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Asus Insider Claims Apple Tablet Is Real

CaptainCrunchyApple writes "According to cnet.co.uk the oft-rumoured Apple Tablet PC is actually very real, and on its way soon. CNET claims to have spoken to an anonymous tipster at Asus who claims to be working with Apple to produce the tablet. 'We're guessing it'll be based on Intel Core architecture, a tweaked version of Leopard, and have all the multi-touch, CoverFlow goodness we've seen in the iPhone and iPod touch. All this begs the question: Can Apple turn the Tablet PC into a success when previous attempts have failed? The short answer is 'yes'. Any company that can make a mobile phone with no buttons, no picture messaging, slow Web access and no video capture into the most desirable phone on the planet can easily make tablets popular.'"

19 of 358 comments (clear)

  1. Nifty. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Tablet PC's have been cornered by Windows for a while now, it'll be nice to see some competition in the market.

    1. Re:Nifty. by djh101010 · · Score: 1, Insightful

      I'm not trolling, I swear. It was (is?) lacking a native SDK, GPS, the ability to be unlocked. It most definitely is not lacking a price :) Maybe you're not trolling, but you're pretty much completely wrong. There has been a third party SDK out for months, and ditto for unlocking them. Go to eBay and enter "unlocked iPhone" if you need confirmation on that. I've got 4 screens of icons on mine, so I'm thinking the third party apps either exist, or I'm hallucinating. GPS, yeah, not the satellite type, but there's one which triangulates where you are from cellphone towers and WIFI hotspots around you (kind of how LORAN works) and is pretty much spot-on for urban areas at least. Google for "Navizon GPS" for details on that. But yeah, that's one of those third party apps that you have to unjail the phone (a one-step process that anyone can follow) and someone had to write using some sort of SDK.

      Point is, if you don't like the thing, fine, but if you're doing so out of ignorance then it's a distorted view. And if you're intentionally distorting reality, well then, not real likely to work in a group where lots of us know the subject matter.
    2. Re:Nifty. by dave420 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I should have been more specific. I'm talking about officially-supported unlocking, and an officially-supported SDK. So you can keep your phone under warranty and not have to wait for hacks to use your own SIM or applications. You're not hallucinating, you simply don't make the distinction between official and unofficial.

      As for GPS, cell triangulation is NOT GPS. Considering there are phones out there with actual bona fide GPS in them, having to use a rough technology like cell triangulation seems a bit cheap.

      I'm not disliking it out of ignorance. Not having an official SDK or an official unlocking method, which can leave your phone inoperable with the latest firmware, is a show-stopper.

    3. Re:Nifty. by djh101010 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I should have been more specific. I'm talking about officially-supported unlocking, and an officially-supported SDK. So you can keep your phone under warranty and not have to wait for hacks to use your own SIM or applications. The contractual reasons for not having officially-supported unlocking are well known. And I have to mention that my Treo 600 was locked to Verizon, I couldn't use it with any other service provider. Oh, and there was no SIM card that I could access, and the battery also wasn't user-replacable, just for the record. The officially supported SDK comes out in January or so, if you don't want to use the third party one that's been out for months already.

      You're not hallucinating, you simply don't make the distinction between official and unofficial.
      You're right, it doesn't matter to me whose sdk is used to write third-party apps for my iPhone. Why should it?


      As for GPS, cell triangulation is NOT GPS. Considering there are phones out there with actual bona fide GPS in them, having to use a rough technology like cell triangulation seems a bit cheap.
      Fair enough - works more than well enough for me where I live, maybe I'm supposed to be bothered that it's coming from cellphone tower locations instead of time shifts measured from geosynchronous orbit but, functions the same from my perspective. And even if it didn't exist, that lack of one minor feature is more than made up for by the usability of the rest of the iPhone.

      I'm not disliking it out of ignorance. Not having an official SDK or an official unlocking method, which can leave your phone inoperable with the latest firmware, is a show-stopper. Ah, so you _are_ intentionally distorting facts. Because this latest is quite a backpedal from your initial points that it couldn't be unlocked and had no SDK.
  2. Previous Attempts?!?! by iknownuttin · · Score: 5, Insightful
    All this begs the question: Can Apple turn the Tablet PC into a success when previous attempts have failed?

