Now we can finally put the rumors to rest. Apple has finally unveiled its new tablet product, called the iPad. Apple CEO Steve Jobs today said the company aimed to make the product better than a laptop at browsing the Web, sharing photos, videos, music, playing games, and reading e-books; but in an all-touch form factor smaller than a notebook, and just larger than an iPhone.
As expected, the device is actually quite a lot like a big iPhone; as such, it can run all of the existing apps in the iTunes app store. The added bonus is that it can run them in their normal mode or in "2x" mode to fit the larger screen. The device has a custom user interface and will launch with its own exclusive software such as e-reader application "iBooks," touch-paint program "Brushes," and a totally re-designed touchscreen version of iWork.
The iPad starts at only $499 for the 16GB model with no 3G. The 3G-enabled 16GB model costs $629. The top of the line iPad with 64GB of memory and 3G connectivity will run $829. These prices are much lower than the rumors had said, but they actually fit in with the rest of the industry's tablets and convertible notebooks. Preliminary Specs:
1 GHz Apple A4 Chip
16GB, 32GB, or 64GB of Flash storage
9.7" capacitive multitouch screen (LED Backlit)
.5" thick chassis
1.5 lbs
Custom iPhone OS 3.2 (beta available today to registered developers)
802.11n Wi-Fi
Bluetooth 2.1 +EDR
Optional 3G connectivity with AT&T, (unlimited data $29.99 per month, no contract necessary)
SAN FRANCISCO – Google Inc. is trying to make its Voice application easier to use on the iPhone, whether Apple Inc. likes it or not.
In an upgrade announced Tuesday, Google revised the mobile Web site for Voice so that it's easier to display the service's most popular features on the iPhone's latest operating system.
Among other things, Voice offers an alternative dialing pad, voice mail and international calling discounts. Apple has refused to allow the Voice program to be distributed through the iPhone's applications store since last summer on grounds that it would duplicate or alter important iPhone features. To get around that roadblock, Google is trying to entice iPhone users to rely on a mobile Web browser to access Voice.
Google says the overhaul will make the Web browser experience more like what users would get if Google were allowed to offer a downloadable app that could be installed on the iPhone.
Google already offers downloadable Voice apps for Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry phones and devices running on Android, an operating system developed by Google. The upgrade to the mobile Web site also makes Voice simpler to use on devices that run on Palm Inc.'s operating system.
The jousting over the Voice application underscores the rising tensions between Google and Apple, the two most valuable companies in Silicon Valley.
Apple's rebuff of Google's Voice application triggered a Federal Communications Commission inquiry into whether Apple and AT&T Inc., the iPhone's exclusive U.S. service provider, were trying to stifle potential competition.
Apple told the FCC that it hasn't rejected the Voice application outright, but Google says it still hasn't heard anything further on its attempts to make the program available for iPhone downloading. AT&T says it didn't take part in Apple's review of the Voice application.
Google's Voice service had 1.4 million users as of October, according to a company disclosure to the FCC.
SAN FRANCISCO – Apple Inc. is taking the wraps off its "latest creation," which analysts believe will be a tablet-style computer — somewhat like an iPhone, but larger. Apple CEO and showman Steve Jobs is expected to take the stage at a San Francisco event Wednesday.
Although Apple has been silent publicly about its new gadget, analysts believe it will be billed as a way to watch videos, surf the Web, play games and read electronic books.
But that means Apple would have to show why consumers ought to pay for yet another Internet-connected screen, on top of the TVs, computers and smart phones they already have. Tablet computers have existed for a decade, with little success.
Just one day before Apple is expected to unveil its magical new product, the tech media is absolutely infested with "news" and speculation about it. CNBC tonight spoke with Terry McGraw, Chairman and CEO of McGraw-Hill, the major textbook publisher and parent company of J.D. Power and Associates, who said that yes, there is a tablet coming tomorrow, and it does run the iPhone OS, more or less confirming earlier rumors.
McGraw's quote in full:
They'll make their announcement tomorrow on this one. We have worked with Apple for quite a while, and their tablet is going to be based on the iPhone operating system, and so it will be transferable. So what you are going to be able to do now is, we have a consortium of e-books. And we have 95 percent of all our materials that are in e-book format on that one. So now, with the tablet, you're going to open up the higher-education market, the professional market. The tablet is going to be just really terrific.
Apple kicked off its 2010 fiscal year with strong first fiscal quarterly earnings -- less than two days before announcing its "latest creation" that bloggers, the news media and the tech community can't seem to stop blabbering about.
