The Tale of Two Tablets

And no, neither of them is an iPad -- although I'll mention that too.

The group I work with at school recently purchased a couple of tablets – the Asus T91 and Lenovo S10-3t – for use in the field. Being the resident techie, I volunteered to evaluate the two units and put them through their paces and figure out which best served our needs. To sum up my findings, the Asus T91 is a limited but brilliant machine – possibly the best tablet PC I’ve used to date. The Lenovo S10-3t is a definite no-buy.

Read more below.

The Asus T91:

This is the smallest and lightest netbook that I’ve seen to date. It has an 8.9-inch screen and correspondingly small keyboard (both the same size as my Asus 901). That also means it has an incredibly small footprint and weighs less than 1 kg (2.1 pounds). It is also significantly slimmer than my 901 thanks to no battery bulge.

The T91 feels slow and underpowered. The performance improved somewhat after replacing the 1 GB of RAM with the 2 GB chip from my Asus 901, but is still quite sluggish. It’s perfectly fine for running most applications, but switching between them or running many programs simultaneously will slow the system down considerably.

With Wi-Fi on, I’m able to get around 4 to 5 hours out of the unit. With Wi-Fi off, power management set to low levels, and the screen dimmed to about 33%, I was able to squeeze out close to 7 hours out of the unit.

What really makes the T91 shine is its use as “digital paper.” James Kendrick calls inking the best little-known technology of the decade and I have to agree. It’s a shame Microsoft never developed this further and it is something I wish Apple incorporated into the iPad. (I understand why Apple didn’t, but using the T91 really makes me wish the iPad had an active digitizer and a stylus, as well as capacitive touch.) Maybe Microsoft will get it right with the Courier?

Below is an example of some notes I took during a recent seminar showing what you can do with digital ink:

A limitation of the T91 in regard to inking is that, unlike my Lenovo X61 Tablet, the T91 uses a touch screen. What this means is that I have to keep my hand off of the screen as I write. It’s small enough that after using it about 30 minutes, I learned to rest my hand on the bezel as I wrote. An inconvenience, but one I was able to adapt to.

What makes the T91 such a great device is its light weight and (with judicious use of power management) the ability to go nearly all day without recharging. It’s the first computer that I’ve used that would be a serious contender for replacing paper for me for note-taking. The ability to change the color of ink and rearrange text is wonderful in use. My Thinkpad weighs twice and much and only gets about an hour or so of batter life making it impractical in this regard.

Other things that make the T91 great include the fact it has no fan or hard drive (it has 32 GB of flash storage instead and two SD slots for memory expansion). This means it is completely silent and has no moving parts, and expect that this makes it more rugged than most netbooks.

Comparing the T91 to the iPad:

First, I will say that these are two entirely different products and each will do things the other will not do. Overall, the T91 is probably a more robust substitute for my ThinkPad than the iPad would be, being able to do most anything the ThinkPad can do – just with a smaller screen and keyboard and a much slower processor.

Advantages of the T91 over the iPad:

• Running any and all Windows-based software. For me, programs I routinely run include:
  • NetLogo.
  • Stata.
  • Python.
  • Microsoft Office.
  • Windows Live Writer (blogging software).
• Built-in VGA port for making PowerPoint presentations (the iPad has an optional VGA dongle you can buy).
• Two(!) built-in SD card slots.
• Two USB ports.
• A stylus that is much more precise than the Pogo Stylus on the iPhone or iPad. This allows me to write nearly as finely as I would on paper, including writing out and solving complex mathematical formulas.
• Multitasking (although this advantage will go away with multitasking coming to the iPad this fall).
• Webcam.
• Flash.
• A tactile keyboard. (My playing with an iPad makes me think this is less critical for short periods of writing than I originally thought. And you can pair the iPad with a Bluetooth keyboard.)

