Apple may be chasing Samsung to new tablet/netbook format
Published: 11 March, 2009
READ MORE: Apple | Samsung | Netbook
It's been hard to escape rumors of an Apple netbook this year, but so far nothing has materialized. Now a new batch of leaks and speculation has appeared, some of this even 'confirmed' by sources to the heavyweight Dow Jones newswire. It seems that the Apple product will be more like a tablet, or even a folding iPhone, than a conventional netbook, following in the footsteps of the Samsung Q1EX-71G, a tablet/netbook/smartphone hybrid unveiled this week.
With standard netbooks from conventional PC makers already crashing in price, the name of the game for companies eyeing higher price tickets will be to push the boundaries of the netbook format. Nokia suggested last week that it would create a new breed of netbook, but this will not appear for another 18 months, so Samsung, Apple and others will want to steal a march.
Samsung's product should ship this summer, and Apple could well unveil, though not ship, its tablet gadget at its worldwide developer forum in the summer - which, it hopes, will also mark CEO Steve Jobs' return to work after cancer treatment. Taiwan's DigiTimes, which is usually well informed on the doings of its country's electronics manufacturers, says the Apple netbook will feature a 10-inch multitouch screen manufactured by Taiwan's Wintek, while Quanta will make the full product, for shipment as early as the third quarter.
Some pundits have even given the mystery gadget a name, 'iPod Touch HD', and many are looking for a dual-screen device.
A simple cutdown MacBook does not make much sense since it would have to enter an overcrowded market with prices under $500. And anyway, one of Apple's chief differentiators in the mobile internet market is its advanced multitouch platform - with a standard screen, keyboard and mouse, the iPhone's operating system and applications would not be shown off to full advantage. And almost all the sources agree this new product will run the iPhone's software.
Mike Elgan at Computerworld predicts a dual-screen clamshell running the iPhone OS and Apps, and usable in four modes (as prototyped in the One Laptop Per Child initiative) - tablet mode, like a giant iPhone; laptop mode, like a conventional netbook but with on-screen keyboard; book mode; and two-person mode for gaming.
A step closer to the real world, Samsung's new device is a return to the difficult tablet format that many have tried before, but with better dimensions than most (only 8.96x4.92x0.9 inches, though with a seven-inch touchscreen and standard 1024x600 resolution). Inside there is a 1.2GHz Via Nano processor, says ArsTechnica, plus 2Gb of memory, integrated graphics, 4.5 hours of battery time, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0 and a 60Gb 1.8-inch hard drive with SD card expansion. It runs full Windows rather than WinMo, but has a hefty price tag at launch ($775).
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