During a conference call today, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer described the quarterly results as Apple's best ever. However, Apple instituted new reporting rules for this quarter's results. The accounting change gave Apple's results huge lift, which many news sites credited to record Mac and iPhone sales. Apple sales were inline with analyst expectations and recent growth trends. If not for the accounting changes, Apple's results would more likely have come in slightly above Wall Street's consensus estimates.
Previously, Apple deferred a significant portion of iPhone, iPod touch and Apple TV revenue under older subscription accounting rules. The Financial Accounting Standards Board revised the rules in September. The accounting change means that Apple can immediately recognize iPhone/iPod touch and Apple TV revenue rather than deferring much of it for 24 months.
The new accounting method explains why Apple exceeded analyst consensus by such a huge amount -- more than $3.5 billion. Apple revised two years of results in support of the accounting change. This revision added at least another $110 million revenue previously deferred over the past 24 months. So the quarter got two lifts:
Previously unrecognized revenue calculated at $25 for every iPhone sold over two years, according to Oppenheimer (He didn't say how much total for Apple TV, just $10 per unit).
Revenue recognized in this quarter that in the past was deferred. By comparison, Apple revenue jumps dramatically, but it's more because of accounting.
Q1 2010 by the Numbers
For fiscal first quarter, Apple reported $15.68 billion revenue and net profits of $3.38 billion, or $3.67 a share, under the new reporting method. A year earlier, Apple reported revenue of $11.88 billion and $2.26 billion net quarterly profit, or $2.50 per share. Fiscal first quarter ended Dec. 26, 2009.
Three months ago, Apple forecast revenue between $11.3 billion and $11.6 billion, with earnings per share ranging between $1.70 and $1.78. Analyst estimates were much higher than Apple guidance: $12.06 billion average revenue consensus and $2.07 earnings per share. Apple blew past the Street.
For fiscal 2010 second quarter, Apple forecasts between $11 billion and $11.4 billion in revenue, with earnings per share ranging between $2.06 and $2.18.
In a statement, Apple CEO Steve Jobs declared "if you annualize our quarterly revenue, it's surprising that Apple is now a $50+ billion company."
Apple's gross margin was 40.9 percent, up from 37.9 percent a year earlier. International sales accounted for a stunning 58 percent of revenue. Apple ended the quarter with $39.8 billion in cash, up from $34 billion three months earlier. Q1 2010 Revenue by Product
Desktop: $1.7 billion, up 62 percent from $1 billion a year earlier.
Portables: $2.76 billion, up 9 percent from $2.52 billion a year earlier.
iPod: $3.4 billion, up 1 percent from $3.37 billion a year earlier.
Music: $1.16 billion, up 15 percent from $1.01 billion a year earlier.
iPhone: $5.6 billion, up 90 percent from $2.9 billion a year earlier.
Peripherals: $469 million, up 21 percent from $387 million a year earlier.
Software & Services: $631 million, up 4 percent from $606 million a year earlier.
iPhone. Apple shipped -- what company executives really mean by sold -- 8.7 million iPhones worldwide during fiscal first quarter. Apple shipments into the channel are usually several million units higher than numbers released by Gartner, which measures actual sales. A year earlier, Apple shipped 4.4 million iPhones. Wall Street analyst estimates ranged from about 8.8 million (consensus) to over 9 million units -- meaning iPhone shipments fell below expectations. However, iPhone revenue rose 90 percent year over year, giving the biggest boost to Apple's quarter. The smartphone accounted for about a quarter of total Apple revenue, with a chunk of the lift coming from the implementation of the new accounting method.
Interesting aside: After more than 2.5 years of nearly continuous marketing, Apple stopped airing iPhone TV commercials coming into 2010. The marketing change could signal a new advertising campaign either related to the rumored tablet, new iPhone OS version or both.
In a blow to Apple, today, IDC predicted that Nokia's Symbian OS would lead in global market share in 2013, while Google's Android -- and not iPhone OS -- would come in second. IDC predicted that Android shipments would reach 68 million units by 2013, up from 690,000 in 2008. Global smartphone shipments would reach 390 million units. However, IDC's data doesn't account for other devices running iPhone OS -- the iPod touch and, presumably, Apple's rumored tablet. Q1 2010 Unit Shipments by Product
Desktop: 1.2 million units, up 70 percent from 728,000 units a year earlier.
Portables: 2.13 million units, up 18 percent from 1.8 million units a year earlier.
iPod: 21 million units, down 8 percent from 22.7 million units a year earlier.
iPhone: 8.7 million units, up 100 percent from 4.4 million units a year earlier.