Advantages of the iPad over the T91:

• Magic!
• It runs (non-Flash) video much, much better than the T91.
• Brilliant display.
• 3G cellular connection (on the 3G iPad).
• GPS (on the 3G iPad).
• eReader software (both iBooks and Kindle).
• Lighter weight (1.5 vs. 2.1 pounds).
• Much, much thinner.
• A larger, higher-resolution screen.
• Much, much faster/more responsive to use.
• Double(?) the battery life (10 hours vs. 5 with wi-fi on).
• A fantastic touch interface rather than one that is often slow and unresponsive.
• Thousands of Apps that are only going to get better and make the iPad more useful over time.

If you can’t tell, I like both machines. Each for very different reasons.

Below is how the T91 compares to the iPad in size. Notice how much of a difference there is when it comes to thickness.

What About the Lenovo S10-3t?

What can I say? After placing this next to the Asus, there was no comparison -- universally agreed to by everyone in my office. The Lenovo was larger, came with Windows 7 Starter instead of Home Premium (which meant no special tablet features); was much, much heavier, thicker, and bulkier than the T91; and had no stylus. The few touch-specific pieces of software it had, such as a simulated 3D environment that let you move photos around, felt more like a science fair project than a legitimate business tool. Dimensions on which the Lenovo beat out the Asus when it comes to specs include:

• Larger hard drive (250 GB instead of 32 GB).
• Faster processor (1.66 GHz vs. 1.33).
• Longer battery life (8 hours vs. 5).
• Larger screen (10.1” vs. 8.9”).
• Bigger keyboard (but I find the Asus isn’t too bad).

Besides these characteristics, we all liked the Asus T91 much, much better. It is smaller, lighter (2.1 vs. 3.3 pounds), has a stylus, responds equally well, and seems better built for a touch. Especially with no stylus and crippled tablet features with Windows 7 Starter, I cannot recommend the Lenovo on any dimension. (To be fair, James Kendrick has a different opinion. Then again, he tested a model with Windows 7 Home Premium.)

BOTTOM LINE:

If you’re looking for a tablet/netbook I recommend you strongly consider the Asus T91.

If you’re looking for something larger than the T91, you might want to look into the Asus T101 instead. (It’s faster, has a larger hard driver, bigger keyboard and monitor, bigger, and heavier (2.8 vs. 2.1 pounds) than the T91.)

Avoid the Lenovo. Whatever netbook tablet you get, make sure to get a model with Windows 7 Home Premium and at least 2 GB of RAM.

Of course, if running Windows programs or inking doesn’t matter so much to you, you might want to consider looking at the iPad too.

Looking at the iPad from Two Angles

David Pogue has two reviews of the iPad in today's New York Times -- one for techies and one for normal people. His conclusion?

The bottom line is that the iPad has been designed and built by a bunch of perfectionists. If you like the concept, you’ll love the machine.

The only question is: Do you like the concept?

I know I do. And my guess is I will love it. I hope to get into the Apple Store early next week to take a look for myself.

P.S. -- Boy Genius has a good round-up of more iPad reviews. One of the most exciting things for me is that both David Pogue and Walt Mossberg report stellar battery life for the iPad. Both got significantly more than the 10 hours Apple claims.

A Glimpse Into the iPad App Store?

With the iPad launching this Saturday, excitement is starting to mount.  In anticipation, Gadget Lab shares this video of what the iPad app store will supposedly look like.  I already see several apps (such as Omni Graph Sketcher) that look incredibly appealing.

P.S. – Apple released a series of guided-tour videos about the the iPad today, showing how a lot of the built-in apps will work.  They mostly look good, although data entry looks a little awkward.

Microsoft’s Courier Digital Journal

This could be good:

With Apple recently announcing the availability of the iPad for pre-order, Microsoft showed up with a bit of news of its own on its tablet PC. The Microsoft Courier is "digital journal" that is under one inch think, under half a kg in weight and will just be the size of a large index card (or a moleskin notebook, for that matter) when folded up. Pretty neat stuff there.

