Snow Leopard features hint at Apple tablet

Bertrand Serlet demoes new features of Safari 4 at WWDC 2009.

(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

Though Apple isn't saying whether it's working on a touchscreen tablet, the company may have shown its hand at its Worldwide Developers Conference last week.

Of course, the has become the Apple press corps' version of a Bigfoot hunt. Some believe the evidence is overwhelming. Others are, well, underwhelmed. And Apple doesn't discuss products before it's ready to.

However, based on the features last week, the newest version of the Mac operating system, OS X 10.6, dubbed Snow Leopard, could turn out to be the most touchscreen-friendly Mac OS the company has ever built. Snow Leopard won't be available until September, and so far, Apple does not sell a touchscreen notebook or tablet. But some of the features in the upcoming OS at least show a path on which Apple could be headed toward offering a larger touchscreen device.

At the developer event, a list of new features of OS X 10.6 was rattled off by Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Bertrand Serlet. But most of the upgrades to the operating system from the previous build, OS X 10.5, known as Leopard, are gentle tweaks aimed at easier usability and faster processing, things the average user may or may not notice.

After a closer look, however, the unifying theme of several of the new features of Snow Leopard is that they're now extremely easy to navigate without a keyboard, or without a lot of mouse clicking. That also happens to be one of the keys to a successful mobile interface: keeping steps to opening applications and performing tasks to a minimum.

Expose in Dock Starting with the Finder, the addition of Expose to the dock is a great example. Expose is a feature that is used for organizing all your open windows at once, or just the windows from a particular application you were running. Putting Expose directly into the dock now cuts out the need to first switch to the specific application you want before activating Expose. It also cuts out the need to use a keyboard, or use a trackpad gesture to call it up. Clicking and holding an app's icon will bring all windows open that are associated with that program to the front. Being able to tap and hold on a touchscreen would make it that much easier.

Stacks now has a scrolling option and resizable thumbnails.

(Credit: Apple)

Stacks There's also Stacks, a feature that keeps shortcuts to chosen files in the dock, which has been updated to be more useful without forcing users to enter the Finder. In Leopard, the amount of thumbnail previews of files shown in a stack was limited, and to see the all files, you had to go into the Finder. Now in Snow Leopard, all items in Stacks can be viewed simply by dragging the scroll bar, precluding the need to open the Finder. That might seem like a small change, but it's important if you're browsing with just a finger on a touch-sensitive surface.

Quicktime X The new version of Apple's video application QuickTime is also more touch-friendly. The player controls (play, pause, forward, backward) are now quite similar to what's found on the iPhone. Also, in order to edit videos, there's a ribbon timeline of scenes from the video that appears under the player. The ribbon can be moved forward and backward in time for editing just by dragging. The same interface is what users of the new iPhone 3G S will be using when they want to trim video clips they've captured on the device. Prior to this, you had to set the beginning and end points with little arrows that provided no indication of what segment of the clip you were editing besides the time.

Freehand drawing And then there's the addition of freehanding via the touchpad. Apple said Snow Leopard will allow users to draw Chinese characters freehand onto a Mac notebook track pad, and the OS will predict characters for faster writing. This feature could clearly transfer from trackpad input to direct onscreen input if Apple engineers wanted. They already have a similar feature in the iPhone for Chinese characters based on the .

Snow Leopard allows Chinese characters to be drawn freehand on the trackpad.

(Credit: Apple)

Safari 4 updates New Safari 4 features would also accommodate easier navigation by touch. The new Coverflow option to browse through past sites visited as well as sites you visit most often would be easy with the drag of a finger. And on a screen larger than an iPhone, the effect would work marvelously.

These are just a few of the feature upgrades of OS X 10.6 that seem it indicate a trend toward touch capabilities.

True, Steve Jobs said at an Apple event last fall that putting touchscreens on traditional laptops "hasn't made a lot of sense" to Apple. His point is a good one: even companies that embrace touchscreen laptops admit that it's an awkward posture to sit and point at a laptop screen. HP's CTO of its PC group, Phil McKinney, has indicated that's why the company's Windows touchscreen laptops are convertible to tablet PCs. But Jobs' comment doesn't rule out a different form factor with a touchscreen, like a tablet.