Computers. Once again, Mac sales continued to defy the economy's downward pull -- and that of Windows 7, which Microsoft launched in late October. Apple shipped 3.36 million Macs during the quarter, up from 2.5 million units a year earlier and 3.05 million units during fiscal Q4 2009. Wall Street analyst Mac shipment projections ranged from about 2.79 million to 3.32 million shipments worldwide.
Nearly two weeks ago, analyst firms Gartner and IDC reported strong sequential declines for US Mac market share. In the United States, Gartner said that Apple shipped 1.48 million Macs, up 23.3 percent year over year. Market share declined year over year and sequentially -- dramatically. IDC put Apple's US share at 7.5 percent, down from 8.8 percent in fiscal Q4 2009 and 7.7 percent in fiscal Q1 2009. Both analyst firms ranked Apple fifth in US market share, a one-rank decline below Toshiba. The numbers suggest that at least in the United States Windows 7 sapped some Mac sales momentum during the holiday quarter. Q1 2010 Revenue by Geography
Americas: $6.09 billion, up 15 percent from $5.3 billion a year earlier.
Europe: $5.02 billion, up 40 percent from $3.6 billion a year earlier.
Japan: $783 million, up 57 percent from $498 million a year earlier.
Asia Pacific: $1.81 billion, up 142 percent from $750 million a year earlier.
Retail: $1.97 billion, up 13 percent from $1.7 billion a year earlier.
iPod. Apple shipped 21 million iPods during fiscal first quarter, down from 22.7 million a quarter earlier and, unsurprisingly, up from 10.2 million in fiscal Q4 2009. Analyst consensus for Q1: 20.4 million units. While units decline, revenue rose 1 percent year over year, suggesting a higher sales mix favoring iPod touch, which sales grew 55 percent. Q1 2010 Unit Shipments by Geography
Americas: 1.9 million units, up 30 percent from 912,000 units a year earlier.
Europe: 1.07 million units, up 6 percent from 795,000 units a year earlier.
Japan: 105,000 units, up 6 percent from 99,000 units a year earlier.
Asia Pacific: 313,000 units, up 54 percent from 203,000 units a year earlier.
Retail: 689,000 units, up 34 percent from 515,000 units a year earlier.
Retail. Revenue rose 13 percent year over year, with Apple retail stores selling 689,000 units, compared to 515,000 a year earlier. Apple opened 10 new stores in the quarter, for a total of 283 retail outlets in 10 counrties. There was an average 278 stores open in the quarter, with average revenue of $7.1 million compared to $7 million a year earlier.
Not since the Soviet Union, have I seen any entity so brazenly try to rewrite history. With today's fiscal first quarter 2010 earnings announcement, Apple effectively changed its quarterly performance going back two years. In a quarter or a year from now who will remember the earnings results as they were actually reported? This blog and a few others like it may be the only record of what really happened.
But Apple did as much to rewrite the present as the past, by how today's Q1 results were presented. The company gave no warning that it would adopt new accounting rules, which made what would have been slightly-better-than-expected results seemingly blowout. Fortunately, Apple's rewriting the past -- and its comparison to original earnings reports -- sheds some light on the current quarter's results and how Apple manipulated their delivery.
Subtle Manipulations
Coming into the quarter, Apple guided that revenue would be between $11.3 billion and $11.6 billion, with earnings per share ranging between $1.70 and $1.78. Wall Street consensus estimates were much higher: $12.06 billion revenue and $2.07 earnings per share. But Apple reported a staggering $15.68 billion revenue and net profit of $3.38 billion, or $3.67 a share. The huge disparity creates the perception that Apple had a helluva quarter. How could it not be when beating the Street by $3.62 billion revenue and $1.60 earnings per share? It could be because Apple changed its accounting, choosing to do so without warning.
Apple had been reporting results as GAAP, generally accepted accounting principles, as required but separate non-GAAP results since fiscal fourth quarter 2008, too. Some analysts prepare guidance as GAAP and non-GAAP, but the GAAP numbers are used for estimating revenue, net income and earnings per share. Today's change effectively eliminates Apple's non-GAAP reporting.
There is nothing I can see under current disclosure laws that would have prevented Apple from issuing some statement about the accounting change, as long as the information was given out to everyone. Select disclosure to some Wall Street analysts would rightly draw fire from the US Securities and Exchange Commission. By Apple announcing the reporting change before the earnings announcement, Wall Street analysts would have been able to appropriately revise their quarterly revenue and earnings estimates upwards. But Apple didn't give them that chance. Now why is that?
