Insightful)
The tablet form factor never worked out well for the PC, and the rising netbook segment is more about cost than anything. Possibly some form of netbook that also offered a touch screen, that I could possibly see...
One stumbling block though is that even with access to the App Store, apps would have to be re-tooled to be able to take advantage of a larger screen.
Re:I don't see it (Score:5, Interesting)
No no no.
AppStore items run in the Dashboard or as small programs.
It's a secret 10.6 feature.
Doubt me? It's a perfect way for apple to monetize the Dashboard.
Multitouch will probably be simulated by holding down a keyboard button.
--r
Parent
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Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
As someone who used to need a clip board for work frequently, I always pined for a tablet. That is, until I held one and tried to work with it for a day. Software and usage was clunky, and the weight was just too much to hold and take notes for several hours. There really wasn't a net benefit to using it over transcribing notes back at the office.
The initial rise in netbooks might have been about cost, but the next big driver will be in people that need to actually lug their laptop around all the time wh
Apple is going to have a hell of a lot more (Score:4, Interesting)
To worry about if OSNews [osnews.com] and Gizmodo [gizmodo.com] are right. The company has built up the "cult of Jobs" over the years to almost mythic status, and if they are right and Steve Jobs is dying and isn't long for this world the stock price is going down the crapper.
While you,I,and the guys here at Slashdot know that one guys does not a company make, too many of the press and public have built up the "Steve=Apple" mythos and it will slaughter their stock price. They should have been diffusing this for years instead of milking it to add to the "Apple Cool" branding. The only way I can see them not getting blasted all to hell in the market if Steve is really dying is to bring back the Woz to keep the mythos lovers happy while they have him "groom" a successor to the throne. Otherwise 2009 could mean some seriously bad times for Apple ahead.
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I love Woz to death, but if Jobs gets hit by a bus and they install Woz as chairman/CEO, I will spend my sainted mother's last dime shorting AAPL.
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Re:Apple is going to have a hell of a lot more (Score:4, Insightful)
Parent
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The removal of the keynote is a troubling sign - not for Jobs' health but rather his future with the company. The launch of the unibodies was unprecedented in how much face-time the other execs got vs. how little Jobs got, and there's no reason Jobs would do such a thing except to roll out the carpet for his own departure.
I have no doubt about it, Apple needs a personality figurehead like Jobs. Ive isn't it, God knows Schiller isn't it... who is?
Living Autopsy (Score:2)
Mr Jobs had a "Whipple", an operation best described as a living autopsy. Most of his GI system has been removed. He is also a pancreatic cancer survivor (albeit a neuroendocrine-derived neoplasm). I'd call that more than a little "health thing"
a living autopsy? (Score:3, Insightful)
Hysterical and/or prone to using overly emotional turns of phrase much?
A "whipple" is best described as a major surgical intervention intended to reduce the risk of mortality from cancer, because unlike "living autopsy," it's at least a little bit accurate. An autopsy is a examination to determine cause of death or extent of disease - a living autopsy would be an exploratory surgery.
i gladly would (Score:2)
i would buy one if it was larger and a kindle-done-right device assuming the battery life wasn't stupid.
Mmm, pixelly resolution goodness... (Score:4, Insightful)
"The difference now is the iTunes app store, which has thousands of games and other applications that are perfect for a touch screen device with an accelerometer."
No. The app has thousands of games and other applications that display 480x320 which looks great on a 3.5 inch screen.
At 163ppi, they look great.
Run those same resolutions on a screen with 2x (7 inch) or 2.5x (9 inch) resolution and you're looking at 60-80ppi of massively pixelated crap.
A 9 inch touchscreen with iPhone/iPod touch style OS-X and the same 163ppi resolution makes for a really interesting alternative to the netbook market. Stop hobbling the bluetooth so you can use their bluetooth keyboard when you want to type a lot and it's a fascinating package.
But the app store's catalog remains completely useless unless they come up with a way for resolution to upscale. Granted, I've not written anything for it, but I'm guessing most apps are written with a 480x320 assumption and no scaling, no multi-resolution icons, graphics, etc. bundled in to the downloads, etc. Apple would need to get the means for updating apps to support that out to developers way in advance of a larger Touch release if they wanted the app store to carry any value beyond to show off how bad apps could look... something that would harm the reputation of the device far more than help it.
Re:Mmm, pixelly resolution goodness... (Score:5, Insightful)
But the app store's catalog remains completely useless unless they come up with a way for resolution to upscale. Granted, I've not written anything for it, but I'm guessing most apps are written with a 480x320 assumption and no scaling, no multi-resolution icons, graphics, etc. bundled in to the downloads, etc. Apple would need to get the means for updating apps to support that out to developers way in advance of a larger Touch release if they wanted the app store to carry any value beyond to show off how bad apps could look... something that would harm the reputation of the device far more than help it.
By default apps are laid out with buttons etc tied to one edge in interface builder and sometimes with flexible spaces in between, so interfaces would just expand. They'd probably need a bit of tweaking but not as much as you imply.
Games would be the main area which might have problems if they assume a certain screen width or need to upsize their textures. If they do this right and pre-announce then give developers a few months lead time, they could easily get most content from the app store working at a higher resolution.
Take the example of the google maps app - toolbars at top and bottom will just be wider, with bigger gaps between buttons. Perhaps they could move some stuff from that god-awful miscellany page accessed with the little page curl onto the main toolbar, but otherwise, it would function perfectly well, just drawing more map at a time. They're unlikely to have hardcoded in screen-sizes, because you can ask for the screen size, and often the view is given a rect to draw into, rather than specifically requesting a rect. Buttons on the auxiliary functions screen might be too wide, depending on how they have them set - probably not though.