While it would seem like Apple could use the ready-made iPhone operating system for a tablet instead of a touch-friendly version of Mac OS X users, that could limit the device. Most users expect the freedom of having a Finder and the ability to download directly from the Web and not through the App Store only, as with the iPhone and iPod Touch.

If Apple does end up making a tablet that were to run Snow Leopard or some version of it, that means it probably wouldn't be announced until after Snow Leopard's official release in September. Others have speculated that it won't be ready until at least early 2010.

CNET's Josh Lowensohn contributed to this story.

[sanenazok]

I don't see how this is newsworthy. Even if Apple came out with a tablet, it would be a me-too product and could at best capture a small percentage of Apple's market share. Since I don't want an argument over the actual number, Apple's market share surely doesn't exceed 15% of laptops. Let's say 10% of these would be tablets...don't see why it's worth it for Apple or the news media.

Good luck selling Apple computers in China where "brand" is important, but not exactly exclusive.

[MyRightEye]

Yeeaahhhh... 'cause Apple has never released a game-changing device... oh, wait...

[tgrenier]

The IPOD was a me too product. I had an MP3 player for years before the IPOD but when the IPOD came out, I could finally stop explaining digital music players to friends and family.

[Seaspray0]

Others have done tablets and failed and nobody is making a tablet right now. So, if they make a tablet, they would have the tablet market exclusively. But others have done tablets and failed. This is one of those products where you just don't really know what will happen.

[Universal_Indie_Records]

"The IPOD was a me too product. I had an MP3 player for years before the IPOD but when the IPOD came out, I could finally stop explaining digital music players to friends and family."

The IPOD was a GAME CHANGER in the MP3 category. I had an mp3 player before the ipod as well and the interface and usability was no where what the ipod was. Whether you like Apple or not you can't diminish Apple's contributions. It made mp3 players damn near a household name.

[nmcphers]

It would be newsworthy because it would be a new product segment for the 4th largest laptop maker in the US. (As of Q2 2008. I don't have more recent numbers). It is newsworthy because Apple has a track record of breathing new life into segments they enter, or dominate it all together. Think iTunes, iPod, iPhone, iMac, and the begening of the laptop product line for starters.

[Flytrap]

All of Apples recent hits were me-too products.
Apple was not the first to market with a media player
Apple was not the first to market with online music downloads
Apple was not the first to market with a set-top media centre that downloads off the net
Apple was not the first to market with a touch screen mobile telephone
Apple was not the first to market with an all in one contained desktop computer
Apple was not the first to market with ...

You get the picture... Apple are rarely first to market, and their first itteration isn't always effective, but their execution, packaging, assembly, marketing, integration, etc. usually catapults the product category so high that they often might as well have redefined an existing product or market category as being first.

[ewelch]

Actually, Apple's share of the laptop market several quarters back was around 18 percent and growing. It's still growing compared to the rest of the PC world, where Apple shrunk 3 percent while the rest shrunk 7 percent.

But I'm not surprised that inside and outside Mac fandom people don't get it. Like the clueless MP3 comment further down. Here's what was on MacCentral's website in October 2001 on the day the iPod was introduced (Now Macworld):

- "I still can't believe this! All this hype for something so ridiculous! Who cares about an MP3 player?"

- "All that hype for an MP3 player? Break-thru digital device? The Reality Distiortion Field is starting to warp Steve's mind if he thinks for one second that this thing is gonna take off."

- "Better bring that price down or you wont sell any of these babies"

So, you think Apple can't do it again? That it would be a me-too only device? You're not paying attention.

[myles taylor]

I believe Apple's market share in schools is somewhere around 50% or 60%.

Even 10% of 15% would be a huge amount. Over 130 million computers have been sold this year so far. That's 19.5 million. That's more than the total number iPhones sold and the iPhones have been a cash cow for Apple.