It's not going to be a full-blown tablet as expected but the dual-screen device will be built upon the Tegra 2 and will run on some flavor of Windows CE, similar to the Zune HD. The user interface will be touch-based but mainly focused on writing and drawing. In addition to journaling, it will also serve as an eBook platform with Microsoft building an entire reading marketplace around it. It will also have a camera and headphone jack, opening it up for some video blogging and music playback as well.

All this looks very promising and while the iPad is targeting media consumption, the main goal for Microsoft seems to be media creation. If the image above is to be believed, this would provide some very precise handwriting capabilities which even the iPhone doesn't have yet. A mini tablet that acts like a digital notebook would be a perfect complement to the iPad's digital book interface.

Expect the Microsoft courier to launch later this year.

See more info and photos here.

I’ve been testing out a couple of new tablet PCs for our experimental lab at school over the past couple weeks (more details on this soon).  A couple of impressions I’ve had are:

• Having a digital stylus is very nice and allows a tablet to serve as a pretty good replacement for paper.  I understand why the iPad doesn’t have a stylus and it’s probably the right marketing/design decision for Apple, but I still really wish it did.
• This is only true if the tablet is small enough, light enough, and has a long enough battery life to be easy to use on a daily basis.  My ThinkPad is simply too big, too heavy, and only gets 1 to 1-1/2 hours of battery life. (I could probably increase this by 50% if I bought a new battery for it.)

If the Courier works as the videos below show, it is as responsive as an iPhone, gets similar battery life to the iPad (10 hours), and is priced competitively with an iPad – Microsoft may have a real winner on their hands and could provide a good challenge to the iPad for many users.  Let’s hope they succeed. Who knows? It might even run Flash.

Wired Magazine on an iPad

For all the naysayers who are calling the iPad nothing but a big iPod Touch, here is a great demonstration of what’s just a few months away.  Imagine being able to interact with your textbooks and other books in this way.  Incredible!

Something tells me this is only the tip of the iceberg.  As one of the people mentions in the video, this may be as large of a change for journalism as the transition from radio to TV.  This type of technology is likely to have huge ramifications for education – not just textbooks but with new forms of educational delivery.

Of course, there may be some technical difficulties to surmount before this becomes perfected:

The catch, of course, is that while Wired Reader can be packaged into its own Air runtime app to load on the iPad, Apple doesn't have to allow it (for reasons of security, stability or, well, whatever grumpy reasoning Apple comes up with). Also, the demo you see here is seamlessly smooth, and this fluidity is a huge flavor component to this visual candy. Whether or not the content will be so jitter-less on either the iPad or any stock Android tablet is still an unknown (especially as some iPad animations tended to stutter during our hands on, without any Air go-between).

But these challenges should be overcome very soon.  (Think of the performance increases in the iPhone between the first generation and the 3GS.)

There are bound to be many more tremendously innovative apps such as this that no one has even dreamed of yet.  (Including the totally silly.)  Bring them on!

Microsoft May Create Office for iPad

This could get interesting…

T3 is reporting that Mike Tedesco, Microsoft's Senior Product Manager for WindowsBU, stated that a version of Microsoft Office for the iPad is "something that we're looking at." Tedesco stressed that he couldn't make any official announcement today, but from the sounds of things, Microsoft is at least considering a version of Office for Apple's newest creation.

The iPad already has the ability to run a productivity suite -- Apple has created iPad-specific versions of its own iWork programs, Pages, Numbers, and Keynote for $9.99 each -- but as T3 notes, bringing Office over to the iPad would go a long way toward establishing it as a legitimate productivity device. Whether those Office apps would be bundled together, offered individually, or cost as much as or more than iWork is, of course, impossible to say at this point. We'll keep you updated as we learn more about Microsoft's intentions.

