• Rumors swirl of smaller iPad, which Jobs detested
    21 replies, posted
[URL]http://news.yahoo.com/rumors-swirl-smaller-ipad-jobs-detested-195907061--finance.html[/URL] [QUOTE]NEW YORK (AP) — Apple generates more gossip than the Kardashians. There's a constantly spinning mill of rumors about Apple products, most of which turn out to be untrue. What's unusual this week is that talk has revived of a smaller iPad model, an idea company founder Steve Jobs derided publicly a year before he died. Apple and its suppliers aren't commenting. Rumors of a smaller iPad, or "iPad mini" have percolated ever since the first iPad was launched two years ago. This time around, they're fed by media reports from South Korea, China and Taiwan, saying Apple has ordered Samsung screens that are 7.86 inches measured on the diagonal. That would make the screen about two-thirds the size of the current iPad, which has a diagonal measurement of 9.7 inches. —WHY IT'S A GOOD IDEA: A smaller tablet would help Apple further its lead in the tablet market. "From a competitive standpoint, we believe an iPad mini with a lower price point would be the competition's worst nightmare, says Shaw Wu, an analyst at Sterne Agee. "Most (competitors) already have a tough enough time competing against the iPad 2, as well as the new iPad." Apple has successfully fended off competitors who have tried to sell tablets in iPad's size range. But last year, Amazon.com Inc. figured out how to crack Apple's stranglehold on tablets by making a half-size, no-frills tablet. The result was the Kindle Fire, which sells for $199 —basically, the cost of production. Amazon has sold millions of them. Apple sells the iPod Touch for $199, but its screen is about a quarter of the size of the Kindle Fire — a big disadvantage for people who want to enjoy books, movies and games. It also sells the older iPad model for $399. It has nothing in between. Price isn't the only reason customers might prefer a smaller tablet. A 7-inch model would fit in many handbags, unlike the current iPad. Wu says he's seen evidence of Apple experimenting with both smaller and larger tablet screens since 2009, and doesn't sense that the release of an iPad mini is "imminent." —WHAT IT MIGHT COST: It could be hard for Apple to make money from an iPad-quality 7-inch tablet that sells for $299. Analysts at IHS iSuppli estimate that a smaller tablet would cost around $250 to produce, a figure that doesn't include development costs, packaging or patent royalties. That suggests Apple would price it at $329 or $349. "The first thing you always have to keep in mind is: Apple is not going to sell an unprofitable product," says Rhoda Alexander at iSuppli. —WHY IT'S A BAD IDEA: A smaller iPad would be a headache for software developers. "Going to a different screen size ends up being a ton of work," says Nate Weiner, the creator of Pocket, an application that stores Web pages and other material for later reading. "If you take, for an example, an interface built for the iPad and try to cram it into the Kindle Fire, it just doesn't fit," he says. However, developers who have already adapted their programs to the Kindle Fire or other 7-inch tablets wouldn't face a big hurdle in adapting to a third Apple screen size, Weiner says. —WHAT JOBS THOUGHT: Apple's late CEO made a rare appearance on an October 2010 earnings conference call to launch a tirade against the 7-inch tablet Samsung Electronics Inc. was set to launch as the first major challenger to the iPad. "The reason we wouldn't make a 7-inch tablet isn't because we don't want to hit a price point, it's because we don't think you can make a great tablet with a 7-inch screen," Jobs said. "The 7-inch tablets are tweeners, too big to compete with a smartphone and too small to compete with an iPad." He said the resolution of the display could be increased to make up for the smaller size, but that would be "meaningless, unless your tablet also includes sandpaper, so that the user can sand down their fingers to around one quarter of the present size." "There are clear limits of how close you can physically place elements on a touch screen before users cannot reliably tap, flick or pinch them. This is one of the key reasons we think the 10-inch screen size is the minimum size required to create great tablet apps," he said. Jobs failed to mention Apple's success developing apps that use taps, flicks and pinches on the iPhone, with its 3.5-inch screen. [/QUOTE]
I found a leaked image of it [IMG]http://www.gadgetvenue.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/iphone_home.gif[/IMG]
Honestly the iPad's screen is a good enough size to do everything I need to do with it, however if they made a smaller pocket version it would be good however critics may say you're better off with an iPhone/iPod. Is there any sort of concept art on this? Rough sketches and the alike..