As I've long asserted, in business perception is everything. Apple's unannounced accounting change has created the perception of well-earned record revenue and earnings. That's the way many blogs and news sites first reported the results and continue to do so. But an examination of actual product sales shows a strong quarter, but not a colossal one. The big boost came from the accounting change, which gave Apple another boost: Perception about its performance.
It's the only way I can reconcile Apple's behavior. If the company had any interest in transparency, Wall Street and shareholders would have received notice of the accounting change. By withholding the information, Apple got a big perception boost and some after-hours lift on the share price. Questioning Record Performance
As soon as Apple issued its earnings press release, I IMed Betanews founder Nate Mook: "Apple earnings seem too high. I'm going to hold off posting anything until [the] con call. Could be they changed reporting." The change in reporting wasn't immediately obvious from the press release.
By waiting, many Apple blogs and news sites got up a report before me. But I didn't want my reporting to be unduly manipulated. So I waited, for which my only regret is how much misinformation is already out there. But some financial news sites are doing the story right, like story "Apple just makes target, once you look under the hood," by Therese Poletti, for MarketWatch. She writes:
Apple's quarter was actually pretty much on target, when one looks at the unit sales of its devices. IPhones, iPods and Mac computers sold pretty much in line with analysts' forecasts for the period.
Apple's 8.7 million iPhone shipments actually fell short of analyst consensus estimates. The 3.36 million Mac shipments were slightly above analyst consensus, while the about 300,000 sequential unit increase is inline with holiday quarter expectations based on continually consistent growth rates. According to IDC, in the United States, Mac shipments grew 31 percent year over year. Competitors did better: HP growth was 45.1 percent. Toshiba, which pushed Apple from fourth place to fifth in market share, delivered a whopping 71.5 percent growth. But iPhone and Mac shipments are receiving credit for a quarter where reporting changes matter much more. Changing the Present
In fairness, there is nothing untoward in Apple's accounting change. In September, the Financial Accounting Standards Board revised GAAP to Apple's benefit. Under older rules, Apple had to defer most iPhone, iPod touch and Apple TV revenue for 24 months. Subscription accounting rules mandated that Apple had to recognize most of the revenue over time rather than in the quarter realized from sales. According to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, Apple reported $78 per iPhone each quarter, deferring $595 per device per quarter. Under the new rules, which must be adopted before 2011, Apple could realize most of the revenue during the quarter of sale. Apple plans to defer $25 per iPhone and $10 per Apple TV per quarter.
Apple is following the new GAAP rules as it is required to. There is nothing wrong with Apple's new reporting method. It's what the company is supposed to do. The problem I see: How Apple took advantage of the change to boost earnings perceptions.
During yesterday's Apple earning conference call, BMO Capital Markets analyst Keith Bachman asked Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer: "What revenue and EPS would have been under the previous accounting policy for the December quarter?" Oppenheimer responded: "Keith, actually, I did not say that. That's actually not something that we have the time to try and figure out." He dodged the question!
But Apple's changing-the-past ways give some insight into just how much the accounting change affects the Q1's reported results. By far, iPhone contributed the most to the quarter's results as reported: $5.6 billion, or nearly 36 percent of total revenue. Assuming Apple would have otherwise deferred $595 per iPhone, for 8.7 million units that works out to $5.2 billion. Munster's numbers work. Assuming Apple defers $25 per iphone that's $648 per 8.7 million iPhones or $5.66 billion, or fairly close to reported revenue. I'll let the number stand at that, but there are dots I would connect with a bit more information. Changing the Past
Apple's revision of past quarterly results offers some insight into the accounting change's impact. For example, during fiscal fourth quarter 2009, Apple reported $9.87 billion revenue and net profits of $1.67 billion, or $1.82 a share. Apple shipped 7.4 million iPhones, with reported revenue of $2.9 billion. Under Apple's revised earnings, by retroactively applying the new accounting rules, revenue jumps to $12 billion and net income to $2.52 billion, or $2.77 a share. Apple's revenue jumps by $2.13 billion with the accounting change. Meanwhile, net profits increase by $850 million and earnings per share by 95 cents.
Another example: The year-ago quarter, when Apple reported $10.17 billion revenue and net profits of $1.23 billion, or $1.35 earnings per share. Apple shipped 4.36 million iPhones, with reported revenue of $1.25 billion. Under the revised results, Apple revenue was $11.88 billion and net profits were $2.26 billion, or $2.50 earnings per share. Apple's revenue increases by $1.71 billion, net profits by $1.03 billion and earnings per share by $1.15.