[Via MacRumors]

If Office becomes available for the iPad, it could help legitimize the device in the eyes of many and make users more confident in buying the device.  Bill Gates says he is unimpressed with the iPad, claiming it needs a stylus and a keyboard.  That attitude may be part of what kept Microsoft from ever launching his vision for tablet PCs.  (Although I will admit it would be nice to see a precision stylus for the iPad for note taking.  I have a Pogo Stylus for my iPhone, but it’s nowhere near as accurate as the stylus on my tablet PC.)

The iPad: Bringing Automatic Transmission to the Computer?

John Gruber:

Used to be that to drive a car, you, the driver, needed to operate a clutch pedal and gear shifter and manually change gears for the transmission as you accelerated and decelerated. Then came the automatic transmission. With an automatic, the transmission is entirely abstracted away. The clutch is gone. To go faster, you just press harder on the gas pedal.

That’s where Apple is taking computing. A car with an automatic transmission still shifts gears; the driver just doesn’t need to know about it. A computer running iPhone OS still has a hierarchical file system; the user just never sees it.

Read the whole thing.

(HT Tyler Cowen)

Who Is the iPad For?

Gizmodo:

The iPad has shortcomings, but they only betray Apple's caution, just like what happened with iPhone No. 1. Now every 15-year-old kid asks for an iPhone, and the ones that don't get them get iPod Touches.

We can sit here in our geeky little dorkosphere arguing about it all day, but as much as Apple clearly enjoys our participation, the people Jobs wants to sell this to don't read our rants. They can't even understand them. My step-mother refuses to touch computers, but nowadays checks email, reads newspapers and plays Solitaire on an iPod Touch, after basically picking it up by accident one day. That's a future iPad user if I ever saw one.

Jobs doesn't care about the netbook business, or the ebook business. He's just aiming for the same people they were aiming at. The difference is, he's going to reach them. And the fight will be with whoever enters into the tablet business with him. Paging Mr. Ballmer...

Here are more thoughts from Stephen Fry:

“What can I do with it that I can’t do with a laptop or an iPhone?” they might now be objecting. “Too big for my pocket, not big enough for serious use. Don’t see the need. It’s a solution looking for a problem.”

There are many issues you could have with the iPad. No multitasking, still no Flash. No camera, no GPS. They all fall away the minute you use it. I cannot emphasise enough this point: “Hold your judgment until you’ve spent five minutes with it”. No YouTube film, no promotional video, no keynote address, no list of features can even hint at the extraordinary feeling you get from actually using and interacting with one of these magical objects.

I think Tyler Cowen gets it mostly right:

The story here is one of new markets, not cannibalization or even competition.

Here is an example of what he means.

Read more of Gizmodo’s iPad coverage:

• Apple iPad: Everything You Need To Know
• Apple iPad First Hands On
• Apple iPad Just Tried to Assassinate Laptops
• 8 Things That Suck About Apple iPad

Apple’s iPad Promotional Video

The iPad: First Impressions

My initial impressions:

I think Apple clearly has a winner here.  From some early reviews I've read, the speed on this thing really screams and is significantly faster than the iPhone 3GS.  I’m very impressed by how much Apple has been able to pack into this device and by what they have chosen to leave out.  The pricing of both the iPad and data services are below many commentator’s expectations, making me continued to be impressed with Apple’s marketing acumen.  Steve Jobs is positioning this as a device to replace both eReaders and netbooks.  While he didn’t intend it, I think it also has the potential to replace an iPhone for many people too.  Read on for more of my thoughts.

