Jetée

This is Gizmodo’s liveblog for the Apple Tablet Event on 1/27. Make sure to check Gizmodo.com for more news after the liveblog’s complete.



“We want to kick off 2010 by introducing a truly magical product today“

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Redlemon

I just hope that they don't cancel the iPod Touch in favor of this.

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Willravel

Holy crap, it starts at $499 and it has the option of unlocked 3G. i didn't see those coming at all.

I still kinda wish they'd have had OS X on it instead of iPhone OS, but oh well.

Baraka_Guru

Apparently it's much faster than the iPhone too.... so there's that.

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Willravel

Apple is making the processors in house. It's a 1GHz chip, iirc.

Baraka_Guru

I can't get excited about this. It's not for me.

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Willravel

It's more for me, I think. I have a Mac mini (desktop, not laptop), no iPhone, and I still plan on going back to school soon. The convenience of having all my textbooks in one place alone is probably worth the $499, and having an office suite on top of those really does make it more than just convenient. Add to that all the abilities of the iPod touch and it seems like a good buy.

It' kinda like a netbook/iPhone/Kindle hybrid, which I guess is what everyone was expecting.

ironman

This is Apple's shittiest product to date. No USB, no camera, no multitasking, no Flash, no full blown OS, no handwriting, just 64GB, etc..., what a big let down! this is nothing but a big ass Ipod Touch. Jobs even had the nerve to call it better than a netbook... I want what that guy is smoking, really.

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Daniel_

Don't worry - in six months they'll launch version 2 which will be faster, have a better screen, more memory and a camera, and cost $399.

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telekinetic

Looks like a fun school solution, if it worked with a bluetooth keyboard and had a stand. On screen keyboards can go to hell.

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Plan9

I concur... and this is why their market share of the Real Computer world is as tiny as it is.

This thing has half the ability (keyboard? mouse? USB?) of a $299 WalMart-bought Acer netbook.

telekinetic

Looked at the specs a little more closely, and this excites me way less than the crunchpad/joojoo.

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Lucifer

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1123, 6536, 5321

Redlemon

It works with a bluetooth keyboard. There is a stand available, and the case can also work as a stand.

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Baraka_Guru

But you have to admit that nearly $3.4 billion quarterly profits (up 50%) isn't too shabby. And considering that "Real Computers" are only a segment of that.

It's not a laptop. They're banking on it being something else. We'll have to wait and see if its something to be made fun of for real.

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Plan9

Is a PDA running phone software... the size of an Etch-A-Sketch... really in demand?

Baraka_Guru

There are two ways of finding success in business: 1) serving a market, and 2) creating a market. Apple tends to do both.

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Charlatan

This would work for me.

I spend a lot of my time trolling around the internet, reading books, listening to music, looking photos... I hate that I have to lug a laptop around. The iTouch is too small for me.

I can also see me using this for note taking at meetings and being able to give small presentations to clients, etc.

What I would like to see: Handwriting, voice commands, a camera, a DVD drive.

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Baraka_Guru

Yeah, a commentator said this will be a boon to those who read a ton of news online.

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Charlatan

I get 90% of my news online.

---------- Post added at 10:45 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:11 AM ----------

LINK
Some negatives to consider:

1. No apps that have not been approved by Apple. By which I mean, you can't download your favorite apps off some web site somewhere. You are strictly limited to the app store.

2. No camera.

3. Microphone, but apparently... no voice calls.

4. eBook reader only through iBookstore. No word about loading your own books/PDFs.

5. Network is GSM-based. That rules out Verizon for your choices.

6. No multitasking. This isn't OSX. It's not a laptop. Or a mini-laptop. Or even, apparently, a netbook. It's the stripped-down iPhone OS.

7. 16 GB for $500. 64 GB for $700. Some are complaining about the price because of the limited functionality.

8. No video out? Does that docking station allow video out, or is it just for the keyboard


I am thinking that if this ran OSX rather than iPhoneOS, it would be much better. I also don't like the idea that it is a closed system. I want to be able to install the programs I want to install. It is very, close to what I want. Let's give it a few years and a few hacks to see where this goes.