One more: Fiscal Q4 2008, when Apple first starting reporting non-GAAP results alongside GAAP results for iPhone. Apple reported $7.9 billion and net profits of $1.14 billion, or $1.26 earnings per share. Apple shipped 6.9 million iPhones, but only reported revenue of $806 million. The revised figures raise revenue to $11.52 billion and net profit to $2.25 billion, or $2.48 earnings per share. The difference: $3.62 billion revenue, $1.11 billion net income, or $1.22 billion. But the differences between the reported and revised figures leave something out. Apple acknowledged deferring $4.6 billion from iPod 3G sales.
Apple justifies the past revisions as making quarterly comparisons more accurate. There's sense for one year, but two? The bigger accomplishment: Apple's past quarterly results look much better today than they did yesterday, and for a company so hellbent on perception, on marketing, on looking good, the revised results are a helluva makeover.
Surely, some Apple fans will defend the past quarterly revisions -- the changing of financial history -- arguing that it's what the company would have made anyway. But Apple didn't report the revised results in those past quarters. You can revise the historical record, but you can't change the past or the decisions Apple investors made three months or eight quarters ago.
SAN FRANCISCO — With the widely anticipated introduction of a tablet computer at an event here on Wednesday morning, Apple may be giving the media industry a kind of time machine — a chance to undo mistakes of the past.
Almost all media companies have run aground in the Internet Age as they gave away their print and video content on the Web and watched paying customers drift away as a result.
People who have seen the tablet say Apple will market it not just as a way to read news, books and other material, but also a way for companies to charge for all that content. By marrying its famously slick software and slender designs with the iTunes payment system, Apple could help create a way for media companies to alter the economics and consumer attitudes of the digital era.
This opportunity, however, comes with a sizable catch: Steven P. Jobs.
Mr. Jobs, the chief executive, made Apple the most important distributor of music by imposing its own will on the music labels, bullying them into accepting Apple’s pricing and other terms. Apple sold lots of music, but the music labels claimed that iTunes had destroyed the concept of the album and damaged their already deteriorating bottom lines.
With the new tablet, media companies could be submitting themselves to similar pricing restrictions and sacrificing their direct relationship with customers to Apple.
For now, at least, the technology and media industries are looking at the brighter side. “Steve believes in old media companies and wants them to do well,” said a person who has seen the device and is familiar with Apple’s marketing plan for it, but who did not want to be named because talking about it might alienate him from the company. “He believes democracy is hinged on a free press and that depends on there being a professional press.”
Part of the media industry’s high hope for the tablet comes from descriptions of the device from analysts and others who have been briefed on it.
It will run all the applications of the iPhone and iPod Touch, have a persistent wireless connection over 3G cellphone networks and Wi-Fi, and will be built with a 10-inch color display, allowing newspapers, magazines and book publishers to deliver their products with an eye to the design that had grabbed readers in print.
Their optimism for the tablet also stems from consumers’ willingness to spend money using mobile devices. In the last decade, while people downloaded music illegally to their desktop computers, they happily paid small amounts of money on their cellphones to download ring tones and send text messages.
The iPhone has provided further proof that the economics of mobile devices are unique: the Apple App Store is expected to generate an estimated $1.4 billion this year, according to an analysis by Piper Jaffray.
“The iPhone was a harbinger,” said Trip Hawkins, a founder of Electronic Arts and now chief executive of Digital Chocolate, which makes games for cellphones. “When you have a device that is this convenient and fun for consumers to use, you can get a lot more people interested in paying for and engaging with the content. Big media companies should be all over this like a cheap suit.”
Indeed, they already are. The New York Times Company, for example, is developing a version of its newspaper for the tablet, according to a person briefed on the effort, although executives declined to say what sort of deal had been struck.
On Monday, The Times also announced that its media group division had created a new segment for “reader applications,” and named Yasmin Namini, the senior vice president for marketing and circulation, to head it. Executives said the timing was coincidental, prompted not by the Apple device specifically, but by the growing importance to The Times of electronic reading devices in general.
Two magazine publishers, Condé Nast and Time Inc., have also created mockups of their magazines for tablets, even before such devices have hit the market. “Apple upended the smartphone market with the introduction of the iPhone, and it’s likely that they will, if they enter the tablet market, lead the pace there,” said Thomas J. Wallace, editorial director of Condé Nast. He said that “2010 is going to be the year of the tablet, and we feel we are in a very good position for it.”
To successfully sell their material on the coming wave of tablets from Apple and other hardware makers like Hewlett-Packard, media companies may first have to adjust other parts of their digital strategies — so consumers don’t simply use the tablet’s browser to get the same content free on the Web.
Such shifts are under way.