    The link they give goes to an article about the Newton. I don't mean to be pedantic, but comparing a PDA to a Tablet?

    --
    I prefer Flambe as apposed flamebait.
  3. I just don't see it... by ZipprHead · · Score: 2, Insightful

    OK, Microsoft's tablet PC failed because it was awkward, heavy and ugly. The whole swivel keyboard thing was just plain awkward the touch screen wasn't up to snuff.

    I'm sure Apple will have solved the touch screen, keyboard and attractiveness issues, but I just don't see how they'll get around the weight.

    No one wants to wear their wrists out holding up something to read it.

    1. Re:I just don't see it... by UnknowingFool · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'm sure Apple will have solved the touch screen, keyboard and attractiveness issues, but I just don't see how they'll get around the weight.

      Apple will probably focus on this aspect unlike other manufacturers, as Apple has a tendency to work on form and function. Other manufacturers don't go the extra mile to do both. After all, the first iPod was considerably smaller than the Nomad.

      --
      Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
    2. Re:I just don't see it... by dave420 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It didn't fail in the slightest. The swivel keyboard is optional, and is a way to turn a notebook into a tablet. It's not forced on people. You don't buy a nice slimline tablet and Bill Gates turns up on your doorstep threatening your dog with a shotgun, screaming until you swap out your tablet for a notebook/tablet hybrid. Funnily enough, people want those machines, hence them being available to the public. Some folks like being able to draw using a pen on a tablet they hold, and also like using it as a notebook. Some just like the tablet-only computers that don't have a keyboard, which weigh considerably lighter, and run all office software you can shake a stick at. But please don't let facts get in the way - you were on a roll.

    3. Re:I just don't see it... by compro01 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      i personally like the swivel bit. there're a lot of times when i need a keyboard or a write-on screen and that seems to be to be the most elegant method for it, rather than having to lug around an external keyboard, plus a way to prop up the tablet or use a OSK (which is too damn slow).

      though i agree that weight is an issue. perhaps solid-state drives and ultracaps replacing the battery would help for that.

      --
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  4. Apple Tablet WAS real by alta · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Unfortunatly, ASUS will now suffer the Wrath of Jobs. This won't be the first time Jobs nixed a product because some dumbass at the company making it spilled the beans. Someone refresh my memory, when was the last time this happened? Was it the ZFS debacle? I think it happened before that with some hardware once as well...

    Thanks to this anonymous poster, we'll never see the rumored Apple Tablet. Thanks

    --
    Do not meddle in the affairs of sysadmins, for they are subtle, and quick to anger.
    1. Re:Apple Tablet WAS real by poopdeville · · Score: 2, Insightful

      ZFS wasn't excluded because of a leak. It was excluded because there were problems with the kernel extensions and it was holding up Leopard. This is why Leopard was delayed. ZFS is coming soon to an Mac near you.

      ATI got slapped by Jobs a few months ago: http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/17800/139/

      --
      After all, I am strangely colored.
  5. Re:If it sells by Yahweh+Doesn't+Exist · · Score: 4, Insightful

    what's with all the hate?

    why care SO much that you HOPE people end up being unhappy? don't you worry there's something wrong with you?

    plus your Apple tax thing is clear BS since you only pay Apple money if you buy Apple products. that's not a 'tax', it's a 'cost' or 'price'. the more you know!

  6. Why can't we have news without the comentary by jellomizer · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Any company that can make a mobile phone with no buttons, no picture messaging, slow Web access and no video capture into the most desirable phone on the planet can easily make tablets popular.

    Gee that doesn't sound weighted.
    The No buttons is actually its selling point, not a disadvantage.
    Slow Web Access or less battery life? Ill choose Slow Web Access... Btw the reason for the WiFi support is to speed up web access, for most locations that people will be actually using the phone for web access... At Work, in Cafe, home... They would only use the Cell phone when they are on the road and normally they just need to do some rather low bandwidth things...
    Video Capture. I guess that would be a nice feature, but being that I almost never even use the camera on my current phone video seems less likely. Video can take a lot of space really fast. Plus using a cell phone you are often in places with bad lighting anyways.

