The Gadgets Page

Apple has a special announcement planned for this Wednesday, January 27th, and the rumors are that they will release a tablet device of some sort. At these times it is customary for gadget blogs to make fools of themselves by predicting what Apple will announce, so here’s my attempt.

• The tablet will run iPhone OS, and will essentially be a giant iPod Touch. Probably with more memory than the current iPhones and Touches, but no hard drive.
• Steve Jobs will focus on three areas of use for the new device: reading books, watching videos, and running any app from the existing App Store. He’ll show off some new games that use the full screen.
• The tablet will cost $1000 and every single technology blog and media outlet will complain about this, saying that netbooks are cheaper, that you can buy a “real” computer for the same price, and that Apple won’t sell many tablets. They’ll be hilariously wrong.
• There will be no keyboard, and initially no external one to attach. The virtual keyboard will resemble the iPhone’s. Everyone will complain about this, but Apple won’t care because they designed the device primarily for consuming media, not creating it.
• It will have a backlit color LCD screen (probably 10″). Steve will make fun of e-ink devices on stage.
• A new iPhone OS and SDK will be announced, and support for the tablet’s big screen will be the biggest change. They might also support multitasking, since running multiple iPhone-sized apps on the tablet’s big screen makes sense.
• Apple will announce deals with publishers for e-books. I suspect they’ll emphasize newspapers, magazines, and college textbooks. The New York Times will be shown as an example, followed by a novel with an embedded video interview with the author to show off how much better it is than a Kindle.
• I wouldn’t be surprised if the “regular” book support comes from a licensing agreement with Amazon. You might think the Kindle is the tablet’s competition, but I think Amazon wants to sell books, not hardware platforms.
• I think cell-phone data access will be built in. I hope it’s optional and doesn’t cost $30 a month.
• The name: When Apple changed their baseline notebook computer’s name from “iBook” to “Macbook”, my theory at the time was that they wanted to eventually use “iBook” for an e-book reader. While I doubt the tablet will be just for reading books, I still think “iBook” is a great name for it, and it will fit their new naming scheme: the Macbook runs MacOS and the iBook runs the iPhone OS.

Please note that my predictions are not based on “confidential sources”. I just made them up, and most of them are probably wrong. But whatever the outcome, I hope Apple does something insanely great.

Here is a quick clip from the CES 2010 keynote where Steve Ballmer of Microsoft shows off three “Slate PC” gadgets.

With all the rumors of an Apple device coming out soon, it looks like Microsoft is trying to get the jump on that market. One of the rumors suggested that this supposed Apple device might be called an iSlate, so it’s no coincidence that Steve rushed to claim the Slate PC name.

Wouldn’t it be funny if all of those rumors were just a misinformation feed from Apple to distract everyone from their upcoming secret? What if they were only trying to negotiate a publishing contract with magazines and book publishers and were merely announcing that this January instead of a slate/tablet/ebook reader/giant iPod Touch?

All I know is that those Slate PCs that Ballmer was so proud of look an awful lot like the Photoshopped mock ups that have been floating around with Apple logos on them.

Microsoft might think they have a jump on Apple, but I suspect Steve Jobs has far more in the hopper than they realize.

Remember all the fuss about this patent filed by Apple?

• United States Patent Application: 0080204426

People saw this patent and immediately assumed that Apple was ready to release an iTablet computer. It didn’t help that these drawings from the patent LOOKED like a tablet PC.

There were rumors that they were making a big iPod Touch. Some people called it the iBook. Others called it an iTablet. I don’t care what they call it. I’m ready for it now.

When I saw all of the posts about this patent from Apple, I shrugged my shoulders and thought, “Huh? Who’d want a huge iPod Touch?!”

Umm… That would be ME.

Now that I am doing ALL of my reading on my iPhone, the idea of having a huge iPod Touch is quite appealing now. It’s part of the reason I’m attracted to the Amazon Kindle. Except if Apple made a reader, it would be awesome!

Hey, Barnes & Noble? Remember when I said that you couldn’t tempt me to buy an eBook reader from you? Yeah, I was wrong. If your unnamed device manufacturer is Apple, I’m SO there!