In October, The Wall Street Journal, which is owned by the News Corporation, began charging for access for certain elements of its iPhone application. Esquire and GQ have taken steps toward charging for digital content, offering iPhone versions of their magazines for $2.99 for each issue.
“This will be the most important thing I’ve ever done” – Steve Jobs, referring to the soon-to-be-launched Apple Tablet.
We haven’t heard this first hand, but we’ve heard it multiple times second and third hand from completely independent sources. Senior Apple execs and friends of Jobs are telling people that he’s about as excited about the upcoming Apple Tablet as he’s ever been. Coming from the man who has created so much, that’s saying something.
If Steve Jobs thinks the iPhone was just a warm up act to this device, I can’t wait to see what it can do. As if our expectations weren’t already set high enough. We’ll all know a lot more this Wednesday.
This guest post is by Jeff Scott, founder and publisher of 148Apps, a blog providing fanatical coverage of everything iPhone and hopefully soon, the Apple tablet.
While we still don’t know the name of the new tablet device; could be iPad, iTablet, iSlate, iCanvas, or an extension of the MacBook name. But what we do know, due to many recent leaks on the announcement coming from Apple next week, the tablet is being targeted as a gaming device.
Connections with the device and gaming started when the Wall Street Journal reveled that Apple had been working with Electronic Arts purportedly to have games available to demo for the device reveal on January 27th. What games EA will be presenting, we don’t know. This follows earlier reports that Apple had been in contact with “select developers” to create apps to showcase on the device. At that time we were unable to find anyone to admit to working with Apple for the Tablet launch.
Then in the last couple days came indications from many gaming related publications small and large that they had been invited to the special Apple event on 1/27. This shows a clear push by Apple to have the device covered in the games press, pointing to gaming as a major target for the device.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the Apple tablet as a gaming device.
Hardware
The tablet device is expected to have a stronger processor than the iPhone 3GS which will make it well suited for games. But it’s also expected to have a screen resolution of at least 640×800 since it will also have a larger screen. This means that the device will have to work harder to put graphics on the screen with 4 times or more the resolution of the iPhone. An upgraded graphics co-processor will help with that to some extent — as will extra RAM. I think we can expect all of those. Form Factor
The tablet is expected to be rather large compared to the iPhone. Rumors range from a 7″ to 11″ screen. My bet is on 2 models — one at the low end and one at the high end. The smaller one targeted at gaming and the larger for more general use.
Imagine if your iPhone had an 11″ screen — roughly 9 times the size of your current iPhone. Picking up that device and moving and tilting it to control an accelerometer based game. Similar in size to lifting and tilting your laptop to control a game. It would get tiring, quickly. Especially for us lazy Americans.
Moving an 11″ device around quickly to play a twitch game makes little sense, really. Not to mention the potential for damage to the device and it’s surroundings. Think of all of the stories and pictures we saw of the Wii controller being thrown into TVs, windows, and faces. It will be that same story all over again. But this time you are throwing around a potentially $1,000 device not a $45 controller.
On the other hand, a 7″ device, roughly 4x the size of the iPhone wouldn’t be nearly as bad. Still rather large for a portable gaming device, but much more workable. Operating System
All indicators are pointing to the tablet running an expanded version of the iPhone OS 4. We can assume the major new features of that OS will be resolution independence and support of more hardware varieties. Much as OS X has been created to work on different platforms, processors, devices.
The expanded iPhone OS will likely include an update to the way you view the installed apps on the device. Having a 4×5 grid on an 11″ screen wouldn’t be too appealing.
I expect we’ll see iPhone OS 4 beta released to developers quickly. It’s expected to be a fairly big change to allow it to support the tablet. It’s early release to developers will give them extra time to update their apps before the general release. Data Connection
I think we can say that Wifi connectivity is a given. The question is will there be some form of cellular data connectivity with AT&T or Verizon? I think it’s likely — but I really hope it will be optional and not required to purchase the device. I really don’t relish the idea of paying AT&T (or Verizon) an extra $60-$100 a month to use another device.
Another option, while a long shot, is be that it will tether to the iPhone in your pocket utilizing it’s data network. That is once AT&T finally support tethering that is. I find this much more appealing and hope it will be an option.
Expect connectivity and cloud services to be a major push for the tablet. Mobile Me has been moving further that way with each revision. Apple also recently bought LaLa, a cloud music service. Many see iTunes going toward the cloud and the tablet would be a great device to take advantage of that.