[sanenazok]

There are many tablets on the market. Just 'cause it has a glowing Apple doesn't mean it's going to be a success.

Somehow everyone forgot another Apple "me too" product: AppleTV? Oh that's a success too I guess.

[seven7dust]

@sanazok
you do realize that the iphone wasn't the first touch screen mobile device
why did it become so popular ? and why is it considered revolutionary ?
well because of the execution
being first means nothing, it's doing it right that matters
which is wat Apple excels at !
and plzz stop with the marketshare non-sense
Apple is multi-billion dollar company and growing , there nothing else left to be said

[Mr. Dee]

Sorry, but I am confused. You say you don't need a keyboard or mouse to invoke any of these features. But I am sure I saw them demonstrated through the use of a keyboard and mouse. I am sure if Apple does release a Touch Screen device with support for Leopard you will have the ability to use gestures that can activate some of these effects, but right now, input devices are still necessary on traditional Macintosh PCs.

[nmcphers]

Yes, the article said you don't need a keyboard or mouse to invoke any of those features. Meaning it is 'optional.' You have the option to use them or not use them if a touchscreen Mac did exist.

[myles taylor]

You're seriously confused or are you just pretending to be? Because the whole point of the article was that....I'm not even going to go into it. If you don't get it now you won't get it after I explain it.

[Pishkado]

Of course they were demonstrated via a keyboard and mouse. All existing Macs use keyboards and mice. Did you expect them to show a new OS using anything else? Try reading the article again. Its entire point was that these features would adapt well to a tablet if and when Apple develops one, so they might hint that one's in the pipeline.

[Gimpymw]

Actually, future Apple products will not need keyboard or mouse inputs and will not have touch screens. They'l be simillar to the future Xbox. Users will have to dance and gyrate their bodies before their iPhones in order to enter commands...

[jasonaorr]

I fail to understand the tech world's fascination with tablets and netbooks, and especially their insistence that Apple create one. My iPod Touch is the perfect size to fit in my pocket and can accomplish a surprising number of computing feats. Sure, I can't type up a report with it... but why would I want to type up a report on a touch-screen tablet? It would be uncomfortable and awkward. Just because the technology exists to create such a product does not mean that such a product is necessary or desirable.

[Perry_Clease]

Spot on.

[Paodi]

Before Apple comes out with a tablet computer, they will likely find the solution to the uncomfortable and awkward problem of typing on it, and that will be the game changer for the market.

I think Erica did a great job of tying together multiple subtle cues left by Apple that give a big hint to a potential tablet.

[Renegade Knight]

@ Paodi

Right now the solution to typing on a touch screen is a keyboard. Now working voice recognition would be nice. That would truly tip the scales to an Apple Tablet.

[illegallydead]

@ Renegade Knight: Allow me to go off on this tangent here, but well done voice recognition is just not something that will be a "game changing" element. Using a computer, even in the privacy of your home, is still kind of a "private" event. Speaking to your computer, especially with others around, is downright awkward. "Computer, load porn." I'm sorry, I didn't understand that." "Computer, LOAD PORN". lol a bit of a silly example, yes, but you see my point. Announcing exactly what you are typing or what you want your computer to do is just not something that I see becoming the norm. IMHO it will have to be something much more REVOLUTIONARY, and not some that is merely EVOLUTIONARY...

[bluemist9999]

What if the tablet could be put into a docking station, so it looks like a monitor but then accept a standard mouse and keyboard?

The net effect is it would act as a tablet PC when not in its dock, but as an all-in-one PC when it is in its dock.

[myles taylor]

The think the Mac Tablet will be the next game-changing device. At first I didn't think so, but I have this feeling that Apple is going to introduce something in it that will make everyone want it and have everyone in the world complaining about what it doesn't have and talking about it....

Of course, flame wars will commence and they will tangent off to nothing about the article's subject.

[Seaspray0]

Flame! Flame! Btw, my car doesn't have puncture proof tires, which has absolutely nothing to do with this article.

