Trapped in Time

Since Apple’s Newton project closed, many have wondered if and when Apple would return to the PDA/Tablet market. In many ways, the company already has. The iPhone does much more than the few Newton products - that actually made it to market - ever did. And yet, since the iPhone’s release, especially over the past twelve months, speculation has run rampant that Apple has been working on a tablet. On Wednesday the company will almost undoubtedly unveil the new product at a media event at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.

I’ve been particularly interested in such a device and followed the speculation closely for a number of reasons:

1. The idea of a thin, powerful touch screen computer that can perform a variety of tasks is quite appealing, especially in light of the plethora of existing tablet devices that have come and gone over the past decade while doing little more than raising hope of what might be possible one day.
2. Since the introduction of the iPod, Apple has been ahead of the curve in numerous areas of technology and media: the iTunes music store (and iTunes itself), thin profile gadgets (MacBook Air, the unibody manufacturing process, the iPod nano, and iPhone), groundbreaking multitouch technology (iPhone, iPod touch, and magic mouse), and the proliferation of mobile computing through the iPhone, App Store, and MobileMe.
3. When Apple launches a new product such as the iPad/iSlate/tablet, they do so very carefully with the aim of redefining how consumers view an entire market. They won’t be bringing a tablet to market just to have one in the arena; rather they surely plan to create an entirely new arena that only they are currently competing in.

So what should we expect to see on Wednesday?  That still remains a mystery, but through patent filings, rumors that won’t go away, and past offerings, the picture has started to become pretty clear. Here are my general predictions based on the best evidence available:

Design and Hardware

• Unibody construction, with a very similar design to the original iPhone, though proportionately thinner
• WiFi (hopefully 802.11n), GPS, and 3G connectivity, perhaps supporting both GSM and CDMA networks
• Glass LED screen, likely not OLED due to current availability
• Dock connector ala iPod/iPhone on both vertical and horizontal sides of the tablet for easy access
• Front-Facing Camera ala Macbook and iMac (WSJ reports)
• Headphone jack
• No USB Port
• 32 and 64 GB Flash capacities
• 10 hour battery life
• Bluetooth for wireless peripherals

Software and Features

• A hybrid operating system that falls somewhere between the iPhone and OS X
• A suite of new applications for both productivity and entertainment that leverages multitouch for never before seen user interaction.
• Cloud computing that leverages the new North Carolina Data Center opening in March (probably the same time the device is available).
• Access to your home iTunes library wherever you are seems very likely, as well as MobileMe service to store your music on the cloud.
• Television streaming subscription service with both live feeds and weekly network sitcoms and dramas available - likely to include CBS, ABC, BBC, Disney and others
• Interactive eBook and Magazine reader that leverages multiple forms of content (traditional type, audio and video). Steve Jobs has said in the past, “It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don’t read anymore. Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year. The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don’t read anymore.” Don’t think he doesn’t want to change that!
• A focus on interactive learning (“Apple In Talks with McGraw-Hill”)
• Flash support in Safari
• Video Conferencing
• Face and movement recognition (patent)
• Multitasking
• Support of iPhone OS 4.0 applications
• Robust multiplayer gaming within various communities - location based and world wide
• Numerous new multitouch gestures

You Should Also Expect

• One screen size, not two or more
• Two models in different capacities (perhaps 4 depending on GSM/CDMA)
• No subsidized data plans. Apple will contend they want this in the most hands possible, but in reality they don’t have anything worked out with AT&T or Verizon
• A price tag of $800-$1,000
• iPhone OS 4.0 announcement which will add in new gestures, multitasking, improvements to the home screen, integration as a secondary device to the tablet

It’s still anyone’s guess what Apple will or will not drop on us all come Wednesday, but one thing’s for certain: this device will impact computers, mobile phones, and major media - print, television, movies, and music - in a very profound and culturally transforming way.