We might even see an officially supported social gaming network from Apple like XBox Live from Microsoft. And I don’t think it’s out of the question to think Apple might jump-start this by buying out one of the networks already created, it’s not very likely. Interface / Game Controls
We can assume that there will be no joysticks or control pads on the device. That would be very non-Apple. Apple has committed heavily to multi-touch control and we expect to see more of that for the tablet. And for games, that’s pretty good news.
While many prefer hardware controls, developers of iPhone games have made great use of multi-touch as controls for games. Here’s an example of TouchGrind — one of the games with the most interesting and unique interfaces on the iPhone — running on a Mac and utilizing the multi-touch trackpad on that laptop.
The advantage of a large multi-touch screen becomes instantly clear after seeing that video. While the iPhone is limited by hardware to 5 simultaneous touches on the screen, realistically it’s more like 2-3 to provide good control without obscuring the whole screen. With a larger screen, you are presented with more options for multi-touch.
Unfortunately, this also exposes the main issue with multi-touch, obscuring the screen. This is multiplied when you have a larger screen. Notice in the above video that the game uses the trackpad as the multi-touch device not the screen. When you touch the screen, you obscure parts of the display. With an iPhone, it’s just your fingers in blocking parts of the screen. With a larger device, your whole hand gets in the way obscuring even larger parts of the screen.
There have been some rumors floating around about the potential for a touch sensitive back on future iPhone devices – similar to the top of the Magic Mouse. And there have been insiders quoted stating that we will be shocked at how we interact with the tablet. Putting two and two together, it’s not out of this world to think that the tablet might be the first device with a multi-touch sensitive back. Another possibility, as seen in the Palm Pre and other mobile devices, an area on the front, apart from the screen, that can be used as a touchpad.
While I’m sure the accelerometer will be included in the device — as it will be required to be compatible with some iPhone apps and games. It doesn’t make as great of a method to control games in a large device. As mentioned earlier, the thought of quickly moving around a large, expensive device like this, is rather scary. Not to mention that the games on the iPhone that use the accelerometers are tuned for the movement of a small device — moving a larger device will make all of these games seem a little off until they are tuned. iPhone Apps on a Tablet
It is pretty certain at this point that the tablet will run iPhone apps and games, hopefully unmodified. It’s possible that they will need to be certified to work on the device though — much the same process we had with OS 3 and apps being certified to work with that new version of the iPhone OS. Compatibility with the tablet will likely be the biggest factor of the iPhone OS 4 certification. The Games
Using games designed for a 320×240 screen on and increased screen size brings up issues. One of them being that if the game display is just scaled up to fit the screen, the graphics will look rather chunky. Most games use sprites sized specifically for the screen size of the iPhone. Up to this point that has always been 320×480. The tablet will have a larger screen resolution and require new graphics to take full advantage of that for full screen apps without scaling. This isn’t something that’s easy or quick to change. It could take a lot of work depending on how many different raster graphics there are in the games.
3D games are less effected as they can scale. But they will still take some work and updated graphics to be properly tuned to the larger screen size. Some of the textures used for the 3D objects may need to be upgraded for instance. And performance will most certainly need to be tuned for the larger screen size. Multiplayer Games
While there have been a few instances of simultaneous multiplayer games on the iPhone, the small screen makes it difficult. A device with a larger screen will make that experience much more compelling. Both traditional games, like board games, and arcade games could take advantage of the larger screen and increased multi-touch capabilities to support multiplayer games.
Imagine a high resolution Scrabble, Chess, Checkers, etc. game on the tablet device where you can play either simultaneous multiplayer on a single device or across multiple devices.
Beyond traditional games, a first person shooter could use the device split screen and allow multiple players to compete in the same game. Tablet Games Demoed
With all of the games press invited Wednesday we know that we will see some games demoed on the new device. For early demos Apple generally sticks with large developers — ones they can trust with keeping secrets — when choosing who to demo a new device. We heard previously from a developer who had 3 days, sequestered at the Apple campus, to develop a demo of in-app purchasing before the press event for iPhone OS 3.0. They will also occasionally throw in a small developer if the risk is worth it for a really good demo.
The Wall Street Journal has reported that Apple has been working with EA to create a games demo for the tablet. We can say pretty certainly that EA will show one or more of their games at the event. First guess is that it will be something we haven’t seen from them yet, not just one of their games updated for the new device. Apple likes to make a big splash with the demos at press events.
Another possibility is that we will see Mirror’s Edge. When Mirror’s Edge was first shown late last year, it looked fantastic and was one of the first games EA had really developed specifically for the iPhone. We heard recently from EA that Mirror’s Edge had been delayed at the last minute. That along with the story of EA working with Apple to demo the tablet raises a red flag and makes it a candidate to be shown Wednesday. Apple is known for asking developers to delay apps to be shown at large press events like this. Perhaps EA delayed the game to tune it properly for the tablet.