[Vegaman_Dan]

Tablets haven't become popular because the execution of them to date is just awkward. They are convertible notebooks at best. I have a lot of tablets- I cannot count them off the top of my head, and they don't get used as such. They just happen to be a nice form factor when they have a keyboard. Without the keyboard, they become clunky- think of the HP 1000 or 1100 for example. Forced to use on screen input is fine if you are doing very limited entry, but then you could use a Touch for that. A bigger screen isn't needed and just limits that portability.

I also find it interesting that a bit of orange rind is often used when making special effects masks in clay for that human skin/pores look on the master molds.

[myles taylor]

Seaspray0, have you seen those new grid tires that don't inflate and are puncture proof? That would be awesome.

[InklingBooks]

Excellent observations. It could also mean that Apple will be come out with a multi-touch pad equipped keyboard for desktops. That'd let users handle an iMac like they handle their MacBook Pro, making the UI for both similar.

[Renegade Knight]

Even if they don't make a tablet they need something to complete with the HP all in one touch screen computer. It's a niche, but it's a good niche. 7 and Snow Leapard both should make this (and tablet PC's in general) viable.

[GKrynen]

A tablet can be used as an all in one on the real world desktop by putting it in a cradle and connecting a corded or Bluetooth keyboard to it. It can act as an over sized book reader, a mobile entertainment system, a full PC (Personal Computer), etc with out having a full keyboard present all the time. With a 15 inch touch screen a close to full size keyboard can be accomplished onscreen and the text has plenty of room to be read as well.
It just depends on the individual users perception of how useful the device is. Not all of us drive full time four wheel drive trucks, but in my case I get it dirty and would love a more mobile full size system to accompany me while exploring.

[TechnoMan475392]

E-book=especially with the new screen that doubles as an LCD and an e-ink type display (I forgot the name of the company).
Cradle=a netbook thing exists that does this.

All of your ideas are awesome and exist for Apple/anybody else to pick and choose from to combine and make an innovative product.

[Chapmaniac]

Let me remind everyone here that Apple's OS X has included handwriting recognition from the start. It's never really been utilized though and most people believe the component is a hold-over from the old Newton days.

I'm agreeing with those that recognize this is not "news."

[elllroy]

@ applesuxleo

this is sarcasm, right?

[cosuna]

It obvious the Jobs is not okey with the state of today's touch tablets, so he's waiting for the technology to appear and not just jumping right into it like HP and Microsoft. We all know how poor Touch screen kiosks work and the few that work, are so hand crafted that one can barely notice the OS inside (e.g. the Kodak kiosks).

It's gonna take time before Cocoa Touch is mature enough for a full screen UI. iPhone and iPod Touch are limited interaction, so one doesn't see the rough edges. In a big screen, the small delays are unbearable and show stoppers.

Also iPhone's based on Flash SSD no more than 32Gb. Try rapid touch gesture interaction with a 250Gb HDD. Mouse GUI can tolerate the latency (most cursors are hardware based and careless if the OS can catch up). But Touch is real time and intensive. If the OS can catch up, you'll have buttons that don't click or worse, pans that don't pan. So you'll click and click, creating USB buffered actions that will overwhelm the USB bus and create "phantom actions" afterwards, since touch is location specific and can't be played in sequence, as opposed to keyboard interaction or mouse interaction.

All this is known by Apple, and is way the most appropriate reason for the delay, considering that Apple has all the elements for a successful touch tablet, including the OS's, the API and now the processor (most probably an Intel ULV Core 2 rather than an Atom),

[solitare_pax]

Consider this: A decent WACOM tablet with video screen runs at about $1,000+ - and the current crop of tablet PCs are clunky compromises between laptop form factors.

That being said, IF Apple could create a tablet computer that is as light as the Macbook Air - to wit, no heavier than a large sketchpad and it could be taken anywhere - they might have a market for aspiring artists.

