Jan 22
According to Clayton Morris of Fox News, Apple has been talking to AT&T and Verizon regarding the upcoming iSlate, but states that neither carrier has finalized a deal. Multiple carriers for the tablet had been discussed before (Apple iSlate Reviews – January 7th, 2010) but according to Morris additional details were revealed by his sources suggesting that Verizon will use some form of tiered pricing instead of a flat monthly rate.
“According to sources inside Verizon, the company’s version of the tablet will feature built-in Wi-Fi utilizing Verizon’s hotspots for free data; the device will switch onto the 3G cellular network when it’s away from a hotspot. This makes it easy and safe to connect to trusted Wi-Fi servers, and you’ll get a line-item for that data service on your cell bill. Basically you won’t need a home data modem service anymore.”
Tagged with: AT&T • iSlate • tiered • verizon • Wi-Fi
Jan 08
At least two Taiwanese manufacturers have announced that they are either already shipping components for Apple’s new tablet PC, or will be doing so in February. According to Reuters:
“Suppliers for Apple Inc’s new tablet computer have begun shipping touchscreen panels and will start delivering aluminium casings for it next month, sources said, implying a second-quarter product launch.”
The article went on to express some analysts’ concerns that the new tablets will have stiff competition from existing laptops, netbooks, e-readers, and smartphones. Touchscreen devices released this week at the Consumer Electronics Show by HP, Microsoft, Lenovo, and Dell added to the fray of competing devices that the rumored iSlate will need to beat out in the wireless multimedia computing space.
Tagged with: aluminum casings • concerns • iSlate • manufacturing • Q2 launch • second-quarter launch • shipping • Taiwanese
Jan 07
Daniel Ionescu from PCWorld quickly responded to Microsoft’s release of their new PC tablet today by writing:
“Apple must be patting themselves on the back, as the Hewlett-Packard (HP) tablet unveiled by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on Wednesday night failed to wow those expecting a true competitor to the mythical Apple tablet.”
Ballmer demonstrates new Microsoft tablet
While Ballmer talked up the yet to be named tablet at the Consumers Electronics Show in Las Vegas, stating that it is “almost as portable as a phone and that it is as powerful as a PC running Windows 7″, it ultimately left much to be desired:
“The HP tablet is basically a color e-reader running Amazon Kindle software, with few other details besides a sub-$500 price point and an estimated arrival on the market by mid-2010. So disappointing was the release that Microsoft and HP’s shares fell yesterday according to BusinessWeek.”
The three tablets that were presented were essentially scaled down PCs without keyboards or any new tantalizing features. This leaves Apple very well positioned to take the stage with all eyes watching at the end of January when they present their (iSlate?) tablet. At that point the contrast in both tablets and presentations between Jobs and Ballmer may be just as glaring.
Tagged with: Ballmer • Hewlett-Packard • iSlate • Kindle • Microsoft • Windows 7
Jan 07
Patently Apple reported that today the US Patent & Trademark Office published details of an Apple patent application related to new multi-touch screen technology.
The patent focuses on “displays in which capacitive elements of the pixels…also form part of a touch sensing system that senses touch events on or near the display.” It also addresses the use of “pixels with dual-function capacitive elements that translate into fewer moving parts and/or processor steps that could deliver thinner, brighter displays.”
The new displays will utilize low temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS) technology which according to LG:
“LTPS provides more than a 100 times faster TFT mobility than the amorphous silicon(a-Si) technology.”
Of course these are only partial details of the patent application revealed by the U.S. Patent & Trade Office and we can only speculate on its use without all the details, but it does seem that this new patent could be leveraged by Apple’s forthcoming iSlate tablet to improve both the quality and performance of the display, as well as possibly the user interface experience.
Tagged with: capacitive • iSlate • LTPS • multi-touch • patent
Jan 05
Engadget released today that in 2008 Apple filed a 3D UI patent which was just published last month. It addresses the manipulation of 3D objects on a multi-touch screen.
“[The patent] seems more concerned with the core mechanics of using multiple fingers at once to get around in 3D space and manipulate 3D objects…”
Rendering of 3D Objects on Multi-Touch Screen
In the past Jobs had expressed little interest in introducing a tablet unless Apple could reinvent the concept, bringing a new user experience to the public. Adding 3D depth to the multi-touch UI might create the subtle sense for users that they are navigating inside an iSlate world of 3D geometric icons representing applications and files, perhaps with shadows covering nearby icons as they are moved, etc. We can only speculate at this point how this patent may be used in the iSlate or whether it is used at all, but it certainly does help capture our imagination as to what the iSlate’s UI might be like… think Minority Report.
Tagged with: 3D • iSlate • multi-touch • patent
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