Apple Tablet PC is real, says Asus

AnonymousTue 6 November, 2007 1:14pm

Or ...google MODbook ;)

AnonymousTue 6 November, 2007 6:53pm

I have two ideas to purpose base on the picture, in-particularly. To my understanding Jobs Hates the stylus. Though a Tablet Mac would probably allow for one due to writing/drawing purposes it would seem to me that that would not be it and it would not be designed around the idea of a stylus but the touch interface. Secondly if it is based on Leopard why does it look like it is it running 10.4? Even as a test model if they would be basing it on a beta version of 10.5. I didn't run a beta but from all verifiably real screenshots the new dock was in it. This would have to be a very old beta picture or not running 10.5 as claimed...

IntriguedTue 6 November, 2007 4:06pm

You have to wonder at the source's motivation for giving Crave this information. If it's true, then it seems a bit like corporate suicide. We all know how much Jobs hates others giving away his surprises (witness the recent treatment of the ZFS guys).

Might this just be false info in an attempt at some kind of stock manipulation? It makes more sense than Asus simply wanting to anger Apple.

AnonymousTue 6 November, 2007 4:41pm

For god's sake. It doesn't "beg the question." Normal people might not know this, but writers and journalists should.

AnonymousTue 6 November, 2007 4:49pm

The Apple marketing machine is very successful in creating product enthusiasm (even hysteria) long before the release dates. A 'leak' of this sort may simply be a component of Apple's pre-release marketing campaign.

Disinformation or a clever attempt at creating product hype -- only time will tell.

D.RayTue 6 November, 2007 5:07pm

I seriously doubt this is accurate. Every manufacturer on the planet knows better than to risk Apple's wrath by letting *any* information slip about an upcoming product. Just ask ATI.

If this is accurate, Asus will probably see Apple taking their business to Quanta, or another mfg.

Nick HideTue 6 November, 2007 5:12pm

Thanks, 'begs the question' guy. This is one of those phrases that's more often used incorrectly than correctly. Fixed.

James BaileyTue 6 November, 2007 5:23pm

If you haven't seen the new Bluetooth wireless keyboard from Apple a keyboardless tablet from Apple might seem improbable. But the new BT keyboard is tiny and very light. I can easily see it paired up with a multi-touch tablet to make a full featured laptop albeit one that is slightly less integrated than normal. For most media uses, a keyboard is not necessary. This could be interesting.

TravelfeetTue 6 November, 2007 6:53pm

With leopard’s new cover flow available in the finder for all file, (large and easily identified) and a touch screen, a Mac tablet would move that much further away from the dreaded Stylus. Anyone want to guess that Jobs is as adverse to the stylus as he is to buttons. I mean really, they are both so gauche.

Billy Bob JonesTue 6 November, 2007 7:32pm

The person who was questioning that picture seriously does not know what he/she is talking about. That's the Modbook, a tablet version of the macbook that's made by a third-party.

AnonymousTue 6 November, 2007 8:03pm

Apple and Asus know exactly what they are doing. Look how many of us tech heads just happened to read about this today.... This was a calculated (and successful) move.

AnonymousTue 6 November, 2007 8:18pm

If only... A tablet that is also a good computer would be a revelation! Usually you get either a powerful machine or a tablet. I, for one, would be very interested in a tablet Mac.

AnonymousTue 6 November, 2007 8:28pm

yeah guys, its in the pipeline for sure. I used one about a week ago, a prototype. Its also going to have the same sensors to change the screen orientation, light sensors to dim and bright the screen outside, and an express expansion slot that a revised front row remote will slip into! The proto had a flash hard drive, but the actual model will probably not.

Charles TigheTue 6 November, 2007 8:32pm

I knew this was coming for a while..
My friends were busy talking about a 7" ipod.

Apple brand consistently targets designers and the creative. Furthermore, with their recently patented pressure sensitive(measures how hard the surface is pressed) touch screens, this seems to be the natural evolution and extension of their product line.

Artists and designers will be able to draw and paint different sized strokes with levels of accuracy never seen before on a touchscreen. The less can digitize a design by tracing over a paper piece on the screen. Imagine all the Anime Asia will create on these!

Oh and dont forget that patent also finding its way to future ipods and phones(7"ers).

Apple will make use of this ability to make the ease of use and navigation through it's modified leopard to no ends.
-
ps: when .MAC finally catches up and cracks its gates a bit, we will see who the real power house in this new world is.

AnonymousTue 6 November, 2007 9:20pm

You mean, Asus *was* Apple's contract manufacturer.

AnonymousTue 6 November, 2007 10:36pm

This is just what I want - an iCrapper.

