Envision Apple’s Tablet, Get a Shot at a $100 Apple Gift Card
By Harry McCracken | Monday, January 18, 2010 at 5:44 pm
Once again, I’m going to give you guys a chance to make Apple predictions in the days before an Apple press event. (You’re no worse at it than most of the folks who get paid big bucks to do so.) This time I’d like you to take a stab at figuring out exactly what sort of tablet device Apple will announce next Wednesday, assuming it does indeed announce such a device. And if you still think Apple won’t make such an announcement–which is a pretty gutsy prediction at this point–you can make that opinion known, too.
To participate in what I’m thinking of as Technologizer’s Apple Tablet Prediction Project, click here and answer the multiple-choice questions you’ll find. It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes, and here’s an incentive to take part: We’ll draw one entry at random and give the person who submitted it a $100 gift card for the U.S. Apple Store.
You can fill out our T.A.T.P.P. survey through 5pm on Thursday, January 21st, at which point we’ll close it, crunch the results, and publish your aggregate guesses. If the machine you envision as a group ends up bearing much resemblance to the one Apple announces–probably!–next week, it’ll be impressive. And even if you’re way off base, this should be entertaining.
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January 18th, 2010 at 5:50 pm
Here is my prediction of the feature set it will take to make us really care.
http://barryschuler.posterous.com/do-we-really-want-the-apple-tablet
January 18th, 2010 at 5:56 pm
6×9 ratio 9″ screen, 256 gb ssd drive, built in Hot spot ( like MiFi), Thinner than iPhone,1.33 Lbs,no stylus interface,7 hour non removable battery, Pico LED projector accessory.
January 19th, 2010 at 7:01 am
I’m looking at recent past articles on your site harry.. and half of what I’m reading is NOT news or informative articles.. What I’m seeing and reading is advertisements for yourself and promotions for cheesy contests..
I’m not sure you are aware of it yourself, but this site is getting junked up with crud that has nothing to do with tech news and more to do with promoting harry mccracken columns on Fox and Fools, contests, upcoming live appearances of Harry McCracken, and when we can watch you or hear you on a webcast on other sites.
I treasure your insight and opinion, but how about a little LESS EGO and little more insight.
January 19th, 2010 at 8:45 am
I’m going to stick by my 2010 prediction and say this is not the tablet announcement. Thought if it is, my prediction is it will be smaller than a breadbox, and be a foolish product to roll out in a recession. Also, it will have two usb ports.
January 19th, 2010 at 10:15 am
9″ screen very thin tablet.
No physical keyboard and very similar in style to a large iPod Touch or iPhone.
64Gb SSD drive.
iPhone OS 4.0
Will work with existing App Store applications but expect there to be plenty of new / redesigned App Store apps specifically designed to work on a larger higher-res screen.
There will be an announcement that major newspaper and magazines like NYT, Time Magazine, etc. will have deals with Apple for a subscription based access to special digital versions of their content.
Will come with WiFi and the ability to be tethered to an iPhone, but no built in hardware to access the ‘net via the cellular networks.
And something else will be announced that no-one has guessed at.
A bunch of guesses based on what some blogs are saying and a bunch of stuff I made up myself.
January 19th, 2010 at 1:28 pm
Apple will capitalize on Intel’s recent announcement of its new mobile Core I-series processors and Wireless Display technology by integrating them into the new lineup of Macbooks/Macbook Pros. The Airport Express will be upgraded with an HDMI port to also serve as a wireless display receiver and put Netgear’s hardware to shame in terms of industrial design.
The AppleTV will cease to be a hobby. Apple will announce a new AppleTV with the receiver for Intel’s wireless display built-in. The remote control will be a Bluetooth or WiFi remote, similar to the Boxee Box’s. Making the QWERTY keyboard a touchscreen and quadrupling the price will differentiate it. Oh wait, that’s called an iPhone/iPod Touch app;) They will build spotlight technology into the AppleTV so you can use the remote’s keyboard to quickly find the media you’re looking for. They will announce content agreements with more movie studios to make the offering complete.
And, there will be one more thing…
They’ll announce the stinking tablet. I’ve been wracking my brain to figure out what they can do with it that I’ll care about. I don’t want a color Kindle, a Netbook++, a toilet computing device, or another gadget with a carrier-locked, monthly-billed data contract for $800. So, hopefully, its more of an “Ahh-ha” and less of a “Huh?” moment when they reveal their creation. Since it’ll be iPhone OS-based, it will also run the remote control app for controlling the new AppleTV;)