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ratbastid

Difference is you can buy it. Unless you'd rather pre-order my VaporPad, which blows Arrington out of the water on sheer specs! Only $999.99, make the check out to Cash please.

Haters are going to say "It's just an iPod Touch with gigantism!" And it's true, it's scaled-up from the iPhone/iTouch line. No argument there.

I think that disappointment comes from an expectation that this would be a computer, just little and flat and no keyboard. It's totally not that. It's a third category product, not computer, not smart-phone. You have to adjust your expectations to that.

Anyone who's used an iTouch, though, realizes it's not a gadget. It's a PLATFORM. It IS a little computer, and there are tens of thousands of applications on it, to do most anything you'd want it to do. My one complaint about mine is the size of the screen, and that's because you're trying to put computing functions into a device whose industrial design constraint is that of a mobile music player.

I'm EAGER to put my hands on an iPad. I think it could really be a game-changer.

---------- Post added at 10:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:22 PM ----------

You know, I'm hearing that a lot right now from various places, but I call shenanigans.

Have you used the App Store, Charlatan? Because it's ENORMOUS. And there's stuff on there that is as useless and stupid as anything you'd find on the web and download. What you WON'T find on there is stuff that's malicious or spammy. Plenty of stuff in poor taste, plenty of marginal-quality apps. And a whole lot of really good stuff, too! I've never had a desire for something on my iPhone that there wasn't a handful of apps there ready to try out.

So... I hear you about the philosophical distastefulness of having Apple vet every app that goes on the store, but in practice, I just don't have any experience of being "strictly limited". 133,000 apps in there right now, makes it hard to feel real limited.

ARTelevision

It's affordable. It's a new experience. Seems like a bit of fun.

I like my PCs, notebooks, and my netbook and, because they are different, I also like my iMac and my iPhone...so...I'm pretty sure I'll like this, too. (I'm easy, I guess).

I do get it that it'll probably be upgraded to a newer hardware version with camera, etc. Don't really feel like waiting, though.

Yeah, I'm definitely interested enough to seriously consider springing for this now. If a new one comes out, I'll probably find a reason to go for that, too...

(Guess I really am easy...)

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Glory's Sun

Everyone knows I'm an Apple Fanboi.. every one knows I wish I were the love child of Steve Jobs, but sorry- this is pure fail IMO. I was hoping that a tablet wasn't going to be released and I almost got my wish. I don't see this as a game changer. I see this as trying to corner a very small market instead of continuing to try and increase their computer market and re-increase their hold on the MP3 sector. They're down to 70% share in the iPod arena, and let's be honest, the iPhone is a piece of shit. They've seen some gains in the computing market, but what does this do? It hands 1 million people a useful tool. There are 10 million+ who would rather have something else. Shit..design a netbook that's actually useful for something other than one word document and a browser running at the same time. Corner that market before windoze dominates it. Or, I dunno..design a phone that actually has a fucking battery that you can remove without a crow-bar. :shrug:

I just don't see this doing much in the short or long term for apple. It's certainly not an iPod level game changer.

Between this and the iPhone, I'm losing a bit of faith in Mr. Jobs.

LoganSnake

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Plan9

Well, like the iPod video... I guess it can be used for viewing adult pictures and videos. PornPad?

It should come with an "iLET" attachment so you can hang it on the coathook in your office bathroom stall.

LoganSnake

So can the PSP, DS, iPhone and pretty much any electronic device with a screen and an internet connection.

So what's the advantage of porn in an iPad? True to life colored nipples?

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Plan9

Well, some of us like the screen to be bigger than our cock.

LoganSnake

Well, if dropping $500 on a device that will satisfy your screen to cock ratio ideal, then by all means...

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Plan9

Once again, this is why I'm for the ~$300 netbook.