First the specs (via Gadget Lab):

• The tablet is 0.5 inches thick and weighs 1.5 pounds.
• It has a 9.7-inch display with 1024 x 768-pixel resolution. It also has capacitive multitouch that’s similar to the iPhone.
• The device runs Apple’s own processor, a 1-GHz Apple A4 chip — possibly the fruits of of Apple’s $278 million acquisition of PA semiconductor in 2008.
• The iPad will have 16-GB to 64-GB flash storage.
• It includes speaker, microphone and accelerometer so you can use the device in both landscape and portrait mode. There’s also a compass.
• It has up to 10 hours of battery life and one month of standby time.
• It offers Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity
• It will include optional 3G access from AT&T. For $30 a month, users can get unlimited data. For iPhone users already crying out in pain about their bondage to the AT&T network, here’s something to sweeten the deal: No contracts are required for the data plan. iPad users can cancel their data connectivity at any time.
• Unlimited data will cost $30 or users can pay $15 for up to 250 MB of data.
• The iPad will cost $500 for 16 GB, $600 for 32 GB and $700 for a 64-GB model. But if you want 3G connectivity, add another $130 to the price tag.

Is the iPad a Kindle Killer?

In a word, no.  Or at least not entirely.  The Kindle will still have some strong selling points among bibliophiles (its primary market).  eInk is nicer than computer screens for reading for extended periods of time.  Battery life measured in days rather than hours.  Cheaper price point.  Smaller size.  Lighter weight.  Lack of distraction.  All of these features will appeal to hard core readers.  However, among more casual readers, Apple has just given strong reason not to buy a Kindle.  Amazon has already responded by announcing an app store for the Kindle and changing the revenue split it offers to independent authors.  Expect more innovation coming soon including cheaper prices.  I would love to see Amazon offer a "Pocket Kindle" similar in size to the Sony Pocket Reader.  (With a 5-inch rather than 6-inch screen.)  This would further distinguish the Kindle in size from the iPad.  I for one also appreciate the text-to-speech capabilities of the Kindle -- something there was no indication the iPad could do with books.  Also, with the ability to sync books to an iPad or iPhone via the Kindle App, one could think of the Kindle and iPad as compliments rather than substitutes.

But with a price point starting at $499 and the ability to purchase iWorks, I do think the iPad has killed off Plastic Logic's Que.  Relative to the iPad, the Que is significantly more pricey and much more limited.  I think most business folks the Que is trying to target will have a tough time justifying the extra expense just for eInk.

I think the iPad also destroyed the Kindle DX at the DX’s current price point.  (Expect to see a $100 reduction in the DX ASAP.)  The DX has never been quite as popular as the Kindle 2, to begin with and for an extra $10, people can now get an iPad.  No comparison.

Is the iPad a Netbook Killer?

In a word, mostly.  With a price point starting at $499, the iPad represents a serious disruptive technology invading the netbook marketplace.  A couple things keep me from fully saying yes.

1) No Flash Support.  While Apple has not commented about this, a webpage Jobs loaded on the iPad during his presentation showed a “missing plug-in” box.  I suspect this may have been intentional to gauge commentator’s reactions to flash not working on the iPad.  I find this disappointing.  For the iPad to fully replace netbooks, I would like to see it be able to watch streaming videos from websites such as Hulu and Netflix.

2) No Multitasking.  Again, this is something that Apple has not officially commented on, but it appears that the iPad runs only one app at a time – just like the iPhone.  This means you can’t as easily swap between working in multiple applications (such as two Word documents at once) or run Pandora or Rhapsody in the background while working on a document.  (Of course, iTunes should still work – it’s one of the few apps Apple lets run in the background.)  As a blogger, a lack of multitouch would make it onerous to cut and past hyperlinks into blog posts.

Of course by the time the iPad goes on sale, both of these issues may be addressed.  If they are, I suspect my netbook won’t see the light of day very often.

Is the iPad an iPhone Killer?

In a word, partially.  As someone who uses his iPhone least frequently as a phone and more as a mobile computing platform, I could see the iPad and a cheap cell phone meeting most of my needs.  (Having said that, I don’t plan on ditching my iPhone anytime soon.)  I know a lot of people who wish they could purchase a data-only cellular plan for their iPod Touch.  With the introduction of this option on the iPad, I think a lot of people will begin to wonder why other devices can’t offer the same no-contract option?  I am thrilled to see the $30 per month data plan option on the iPad and expect other wireless providers to eventually be forced to compete.  That’s great news for consumers.  Of course, the great thing about the iPhone is that it’s always in my pocket (plus it has a GPS and built-in camera).  That’s something the iPad won’t be able to claim.