AnonymousWed 7 November, 2007 5:32am

Ooo. Are we about to see The Jobs eat crowpie again? Cos he did scoff about these tablet thingies having no market, right? I mean, why would he lie. Unless... of course, he's doing it for the consumer. He's always looking out for the rest of us, bless his multi-billionaire's heart.

thatnimrodWed 7 November, 2007 6:11am

um, you see that tablet in the picture? yeah, they already make that. with new macbook pros. why would apple suddenly decide a previously "too small" market would be worth another shot? well, they have changed their minds before, but, really? anyway, check out axiotron.com for the only TabletMac™

Joshua AltmanshoferWed 7 November, 2007 10:07am

One thing I've always wondered but that rarely (so far as I've seen) get mentioned in the whole "Will Apple build a tablet" debate is the role of Pixar in all of this. You know they use tons of Apple stuff at Pixar and also (probably) tons of tablets. The Pixar crew has to be hollering at their former boss for one. In fact, although Apple is a consumer company first and foremost, I'm really surprised a tablet has never been developed, even in house for Pixar. It seems like Apple could make a big dent in this one market of business without going corporate or enterprise. Anyway if anybody knows of places where this has been written about I'd love a link. I know both companies are notoriously hush hush. I'm also curious about any cross pollination between the companies in software development if anyone knows anything. Thanks.

AnonymousWed 7 November, 2007 10:51am

I just have to take you to task on your iPhone 'summary' there - it's more than a little disingenuous:

"no buttons" - except the home, sleep, volume and mute buttons you mean ?

"no picture messaging" - -cough- email -cough-. Or would you seriously rather pony up for MMS when you could send a photo by email FOR FREE ?

"slow Web access" - 802.11g is slow ? SLOW ?

(yes, ok, I know you're talking about GPRS. But like I said, is disingenuous).

An Apple tablet ? Hmm. If it's real I think it'll be more iPhone+ than MacBook Lite.

AnonymousThu 8 November, 2007 1:49am

I have no clue if this rumor is correct or motivated by nefarious goals. But I would love to have a tablet mac. I have a table Windows machine, and it's ok-- but I have it only for the Windows Journal and OneNote capabilities. To combine workable screen writing (and by that I don't mean the "ink" plus Wacom tablet possibility (which is a pain to carry and frustrating to use) would by a joy!

AnonymousThu 8 November, 2007 5:42pm

I've been wishing for this since the first time I held an Iphone. I love my Iphone and I've always created in my mind a device 4x-6x the size of the Iphone with all the functionalities of a laptop. I currently have a 13.3" Sony laptop and I've been converted to love Apple products after experiencing the iPhone ... I'm just waiting for a device to replace my laptop that possess the iPhone magic.

AnonymousThu 8 November, 2007 9:50pm

A tablet PC that worked like the iPhone or iPod Touch and had the reliability of a Mac would be a godsend in my line of work. Even more so if it was ruggedized.

AnonymousSat 10 November, 2007 8:46am

If they do come out with a tablet I hope it resembles the iPhone. As for it's power it better not be a paired down laptop because as an artist/ illustrator I must have speed to produce work effectively. Also, I hope they include the manual option to keep the screen orientation locked in either portrait or landscape position because alot of us like to turn our work as we draw or paint. (sometimes even upside down)
Pressure sensitivity is a must also because if it doesn't at least match a Wacom they're sunk. I would NOT buy into it unless it surpassed other available options. (and most likely cheaper options)
It's a hefty list of things to "one up", but if anyone can do it Apple can. I just hope they will.

AnonymousWed 14 November, 2007 6:36pm

I almost wished that this is not real. I am hoping that Apple will release a new MackBook Pro some time soon, but if they are making the Tablet, then.........

AnonymousFri 16 November, 2007 8:13pm

I would be more excited by this if it were a convertable tablet. I've got a Gateway and it's nice to be able to quickly switch from tablet to keyboard mode. Had Apple offered a similar platform, I would have SERIOUSLY considered going with them instead.

AnonymousSat 17 November, 2007 2:04pm

First of all, that picture is of a macbook + tablet creation displayed earlier this year, possibly at mac world, but it was made with a macbook and mods basically, this photo was also in some mac magazines. Any way, i think NOT have a swivel screen is retarted. Apple could literaly pwn every pc manufacturer if they produced a machine that was fast, small "13 is fine be 12 or smaller is better" , 5 hour batt or better, swivel screen with full touch (both finger and stylus , the computer should be able to recognize either or..). That coupled with what ever the macbooks have now, and you have a perfect machine. Price it at 1699-1999 (apple pricing not mine ;-D ) and there you go, the best apple notebook ever created. (must have multi touch or NO!) hehehe

AnonymousSun 25 November, 2007 7:59am

that picture is with a stylus and 10.4 because it is a "modbook"
its simply a 3rd party macbook where they chop off the keyboard
and install a different screen to create a tablet.