It's tiny, lightweight, has a big screen and all the other useful stuff that a real computer has... "tactile alphanumeric interface device" (keyboard), USBs, real OS, etc. And it's much cheaper. Plus... I can show it to my friends and they won't accuse me of being an uptight brow-plucking metrosexual.

LoganSnake

Tactile alphanumeric interface devices make me feel funny in places in which I like to feel funny.

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Plan9

You to? I love them. I want everything in my life to have a QWERTY interface. My computer, my phone, my car, my cat...

Hell, I want my future partners to have their G-spot replaced by the keyboard on my EnV2. Call me old fashioned.

Jetée

I don't think I know 2% of what ever this device is capable of, but I'll try nonetheless:

The 'Apple Tablet' (I'm not calling what it has been ammended to in the title, and by marketers) is:

an iPod touch, approximately 3.2 times the size of it.
a wireless internet browser
a portable game station
an interactively good time distracter (also know as an 'app haven')
an e-bookshelf
a live, CGI sports updater (not sure if it broadcasts live video though)
a GPS
a media player and media creation gadget


so, if any and all of the combined seem reasonable enough for you to want to pay the premium of a new "genre" device, then it could sell very well.

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As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world (that is the myth of the Atomic Age) as in being able to remake ourselves.

—Mohandas K. Gandhi

LoganSnake

Definitely me too. My current phone lacks a physical keyboard and I very much regret getting all wet for a touch screen. I mean, it's a great device, but nothing pushes my buttons in the right way like...well...pushing buttons.

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Plan9

I've decided I detest you less, LoganSnake.

LoganSnake

Wait 'till I show you my pog collection!

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ASU2003

It has potential, but this isn't it. If I could get all of my college text book on it, write notes, and receive the college newspaper on this device, then I would consider it. I would need to have a real laptop or Mac Mini however.

I was hoping for a tablet PC running OS X that might replace a laptop. And I'm not sure why they are waiting to come out with the i5 processors and touch trackpad on the Air.

Plan9

Stuff like this makes me wish the Panasonic Toughbook concept was more popular (swivel touchscreen monitor + keyboard / USBs, hardened design).

Willravel

I suspect there will be handwriting and voice command upgrades along soon. Camera? I dunno about that one, does an eBook iPod Touch need a camera?

Regarding dvd, all you really need is HandBrake. Rip the movie, open it with Quicktime and then load it into iTunes.
Which only has 140,000 applications (and growing). Also, the applications which are generally turned down feature pornography or are extremely controversial. Which apps do you want that you can't get at the App Store?
I'm still not sure why people want this thing to have a camera. If you want that kind of device, you'd be better off getting the iPod nano.
There's an app for that, and more coming.
Loading your own books? Like our physical books? The iPod doesn't play records, you have to rip them to the right format. I suppose you could scan every page of a book, but why bother when you have the book?
That was an either/or decision. It was either AT&T/T-Mobile or Verizon/Sprint. Either way you're sacrificing something.
It's just iPhone OS, no stripping down.
You're not looking for the iPad, then, you're looking for the Apple Tablet, the ModBook. Very cool, but quite expensive.
[QUOTE=Charlatan;2752624]8. No video out? Does that docking station allow video out, or is it just for the keyboard[/QUOTE[]
Of course it has video out. I forget how much the cable is, but I've seen it used with the iPod touch and it works fine.

biznatch

Not only true to life colored nipples, but ones that don't move, so you can observe them better! Because who needs flash in a device that's hyped as something that lets you "hold the whole web in your hands"?
I don't really see the new category this is supposed to represent. Kind of a jack of all trades, master of none type thing.
Maybe I'm wrong, though.

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Glory's Sun

There's really no point in having flash support on it since nothing apple does on their safari mobiles have flash support, and the iPad doesn't have 3g support anyway. I thought we were going to hear that Apple would also be pushing an iPhone over to Verizon (AT&T's deal is up in the summer) and this would/should have Verizon 3g. It doesn't so it leaves out a lot of people on that end.

I've read everything this could offer and I still come to the FAIL conclusion.

carry on with the nipple talk.