In A Nutshell

The iPad looks to be a significant and important new technology that has the potential to replace eReaders, netbooks, and iPhones to varying degrees.  It is a game changer not only on the technology front, but also on the business models behnind it.  The iPad beats out much of the potential competition on both price and features.  Why do I have the looming feeling that my bank account is about to go down?

It Shall Be Called the 'iPad'

The iPad is real. Engadget has live coverage.

Tomorrow, the Tablet?

Tomorrow is the big day for Apple to make their expected announcement about their long-anticipated tablet.  The web is buzzing with speculations and rumors about what to expect, ranging from it being nothing but a 10-inch iPod Touch to it being the most significant technological invention in history.  While it is dangerous to make predictions about technology, I will go on record as saying I think it will be somewhere in between.

If Jobs and Apple live up to their reputation, I expect the tablet to be every bit as innovative as the iPod and iPhone were.  This means we can expect something exciting to be unveiled.  Something that does some things no one is yet guessing.  Exactly what, we will find out in about 24 hours.  Below are some of my best guesses:

1. It will be heavily focused on periodicals, books, and textbooks.  Unlike previous eReaders, it will have a fast-refresh rate, touch-sensitive color screen, and incorporate a lot of multi-media capabilities (such as embedding audio and video into books and magazines).  This would also make it ideal as an all-purpose catalog for online shopping.
2. The screen is likely to be a traditional 4:3 ratio rather than 16:9 or 16:10 widescreen.  If it is designed to be used in horizontal and vertical orientation (like the iPhone), a more balanced ratio makes sense.  This is something I think other tablet prototypes have been getting wrong.  (And what eReaders have been getting right.)  The screen will be LCD and not OLED (to keep costs down).
3. It will do everything the iPod Touch can do, plus much more.
4. Expect some kind of innovative method for entering text.  I hope for a way to tether a wireless keyboard to it, but I’m not holding my breath on that.
5. All iPhone/iPod apps will be 100% compatible.  You will be able to use any app you have already purchased on the tablet.
6. Expect a new, better way to organize apps on the device.  Possibly a dynamic organizational structure that lets you organize them into groups, tag them, or view them alphabetically.  Or something else entirely different, but app organization will be key.  (I have to keep deleting apps on my iPhone to make room for more icons.  Not good if Apple wants to maximize app sales.)
7. The name will likely be i-“something”.  Best guesses seem to be iSlate, iPad, and iBook.  If I were Jobs and flexible about deviating from the “i” brand, I would also consider the name “AppLet.”
8. It will use multi-touch in creative ways we haven’t seen before.
9. It will come standard with 64 GB.
10. Price will be somewhere between $650 and $850.
11. It will allow for significant interaction with text in books – such as highlighting, note taking, etc..  This is something critical for the textbooks to take-off on this platform and an area where Amazon’s Kindle failed.
12. Battery life will be less than what many hope for.  Probably on par with the iPod Touch.  Expect non-removable batteries.
13. Document review and editing will be built in.  This will include direct support for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Pages, Numbers, and Keynote.  PDF support will also be included with mark-up ability for PDFs as well.
14. This will integrate both with the iPhone and Mac.  Possibilities include the ability to tether to the iPhone’s wireless connection (doubtful but hopeful) and the ability to automatically sync documents between a Mac and tablet (either through MobileMe or a simple drag and drop).
15. It will be brilliantly simple to use.  Some features may require learning new ways of input, but expect the learning curve will be minimal.
16. The OS will be different from the Mac and iPhone, but much closer to the iPhone.  (Microsoft made the mistake of trying to extend PC menus and folders to their tablet and phone operating systems.  Apple started from the ground-up with the iPhone – eliminating the scrollbar for example.)
17. Simple photo editing built-in.  Video editing beyond what the iPhone can do is also a possibility.
18. A forward facing webcam for video chats and rear facing camera for other functions.  The webcam will likely be 1.3 megapixels and the rear-mounted a 3 megapixel camera.
19. Built-in GPS.  Possibly with fully functional maps of the US included, making it a potential replacement for whatever GPS you currently own.
20. Weight will be under one pound.
21. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and 3G will all be built-in.  I suspect Apple will not require a data plan to be purchased with the tablet.  Instead, they may roll-out a service that allows you to download apps and books for free over 3G (like the Kindle) and possibly have some type of pay-as-you go pricing.  I expect this will be one of the most important innovations of the tablet.  (Not all innovations are technological.)
22. It will be thinner than an iPhone with dimensions around 6” wide x 9” tall.
23. It will have a 10-inch screen.  Display resolution will be at least 1,280 x 960.  Possibly as high as 1,450 x 1,050.
24. Marvel Comics will be offered on the tablet.  Probably others comics as well, but definitely Marvel.  (Jobs is on the Board of Disney and Disney bought Marvel not long ago.)  A subscription option to allow unlimited viewing of all Marvel comics over 1-5 years old would be a strong possibility.
25. Video integration will be huge.  Possibly with subscriptions to Hulu and network stations.  Downloadable video rentals will be key.  If the tablet has a display port (unlikely -- see below), it could be used to watch downloaded content on your TV.
26. Unlimited (or limited?) music subscriptions (like Rhapsody) is a distinct possibility.
27. It will be cooler than cool.

