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Larger iPod Touch In Apple's Future?
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."
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.
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.
Give a man fire, and you warm him for the night. Set a man on fire, and you warm him for the rest of his life.
Let's speculate further. It's not an iPod Touch. It's a combination between a Tablet PC (or more correctly a Tablet Mac) and a n*tbook, but without a hinge or mechanical keyboard.
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.
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
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.)
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
To worry about if OSNews and Gizmodo 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.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
Actually, the SDK is quite specific that you *shouldn't* hardcode screen resolutions, and provides methods to call to get the current dimensions of the screen. Obviously more advanced programs will need a rewrite - particularly games and other graphic intensive apps - but many more mundane applications already scale between two resolutions (horizontal and vertical positioning).
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 who only use fairly basic software.
While I am sure Apple could find some way to innovate to make a 7-9" slate computer attractive to consumers, I have a hard time understanding how it would work with an iPod class device where portability (and pocketability) is paramount. Without the options for standard connectivity-- bluetooth stack that supports computer functions, standard USB and display ports, ethernet... I can't see it work as a "laptop replacement" or even a "blackberry replacement".
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.
Massively pixelated crap... like the 100 PPI monitors commonly found on desktops? Or the 75 PPI monitors of yore? Or even those quirky 72 PPI monitors for the Mac?
I think you're exaggerating how much PPI matters. The pixels on the iPhone/iPod touch are already a lot smaller than they need to be. I think there's headroom to scale the graphics up to a lower PPI, if desired.
Of course, you don't have to scale up; one of the key features of the iPhone/iPod touch is being able to scale graphics up and down (for all the stretching and zooming), so I imagine the case would be the same here.
And don't forget that the OS X guys have been trying to push resolution independence for several years now. On the iPhone, with no backwards compatibility requirement, that's a lot easier to do.
Developers are lazy, of course, and they probably don't target resolution independence if they don't have to, but then you just fall back to my original point about the PPI not being that bad.
Maybe "MacPod"?
"In our tactical decisions, we are operating contrary to our strategic interest."