Another possibility is World of Goo. After contacting 2D Boy over a year ago looking for info on World of Goo for the iPhone we’ve been in contact occasionally. They announced a running prototype in October for World of Goo for the iPhone. At that time they said I should contact them in a month for more details as the game needed to be tuned. Since then they have been silent and haven’t responded requests for info. Another red flag raised — perhaps Apple contacted them and asked them to work on a tablet version and required them to be quiet on the whole thing. World of Goo could make a really good multi-touch game.
I’m have sent 2D Boy this theory and await their response. Even a ‘no comment’ would be good news for this theory.
Apple and ngmoco:) have had a pretty close relationship with ngmoco:) demoing at multiple different Apple press events. That and ngmoco:) also been rather quiet lately. That might indicate they are working with Apple and we may see something from them on Wednesday. iTunes Account Sharing
Currently, you can authorize up to five desktop machines under a single iTunes account. This means that those five machine are authorized to play any protected content that account purchases. And, those five machines can sync to as many iPhone OS devices as you wish. So you can have an iTunes Account and all apps purchased on that account, shared amongst every member of your family – no matter how large that family is.
But, will that licensing model extend to the tablet? It makes sense for Apple to extend the license to the tablet as it will help them for sales of the new device. If you can have the same apps on your iPhone as your tablet without paying extra, that will make people happy. I don’t relish the thought of having to purchase apps for the iPhone and re-purchasing for the tablet to use them there.
But it can also be said that the tablet is more of a computer than the iPhone. And most software for desktop computers is licensed per machine. There could be some push back from developers on this. But initially I think we’ll see that it will be able to work with all of the iPhone apps you have already purchased. Game Prices
As we all know, the prices for games on the iPhone are unbelievably low. Low even compared to other mobile platforms and especially so compared to the other mobile gaming devices.
Will Apple find a way to drive prices higher for apps on the tablet? While we expect the tablet will be seen from an App Store perspective as just another iPhone OS device — like the iPod Touch — it’s possible that Apple will segment certain tablet apps. Perhaps we’ll see multiple versions of the same games — some for the iPhone that work on the tablet — and extended versions just for the tablet.
Another possibility is that the rumored premium app store will actually be for expanded tablet apps. We may see expanded apps — apps to take advantage of specific tablet hardware like the increased screen size — segmented and at higher price points on a premium app store.
There are a lot of possibilities on what the tablet could be. But no matter how it comes out, we know Apple is going to push it, much like it has the iPod Touch, as a gaming device. How successful it will be is up to the app developers.
All of our questions will be answered soon. I for one am very excited for the announcements on Wednesday. While I don’t consider myself a hard-core Apple fan boy, I am very excited to see this new Apple creation and what it will mean for mobile gaming.
Some people want the Apple Tablet to run Mac OS X's user interface. Others think its UI will be something exotic. Both camps are wrong: The iPhone started a UI revolution, and the tablet is just step two. Here's why.
If you are talking hardware, you can speculate about many different features. But when it comes to the fabled Apple Tablet, there are basically three user interface camps at war. On one side there are the people who think that a traditional GUI—one built on windows, folders and the old desktop metaphor—is the only way to go for a tablet. You know, like with the Microsoft Windows-based tablets, and the new crop of touchscreen laptops.
In another camp, there are the ones who are dreaming about magic 3D interfaces and other experimental stuff, thinking that Apple would come up with a wondrous new interface that nobody can imagine now, one that will bring universal love, world peace and pancakes for everyone—even while Apple and thousands of experts have explored every UI option imaginable for decades.
And then there's the third camp, in which I have pitched my tent, who says that the interface will just be an evolution of an existing user interface, one without folders and windows, but with applications that take over the entire screen. A "modal" user interface that has been proven in the market battlefield, and that has brought a new form of computing to every normal, non-computer-expert consumer.
Yes, people, I'm afraid that the tablet will just run a sightly modified version of the iPhone OS user interface. And you should be quite happy about it, as it's the culmination of a brilliant idea proposed by a slightly nutty visionary genius, who died in 2005 without ever seeing the rise of the JesusPhone.
Apple reportedly plans to launch a 22-inch touch-enabled all-in-one PC in 2010, in addition to the current non-touch 21.5- and 27-inch iMacs, according to a Chinese-language Commercial Times report.
Apple will outsource production of the 22-inch model to Quanta, with Taiwan-based Sintek Photronic supplying the touchscreen panels, the paper noted.
Some people want the