Things I hope for but don’t expect:

1. An SD card slot.  It would be a tremendous boon for photographers to be able to copy their photos directly onto the tablet.
2. A USB port.  This would allow thumbdrives and keyboards to connect.  I find this unlikely on both counts as it is not in keeping with the simplicity Apple promotes.  If a keyboard is an option, I expect it to be wireless.
3. A display port.  Using Apple’s proprietary video connector, you could buy an adaptor that would allow you to hook this up to projectors to give presentations.  Very handy, especially if you can modify your presentations on the tablet.  Might impact the minimum thickness of the device.
4. Pixel Qi screen.  This is a screen that can essentially turn from LCD quality to eInk.  It is coming out later this year and will have a ‘major partner'.’  I doubt this partner is Apple on several fronts: a) it would mean a later (June+) rather than sooner (March) launch; b) Pixel Qi is a super-cool concept, but with unproven reliability; and c) I think Pixel Qi is still working on integrating their technology with touchscreens.

We’ll see how well I do with my predictions tomorrow.  In the meantime, Gizmodo has a great page set-up for collecting all of the latest tablet rumors.  If you’re interested in what others are speculating, be sure to check it out.  Also, see their excellent write-up on the expected user-interface and their other tablet-related posts.

Ultimate Keyboard Smackdown: iPhone Vs. Stylus Vs. Chiclets

The results might surprise you:

With the Apple Tablet likely to change the world as we know it in less than a week, you may be wondering (still) about the merits of a soft, on-screen keyboard. Phil Gyford was wondering the same thing, only instead of just sitting around and lazily pondering (like you) he did something about it.

Phil dug out an old Newton MessagePad, a Palm Vx, a Palm Treo 650 and an iPhone 3G, and typed out a pre-memorized 221-word passage of text on each one, timing each try twice. To balance the test, Phil also typed the text once on his most familiar keyboard (a MacBook) and wrote it out by hand. With a pen. And paper.

The results are only unexpected if you have not actually used the iPhone for any length of time. The MacBook came in first. The iPhone’s soft keyboard came a very near second, with the Treo’s tiny hardware keyboard close behind. Next was pen and paper, followed by the Newton’s handwriting recognition and finally, in deserved last place, the Palm Vx with its frustrating Graffiti input.