however, in my opinion, i believe apple will create their tablets with
the OS that the iTouches and iPhones run on with the tilt sensitivity combined with leopard, cant wait to see what they
really do though

technoprophetSat 1 December, 2007 12:14pm

Look -- the macro scale, the large scale, the history and the future has the idea of apple eventually making a hopefully standard setting tablet PC. I even think that you might see some support from Bill gates who still prefers tablet PCs. The main reason that one has not happened sooner is that several key technologies would make a touch and stylus tablet that most people would expect from an apple branded product either needed to be perfected to a higher level or in other cases to be out in larger number so putting them into components like a tablet would not make the tablet a super expensive device. for example the ability to put in multiple gigs of flash ram. the new reliable and very high capacity tiny or atleast quite smal haaard drives. Also it has always been hard to make a durable touch pad that is also a very high quality monitor. The other thing is that Apple would want the OS to have many features it now has. Things like quick look, so you can sort through and look at your stuff, and cover flow as a way to search through folders, imagine those features and how much More useful they will be on a touch screen. the other thing is the continuing poliferation good quality wireless broadband which incidentally the US is in many way behind other countries in bandwidth availability for cheap. so this product wil work even better in their foreign markets. imagine reading multimedia books which Amazon is already starting to dip their feet into this market. taking a video conference using the new ichat and I have had a chance to look at the more popular apps on the tablet PCs and several of them are very very cool. In my humble opinion I can see 5 form factors with the average person having 3 and the average family posibly having 4 or 5 depending on their digitalness. you have you hand held Iphone like device that does what iphone does plus other exciting things, Apple has annnounced the release of a soft ware developers kit in february to make third party apps. the cellphone sized form, the tablet size and then the kids have their lap tops and the house may have a decktop version that is for more memory intensive and more precious items that you do not want to lose like paid for digital moveies and tv shoes and personal generated media. and then their will be the smarter TV which wil be in some way tied into a media center or some that wil come with media center in it. I find i love to watch tv with my lap top next to me while in the living room. someone just said something i had never heard before -- I google it and boom
but anyway -- I believe the tablet PC and increasing use of audio input to are all part of the larger plan of the digital life style and the technology is either their or almot there for some big solutions to happen. why else do you think that Microsoft wanted to demonstrate its surface coffee table computer, which by the way is not the first or the coolest one - but it is one that since its being sold (though not much) and its been announced -- it makes sure that copyright and our marketshare rights have been establised. So I dunno when but I hope this article is right and when is now -- because apples needs to have that form factor for touch screen technolgy working ASAP. I personally will be very interested in it and Mac can go dig in its old technology archives and see what they have from newton days that they can use adapt or update -- anyway. heres to the future with mutilple friendly ways of inputing and getting data from a computer in several freindly form factors .. I personally love my necklace TV and stereo (ipod nano on necklace case I weare under my shirt and when I am bored I just dig it out. but a wifi enable talbet is well just cultur changing and exciting

AnonymousTue 8 January, 2008 2:55am

I am an illustrator and animator and can say I have been waiting for, and dreaming of, a Mac tablet since before tablets existed.
One thing that would be difficult is that the artists would not want the device to be solely touch sensitive - it has to allow for our hands to rest on the screen while using some for of stylus or such to draw. It would be rather difficult to create my art with fingers alone.
The other device this brings to mind is the Amazon Kindle and all the others like it. There have been digital book readers before but just like MP3 players that predated the iPod Apple always takes something previously existing and changes it from something ugly and unwieldy to something that is beautiful and works. The digital book reader would be so easy to make after already solving all the issues of an Apple tablet that I could not imagine not seeing it. I will buy a tablet as soon as it comes out...
..er, maybe version 2

AnonymousThu 10 January, 2008 2:03pm

so any new on release dates im dieing hear people

AnonymousTue 15 January, 2008 3:29pm

test

AnonymousFri 25 January, 2008 11:21am

Hi,

I'm Steve jobs and I'd like to thank all of you for your comments. As you know it is notoriously difficult to get busy IT and creative professionals to answer email and telephone surveys, especially when they have to be conducted by third party market research companies to protect our product secrecy.

That's why we engineer these phoney toe-in-the-water pre-launches. Once we've dropped a rumour through a trusted supplier, we can just monitor the chat groups and get all the marketing dope we need for free. We only get involved and engaged comment from committed users - the kind who blank survey firms - and no-one slams any phones down on anyone.

It's as elegant as all hell, no?

Anyway, thanks again and please look out for the next rumor to comment on. Why did you think we're SO secretive about everything anyway?

Ciao, my people,

Steve.

AnonymousTue 29 April, 2008 10:33am

These things are great i own one and they are wicked