Or take the mail app - the mail rows would just be a bit wider, probably the same height and just showing more in the screen. Toolbars and nabar will just expand and have more blank space.
That's with no extra work on the developers' part - these apps would work pretty well, with only a few minor tweaks required depending on how they're set up.
This isn't such a big issue if the transition is handled right.
Some have claimed resolution issues mean iPhoneOS and UIxxx won't be used for a tablet , and they'd have to use OS X and AppKit, but I think UIKit shows signs of being flexible enough to cope with many screen sizes - most of it could be used fine on a desktop OS and reads like a clean-up of the desktop APIs (it may be that later cocoa is relegated to a compatability layer, along with all those other APIs before it).
The really important feature for a tablet would be reading - reading websites, reading email, reading newspapers (though those are really a subset of websites nowadays), and reading books. I'd buy it just for that, but it worries me that Apple would try to be the single gatekeeper for data as Amazon have done with the Kindle.
If they keep to an iTunes music model of allowing users to copy their own books on there via iTunes, and tie in with someone like gutenberg for classics, they could have this sewn up in no time. But I'd rather they just opened it up and let developers copy data into their sandbox - then we won't be stuck with one app for a vital function (mail.app, I'm looking at you).
The big thing that the iPhone OS is missing at the moment is a way to get arbitrary user data onto the device for sandboxed apps - if they address that (and the bluetooth issue you mentioned), it'd be a great reading device, and perhaps even one for writing on.
Parent
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Apple shot itself in the foot with the SDK, giving devs no clear roadmap of how resolutions will scale in the future. I have absolutely no doubt that the vast majority of apps in the store as it is will go completely haywire at any other resolution, too much hardcoding.
Besides, the majority of the iPhone's UI components would not fit well onto a 7" screen even if properly upscaled. The cells for each contact in your contact list, for example, is MASSIVE for easy tapping. They would be *four times larger by
Re:Mmm, pixelly resolution goodness... (Score:4, Interesting)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
The challenge of the tablet mac is allowing iPhone and iPod applications to run, while the device itself run the normal Mac OS X WIMP interface. Not necessarily all programs, but not the PDA like interface used o
Speculation (Score:5, Insightful)
Speculation is not news and should not be on /.. The are enough Apple-centered websites with discussions like this.
Why it'll be GREAT, new input technologies (Score:5, Insightful)
The reason why it'll be really cool/great is because of the new input technologies which it'll have.
Remember, what makes Apple products unique are not their increasingly commodity hardware but the USER INTERFACE. I believe the user interface is THE major reason for the iPhone/iPod Touch's success (look at the Xmas sales figures). It is because of Apple's ability to take advantage of the touch screen and accelerometer. Not the hardware but things like the "pinch zoom" and "swipe" and landscape/portrait mode detection.
To really see how people have taken advantage of these features, play some of the many many games available for this PLATFORM.
Now Apple has (hopefully) the opportunity to take these ideas even further. A 7-9" iPod Touch would make a passable netbook; that is a decent device for doing most CASUAL computing tasks. (many complaints about the tiny "keyboard" on the iPhone would go away). Where it would excel in would be in the new applications (10,000+ strong in the AppStore, close to 500 MILLION downloads) that take REAL advantage of the new input technologies. A lot of these applications, particularly the creative ones (sound and paint programs for example) would benefit substantially from more screen real-estate. And think of the games!
So that could be Apple's answer to the netbooks. Using its (I know, I know) proprietary technologies it could bring these new technologies together in a way that is cohesive, fun and easy to use. That's the advantage of totally controlling the hardware and software. Unfortunately without this control, open source projects and (to a lesser extent) Microsoft have to aim at the lowest common denominator and can only copy what Apple pioneers.
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Bah, I call bull. Apple's *initial* success is always based on user interface. The iPhone was (and in most ways still is) at the top of the UI heap for phones, and likewise the iPod kicked the shit out of anything else on the market at the time. The keyword here is "at the time". If you look at the iPods, there have not been any significant UI improvements to it since it was first rolled out - cover flow was not even a hotly demanded feature, and seems underused by most people.
Apple uses *really really good
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
You seem to be implying that companies should change their UI frequently... Soo... I mean... MS Office 2007 is all I'm sayin'...
Seriously, when I went back to the Mac after 10 years off the platform last year, part of what I really appreciated was that so little of the UI had changed since System 8.5 that I just sat right back down, found the things that had changed since 10, and went to work. The fact that they get a great UI from the start and then leave it alone is one of the best things Apple has go
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SORRY I became A BIT of a LOUDMOUTH during this years PRESIDENTIAL election. :)
I'd rather capacity (Score:2)
Why bother with a 9" screen when you can only have a handful of movies & TV shows that can take full advantage of it?
Wake me up when they put hard drives in iTouches.
Will It Compete With TechCrunch's Own Tablet? (Score:3, Insightful)
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/07/21/we-want-a-dead-simple-web-tablet-help-us-build-it/ [techcrunch.com]
Yes, TechCrunch were making their own tablet. What happened to that, I wonder.
I love these sort of stories. Unsubstantiated rumours, speculation, hype and hope all mixed up into a story that is only a shade more believable than your average fairy tale.
The success of pundits with long-range Apple forecasts is not so much bad as utterly atrocious. I'll file this story in the "believe it only after it's announced by Apple" pile (aka garbage bin).
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