Just a move to take over the smaller, ebook-reader market. My mom has a Kindle Fire and I believe it to be more accessible than the iPad
Hahah! I like how one of the analyst said that apple releasing a smaller Ipad at a lower cost would set them ahead in the market... Yeah, like they will make this CHEAPER... Bull shit.
[QUOTE=sHiBaN;35654920]Just a move to take over the smaller, ebook-reader market. My mom has a Kindle Fire and I believe it to be more accessible than the iPad[/QUOTE] We were intending to get a kindle fire however we got an iPad instead. I don't know why the e-book prices on the apple app store is fucking insane
"because of how innovative and convenient our new product is going to be we're going to slap an extra $50 on it"
[QUOTE=JustGman;35654943]"because of how innovative and convenient our new product is going to be we're going to slap an extra $50 on it"[/QUOTE] More like Apple will market this as a BRAND NEW INNOVATION! NO ELECTRONIC HAS EVER BEEN THIS CONVENIENTLY SIZED!!! This is so innovative and new and no other product offers this size! *patented 6.7 inches*
Samsung is way ahead of Apple, with 5.3, 7, 7.7, 8.9, and 10.1 screen size tablets!
[QUOTE=fruxodaily;35654942]We were intending to get a kindle fire however we got an iPad instead. I don't know why the e-book prices on the apple app store is fucking insane[/QUOTE] Can't you just buy from Amazon and use the Kindle app?
[IMG]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/68548848/iDiots.png[/IMG]
Wouldn't be suprised if it was about the same size as a kindle
I wasn't aware that streamlining something like a phone or tablet counted as innovation. But seriously, an iPhone and iPad are enough.
I fail to see the actual need/use for an ipad/tablet in general. It seems to me that if you wanted a small device capable of doing smartphone-type things you would get a smart phone, and if you wanted more power then you would get a laptop. Tablets just seem to exist in an area of no use (I will no doubt be slapped with reasons as to why tablets are useful). If people want tablets to use basically as smart phones while they are in their own homes, then a smaller sized one seems silly.
Apple is going downhill now that Jobs is gone, one of many signs.
Now watch Gizmodo say that it is all bullshit and all the 7 inch tablets suck, then if one does get released, they will publish an article called "Why Apple's 7 inch iPad doesn't suck" .
They'll probably release an oversized version of the iPhone so they can sue over the galaxy note even though that makes no sense.
If they did this, they probably would just be renaming the iPod Touch to iPad Mini or some shit. :v:
The quality of their ideas are beginning to lack if they do resort to making the iPad smaller.
[QUOTE=The First 11'er;35663672]The quality of their ideas are beginning to lack if they do resort to making the iPad smaller.[/QUOTE] as if their ideas were anything spectacular in the first place they make computers and tablets
I see no point to tablets with touch screen laptops coming out so soon
[QUOTE=Ezhik;35658452]Now watch Gizmodo say that it is all bullshit and all the 7 inch tablets suck, then if one does get released, they will publish an article called "Why Apple's 7 inch iPad doesn't suck" .[/QUOTE] Its like the people that bitch about > 4" phones being difficult to hold. Yet as soon as Apple release a 4.3" device their hands magically grow. [editline]22nd April 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=The Baconator;35665325]I see no point to tablets with touch screen laptops coming out so soon[/QUOTE] Except they aren't comfortable to use, you would be sitting like this with your arms out waving them around, that's terrible! [IMG]http://images.kaneva.com/filestore8/4546117/5795705/mummy220walking.gif[/IMG]
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