[crue24]

I don't respond often because what's the point of joining the flame wars, but I'm bored so...I'm a mac fan but currently don't have a mac laptop, just my iMac and a mac mini. I replaced my laptop with a HP mini-note with Win7. It's perfect for what I generally need a laptop for: e-mail, web and the occasional word doc. I would GLADLY replace my HP/win netbook with a mac netbook, but I'm not so sure about a tablet. While it sounds cool it seems awkward to me. But I'd probably buy one anyway to try it out. They slam dunked the iPhone. I've had practically every new PDA/Smartphone since the Palm V and I use my iPhone WAY more than any of the others. Maybe they can make the tablet work.

[LaTene_Man]

I'll be very surprised if they come out with a tablet computer or even a touch screen laptop. Jobs is dead on right in this one. It just doesn't make a lot of sense. I personally would absolutely hate to have all those fingerprints on my computer screen. Now if you can use a stylus, that's not so bad, but fingerprints all over the glossy screen? Forget it! If they can come up with a screen material that is sharp and all but immune to fingerprints, then it might be useful.

[ejlenny]

Oleophobic screen! iPhone 3G S has it, so will the tablet. The tablet will come to fruition and it will be huge. As long as Apple can keep the price under 600 and not locked to a carrier.

[Kikarok]

Anyone else notice how Expose in Dock and Stacks sound an awful lot like the Superbar in Windows 7? Thumbnail Preview and Jumplists, anyone?

And about the whole tablet thing, Archos is working on a Windows 7 tablet already ;D

FLAME ON!

[LaTene_Man]

Hmmm, well, Superbar came well after Exposé and Stacks, so I wonder who is copying whom? For all those that don't see the obvious answer, Microsoft's copying Apple, yet again.

Tablet computers are nothing new. They have yet to be very successful however, hence Apple's hesitation in producing one.

(Making statements like the one you made above, Kikarok,is called "trolling". Please refrain from doing it in the future.)

[illegallydead]

@ LaTene_Man: and your response is vindicating him. His point is (that you failed to notice in your hurry to fire back your counter-troll), that the NEW implementation of Exposé and Stacks is somewhat reminiscent of the Win7 implementation of the "Superbar". Yes, Exposé existed first, but the click-and-hold action is kind of similar. Whether one copied one or the other, I don't give a rip. Lets see who's implementation works better, shall we?

[rrod182]

I'll buy anything that'll improve my one-handed surfing ability ;)

[JScottK]

Apple already makes a "tablet computer," at least in the most useful form of it. Two in fact: the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Think about it. What would you use a "tablet computer" for? Mobile email, web browsing, simple app access, media playback, snap shots, mobile gaming. What wouldn't you use a "tablet computer" for? Photoshop, InDesign, programming, heavy-duty spreadsheet use, typing long documents, hard-core gaming, etc.

How does the iPhone and iPod Touch NOT already fill this need. (and fit in your pocket to boot!)

[Kikarok]

Tablet = Bigger Screen; perhaps a built-in webcam

[ikramerica--2008]

The interface of WIndows or OS X as it is is very touch/tap friendly anyway. Not sure how these new features "hint" at anything about a tablet.

This type of article is a case study for a statistics/probability/logic class. Just because X Y and Z are useful to A does not mean X Y or Z prove, or even hint at, the existence of A.

Only if X Y or Z were both necessary and exclusive to A would this hint at anything.

[kieranmullen]

I knew it! The Apple Newton is back baby!


[CNET editors' note: Prohibited content deleted.]

[shellcodes_coder]

Endangered OS Snow leopard

[mattacrazy]

There is a hint on the apple website here: http://www.apple.com/mac/whichmacbook/compare.html
Under White Macbook it says: "Cheapest full featured notebook".
FULL FEATURED, does that mean o cheaper one with less features????
I hope so!

[mgheff]

I have no doubt that apple will revolutionize the tablet, or whatever they decide to make it. I am interested to see what happens with the Macbook (not Pro) line, since the only left is the white, and they will have to get rid of that sooner or later. And, also this tablet.