New Apple tablet rumors point to Kindle clones?
Could Apple have an e-book reader in mind with the 10-inch screens rumored for a large-scale iPod Touch?
(Credit: CNET)More Apple tablet/Netbook rumors surfaced Wednesday as one Apple watcher wonders what the company is doing with all those books.
Reuters is reporting that Apple has ordered 10-inch touch screens from Wintek, a contract manufacturer in Taiwan that makes the touch screens used in the iPhone and iPod Touch. The screens are expected to be ready by the third quarter of this year, setting the stage for a possible late 2009 introduction of the long-rumored Apple tablet and/or Netbook.
But one interesting possibility for that rumored device comes from longtime Apple writer Andy Ihnatko, who is wondering if Apple has some sort of Kindle clone in mind. Ihnatko told Newsarama that he has heard several times that Apple has been receiving truckloads of books--actual real paper-bound books--at its headquarters in Cupertino, Calif. He cautions that this doesn't "rank as high as a rumor, but it's an interesting story that I keep hearing."
The thinking is that Apple is scanning the books as to have a library of electronic titles available when it decides to launch an e-book section on the iTunes Store, perhaps accompanied by the iTablet or MacTablet Pro or whatever Apple appears to be cooking up in its labs that isn't quite an iPhone, and isn't quite a MacBook.
When Apple allowed Amazon to develop a way for iPhone users to get access to Amazon's library of e-books, it appeared the company was ceding the mobile computing e-book market to Amazon. Apple CEO Steve Jobs has dismissed the e-book reader and market in general, declaring last year that "people don't read anymore." But as has been pointed out many times before, Jobs is notorious for turning his nose up at a new product or concept right up until the day Apple ships a similar product.
Apple has taken a cautious approach to the fast-growing Netbook market thus far, saying that it is monitoring the situation but expressing concerns at the design trade-offs and low margins of most Netbooks.
However, it does seem people are interested in something that falls between a smartphone and a laptop, and if Apple was able to integrate a portable tablet computer, gaming machine, and e-book reader all in one using the maturing iPhone OS X operating system, it would be able to justify a higher price for that gadget and therefore better margins than the rest of its competitors.
Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Internet search, including Google, Yahoo, online advertising, and portals, as well as the evolution of mobile computing. He has written about traditional PC companies, chip manufacturers, and mobile computers, spending the last three years covering Apple. E-mail Tom. 
That is not possible. A proper e-book reader uses e-ink technology not lcd display.
only until someone makes a "proper ebook reader" with a LCD display.
we all spend many hours a day reading email and websites on LCDs, so books are no different. I read ebboks on laptops, and on my iphone, with no problems.
I have seen the Sony ebook reader with e-ink technology, and I would never buy that thing- the screen inverses itself every time you flip a page. That is incredibly annoying, and distracting. A LCD does not do that- plus, it can show full-collor magazines, photos, and movies.
The era of single-function devices are over.
I would LOVE a 10" iPod touch- as long as it can run both iPhone/pod applications AND normal OSX desktop apps.
There are three reasons using an LCD as an eBook reader is not viable. (1) battery. I don't care how good an OLED is, you are going to burn your battery out driving it just due to the backlight, the "book" will get warm to the touch as well, (2) eye strain. An active display strains the eyes... period, and finally (3) reading under "sunlight" type conditions. an OLED (gloss especially, but also matte) just can't be read very well in sunlight conditions. i love watching people try to use their laptops outside. they are constantly adjusting the angle or position just to be able to see what the heck is going on.
That doesn't mean e-Ink technology, as it stands, is great technology... far from it. But the first Kindle was much better than the Sony reader as far as flashing (on page turns) goes, and the newest Kindle is even better.
There are other transflective technologies out there that are also sunlight readable, but they require more power than e-ink. I am not sure how much power it takes to run a Mirasol display, but they have limited color gamut and speed, so they are not an LCD replacement either. When I get buried in a book, I sometimes read for five or six hours straight. If the device cannot display that long without being plugged in, it is a non-starter.
Also, the era of single-function devices is NOT over. People keep screaming that over and over, but that doen't make it true. My phone has a camera in it, but in spite of that, I still own a compact point-n-shoot and a digital SLR. Within the household we have three MP3 players. The book readers mentioned are all far to big to carry around as your 'smart phone' and any reasonably sized smart phone is too small to be a 'real' book reader, and by real, I mean practical size for reading multiple hours at a stretch.
I see the 10inch screens for a netbook with a small keyboard and no trackpad. The keyboard may actually be bigger than competing netbooks when you take the track pad away. Guessing a price point of $699.
And why would Apple put that Green momentum they have been gaining at risk by using a technology where the books have to be printed on paper and then trucked burning Diesel fuel before scanning them back into electronic format, then shipping them out again?
I enjoy reading Apple rumors, but please only tell me about those that are feasible.
Well so much for Steve Jobs' statement that people don't read these days, or words to that effect. :)
My gut feeling, which is a big feeling considering the size of my gut, is that these screens could be for a touch keyboard on a MacBook, well a MacNetBook for that matter.
@jug831, your right why scan when you can use the page layout files from which the books were created. I started in this racket as a typesetter in small job shop, individual pieces of type into a composing stick. Trust me no one creates books like that except maybe at Williamsburg or someplace like that.
Kindle can't do this because it's a passive dummy machine.
If students had cheap notebooks/laptops, it would free up language lab, writing lab, etc. lab space for something else and would reduce costs to universities.
If it were cheap enough and students could buy classware on line, they could receive the device as part of their financial aid and costs of texts would theoretically drop.
To give an idea, the price of the paper bundle of my students' Spanish text is over $180, while the software can be bought on line for $35.
Multiply this by the dozens of classes students take.
If Apple doesn't fill this niche, some enterprising geeks will --and I hope they remember that I put the bug in their ear and make me VP of Company Picnics or some such office that meets my abilities.
Rumored Apple Netbook Actually an E-book?
http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/20090311/apple-netbook-actually-an-e-book/
Incidentally, DD speculates that "the books" Ihnatko mentions may well be the devices themselves.
The fact that the Kindle is a wireless device with a browser built in (which you cannot view in color I might add) makes it only half as useless as I originally thought it was.
These screens are for a netbook/tablet pc that will utilize a touch screen AND thin retractable keyboard, be 802.11n compatible, probably around 120GB, have a couple USB ports, yadda yadda yadda. It probably could run both OSX native and iPhone/touch apps and probably should. Price point? I'm thinking in the neighborhood of $599 - if typical pc netbooks sell for around $300-500, expect Apple to adjust their prices accordingly. And why the need for the keyboard if it's a touchscreen? I just think more people would be fond of the device if it employs a physical keyboard. I'm not so sure touch-typing would be all that effective with relatively no feedback on a touch screen.
If Apple does make an e-book reader, I would bet they will do it in a much more stylish manner than the existing readers.....better? ...maybe.
I'm sorry but the Kindle seems much to much like the result of a marketing meeting titled "What can we sell that looks like an iPhone/smartphone and has a touch screen." The Kindle is a device much like the new Shuffle - it's meant to test technology out on the public and is probably nothing more than a market study for Amazon who's already one if not 2 design iterations ahead of Kindle by now (Shuffle's voice technology is rumored to be getting tested for future implementation into iPhone OSs http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10195250-1.html)
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- by cheinyeanlim May 29, 2009 7:26 AM PDT
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