    No the iPhone isn't perfect I looked at one at the apple store and I was mostly unimpressed with it. It felt slow and sluggish. It had a nice design I would wait for Gen 2 or 3 perhaps...

    --
    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
  7. Fine, but Apple's handwriting recognition sucks! by TomorrowPlusX · · Score: 4, Insightful

    As much as I'm a "loyal" Apple user ( I came from linux, and I do love OS X ) I will say flat out that Microsoft's handwriting input is years ahead of Apple's. Microsoft has thoroughly integrated it, with very impressive recognition and overall it *feels* right, like MS really put a lot of love into it.

    As it stands today, "Ink", Apple's handwriting interface leaves a lot to be desired. In principle, it's nicely done. A good sort of floating scratch pad which you can write on, which will insert into the active doc. But, the quality of the handwriting recognition is pretty poor. God knows Apple has the resources to do this right. I'm sure there's a lot of left over experience from Newton ( if Jobs didn't fire all of those guys ), but as it stands, if Apple released a tablet with Ink it would be useless for anything but consuming media.

    Frankly, I don't want to consume media. I want to use a computer, and a tablet is a nice form factor. I know I'd never write code on a tablet, but I'd like to think I *could*. I used to sketch out prototype algorithms using graffiti on a palm ( which I'd later edit/compile/etc on my desktop ), it was a nice thing to be able to do. What I don't want is a real computer which is so hobbled by bad input that it's only good for music, internet and video.

    Seems to me Apple *could* do it... but who knows. Microsoft pulled it off, so, let's let competition bloom!

    --

    lorem ipsum, dolor sit amet
  8. ...the most desirable phone on the planet .... ? by YeeHaW_Jelte · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Not in my corner of the world, nor in any of the other places I've been to recently, bar the US.

    --

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    "The chances of a demonic possession spreading are remote -- relax."
  9. nice bitter characterization of apple by 2ms · · Score: 2, Insightful

    What are the reasons (according to the news item submitter) the iPhone would be a miserable failure if not for Apple's usual getting away with murder tricking the consumer into buying inferior products? The fact that it doesn't have buttons, picture messaging and video? Is that supposed to be a joke?

    The phone has way-faster-than-3G wi-fi instead of the difference in speed between Edge and 3G. As a bonus, it doesn't have practically half it's current battery life the way it would if were 3G. Fact: right now 3G phones universally have poor battery life.

  10. Re:Tablet PC a failure? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    "Technically Apple can just stamp their logo on toilet seats and it will sell well."

    Interesting. Why do you imagine that is?

    1) Is is because Apple is a well known brand? Microsoft is better known, so does the Zune outsell the iPod?

    2) Is it because they have a reputation for making outstanding products when actually all they make is shit? So how did they get that reputation?

    3) Is it because Macintosh fanboys secretly outnumber Windows users, even though all statistics clearly indicate that Apple only has between 1 and 5% OS market penetration?

    4) Or is it because everyone knows that Apple would only put their brand on a toilet seat if it's the best damn toilet seat that money can buy?

  11. Business 101 by Space+cowboy · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's not stupid at all. Apple make a huge impact every time they release something major - far and away more than any of their rivals. There's a direct relationship between the secrecy of the company and the buzz for a release, which translates into a *lot* of cash in sales. One of the reasons the iPhone was themost successful consumer product launch in history is the control over information that Apple exerts.

    When the benefits are measured in billions of dollars, it makes perfect sense to implement the policy that Apple does. Sure it's an easy shot to blame it on Steve's ego, but it looks like a cold blooded business decision to me.

    Simon

    --
    Physicists get Hadrons!
  12. Re:I'll believe it... by petermgreen · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Changing the arrangement of components on a motherboard is NOT trivial. A motherboard has a huge number of tracks many of which are carrying very high speed signals and therefore have special routing requirements. If you move the components arround you have to re-route everything.

    Integrated design is what makes the mac pro such a nice machine. Through custom layout apple has tamed the heat output from intel server grade hardware without making sever like levels of noise.

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