Apple Tablet: Just a giant iPod touch?

by Dean Evans at Monday 3rd August, 2009 at 9:09 am [1 comment]

One of the more persistent rumours about Apple is that, somewhere deep within the Cupertino labs, there’s a giant iPod touch in development.

The whispers about Apple and a forthcoming ‘web tablet’ just won’t go away. There’s an obvious hole in Apple’s product range when it comes to selling a smaller, netbook-sized device with a more affordable price tag.

An Apple web tablet might fit the bill, satisfying Apple’s ongoing desire to try innovative approaches to mobile computing. But what sort of web tablet should Apple deliver? A keyboard-less, multi-touch MacBook? Or a giant iPod touch?

Web tablets everywhere?

I’ve already talked about smartphones that make great web tablets on Digibode. The advantage of a dedicated web tablet would be a bigger, higher resolution display and more processing power.

A keyboard-less MacBook would be a real revolution. Although Apple will be aware that previous Windows-based Tablet PC devices haven’t exactly set the IT industry on fire. The lack of a physical keyboard is often a deal-breaker.

So an iPod touch/iPhone-style gadget might be less of a risk. Imagine a device with a 9- or 12-inch screen that enhances all of the iPod’s music-playing, game-running, web-browsing and video-watching talents. All delivered through iTunes.

iTablet vs. CrunchPad

Far-fetched? Far from it. Michael Arrington (of TechCrunch.com) is one of the team behind the imminent launch of the ‘CrunchPad’ – an 18mm-thick, Linux-powered web tablet with a 12-inch screen.

While Amazon recently updated its Kindle line-up with the Kindle DX – $489-worth of wireless ebook reader, blessed with a 9.7-inch e-ink screen.

An Apple web tablet is bang on trend.

Some say Apple will announce a web tablet device in September and launch it as a hot holiday gift before Christmas. Others think a 2010 release is more likely.

Links: CrunchPad, Kindle DX

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