More patent information: Apple iTablet Confirmed Expected In Early 2009 – Smarthouse

The Amazon Kindle iPhone Reader is great for the latest books on the market, but what about all those awesome public domain books? Project Gutenberg has thousands of ebooks available for FREE. Is there a way for me to read them on my iPhone as well? Yes there is, thanks to Stanza:

• Stanza: a Revolution in Reading | Lexcycle

I downloaded Stanza’s free iPhone application [iTunes Link] and within minutes, I had Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens on my iPhone and ready to read. I have been watching the Masterpiece Theater version of Little Dorrit and I realized that I wanted to read the original work when I was done. If I had paid for it on the Amazon Kindle app, it would have only cost me eighty cents, so it doesn’t save me much money. For those who want to read the classics, however, Stanza is available for free.

The user interface is a little different than the Amazon Kindle app. Instead of swiping a page to change it, you tap on the right side to go to the next page or tap on the left to go back. If you tap in the middle, you get the settings.

One thing I loved about the settings is that in addition to being able to change the size of the font, I was able to choose from a wide variety of custom themes. The one I chose was “Ancient,” which makes the pages look old. I thought that was perfect for a classic like Little Dorrit. There is also a night mode, where you can read white letters on a black screen.

With free books available from over fifteen different sites, there is plenty to read out there that isn’t just the classics, including technical books from O’Reilly, romances from Harlequin and a world of self-published eBooks.

After spending a year’s worth of book allowance in one month at Amazon, it’s nice to know that there is plenty more for me to read, even when I run out of money.

An unnamed “wireless industry insider” and an unnamed device maker make for a pretty flimsy rumor, but my recent love of reading books on my iPhone had me perk up my ears:

• Tech Rumor of the Day: Barnes & Noble | Telecom | Financial Articles & Investing News | TheStreet.com

Barnes & Noble, the nation’s No. 1 bookstore chain, is working with a device maker and Sprint on a Kindle-like device, according to one wireless industry insider.

Ever since I downloaded the Amazon Kindle App for the iPhone [iTunes Link], I have been reading like crazy again. I have even been tempted to buy a Kindle just to get a bigger screen size, but the fact that my books are in my purse with me all the time makes the Kindle a lot less appealing.

The same is true for anything Barnes & Noble creates. I don’t want another gadget in my arsenal of toys that just reads books. Sorry, B&N, there is only ONE way you could attract me: make it work on my iPhone. Amazon was smart enough to do that and I’ve spent more money on books in the last month than I did all last year.

I wish Barnes & Noble luck, but riding on Amazon’s coattails isn’t really the best way to be an industry leader.

Photo via: XO 2.0 Laptop Concept, e-book mode | Xconomy

I’ve been reluctant to jump on the e-book reader bandwagon. My thoughts on the matter are here:

• Gadgets Page » Sheldon Understands The Amazon Kindle

Matt Strebe, one of our other writers was able to compare the Sony eBook reader with the first version of Amazon Kindle here:

• Gadgets Page » Amazon Kindle vs. Sony Reader SMACKDOWN

Now that Amazon has release its second reader, Kindle 2, it has finally reached the point where I’m tempted to buy one.

Why? One reason: FREE 3G wireless. According to Amazon’s site:

Whispernet utilizes Amazon’s optimized technology plus Sprint’s national high-speed (3G) data network to enable you to wirelessly search, discover, and download content on the go. Your books and periodicals are delivered via Whispernet in less than 60 seconds. And unlike WiFi, you never have to hunt for a hotspot.

No monthly wireless bills, data plans, or commitments. Amazon pays for Kindle’s wireless connectivity so you won’t see a wireless bill. There is no wireless setup–you are ready to shop, purchase and read right out of the box.

Here is a quick video about the Amazon Kindle 2:

I don’t have a need for an e-book reader, but if I read best seller books or newspapers often, this is the reader that would finally get me off the fence and buy one.

Okay, perhaps smackdown is a bit of a stretch when comparing what are perhaps the most milquetoast and genteel electronic devices ever made, but there is a battle of the heavyweights going on for control of the eBook buying public (all fifteen of them). The Sony Reader, weighting in at slightly less than an actual paperback, is the reigning champ, and the Amazon Kindle—bigger, heavier (at almost 11oz), and stronger—is the contender. It’s actually pretty easy to tell whose going to win, but the fight isn’t as one-sided as the recent press around the Kindle might make it seem.

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