None of this explains just how Apple plans to put a soft keyboard on a big ol’ tablet screen, but it does show us exactly why Apple will never ship a dedicated hardware keyboard for either the Tablet or the iPhone: Unless you are a professional writer, you just don’t need one.

Here is Phil Gyford’s write-up of his experience, including this graph summarizing his results:

 

That being said, I’m still hoping for a physical keyboard accessory for the iPhone/Apple Tablet.  I do a lot of writing and note taking for school and would love to be able to turn these into writing machines.  Until then, I’ll have to stick with my laptop and AlphaSmart Neo.

P.S. – I just stumbled on ZenTap, an app for the iPhone that significantly speeds up text entry and has a host of features such as advanced predictive text, a full-fledged spell-checker, character count, and the ability to automatically load text into an e-mail, text message, Twitter, and more.  It will even translate text into other languages.  I’m trying out the free version, but if it continues to impress me as much as it has so far, it may warrant a purchase of the full version ($1.99).  Highly recommended!

Here is ZenTap’s webpage and a video showing how it works:

How Textbooks Might Look on a Tablet?

This video shows what textbook publishers are imagining.  Two things jump out at me:

1) This seems far less innovative than what magazine publishers are thinking of doing on a tablet platform.  Print media seems to still be struggling with how to best embrace new digital platforms.  I understand and appreciate the need to be able to  reference and view pages like they would appear in a printed textbook.  (Some students and faculty will likely use print versions in parallel with people using tablet editions of textbooks.)  Still, it seems like there is a lot of room for interacting with equations, having animated graphics to show relationships between variables, better integration of multimedia, etc.

2) What’s up with textbooks expiring?  If publishers want to get away with that, they better charge 50% or less the price of the print edition and give the option to permanently buy the book.  Some of my textbooks never see the light of day after I’m done with a class, but the best are ones I refer back to frequently.  And especially if I put a lot of time creating notes and highlights, I would not want to see all of my reference material and annotations suddenly “vaporize” or require constantly repurchasing the textbook.  That’s a quick way to keep people in the paper-bound world.

In-App Sales and iTablet: The Killer Combo to Save Publishing?

Will Apple save the publishing industry?

Apple on Thursday made a subtle yet major revision to its App Store policy, enabling extra content to be sold through free iPhone apps. It’s a move that immediately impacts the publishing industry, and it could pay even bigger dividends if the Cupertino company indeed delivers its highly anticipated touchscreen tablet.

While the most obvious beneficiaries would be app developers, a market segment that can also benefit from the new in-app commerce model are people and companies that create content and need to set up shop in a way that doesn’t, in effect, charge someone for just walking in — like media publishers. Newspapers and magazines are reportedly in talks with Apple about repurposing their content onto a “new device,” presumably the rumored touchscreen tablet Apple will deliver in early 2010. Numerous reports suggest an Apple tablet would have a strong focus on redefining print media. Enabling in-app commerce through free apps was a crucial move to help make this goal a reality...

What’s in it for Apple? Primarily, squashing Amazon’s Kindle. Who would wish to read a digital newspaper or magazine on the Kindle’s drab e-ink screen if Apple delivers a multimedia-centric tablet? Wired’s Steven Levy shares my view in his assessment of the Kindle’s newspaper experience: “[The Kindle DX's] plodding menu-based interface still made navigating newspapers difficult, and the rich graphic quality that makes magazines such an indulgence is totally missing. Even the flashiest print publication looks like The New England Journal of Medicine.”

Can Apple redefine print media to save the publishing industry? It probably has a higher chance than any other tech company out there. Apple is a market shaper, and that’s the kind of a company the publishing industry needs to resuscitate it as the traditional advertising model continues to collapse. Daily Beast editor Tina Brown believes that, thanks to the powers of the internet and technology, we’re entering the “golden age” of journalism in the next three years. Perhaps Apple’s tablet will be a crucial part of it.

Read the whole thing.

What Apple has done with the App Store is create a new market for a whole host of software and services. What's impressive is that, despite serious shortcomings and relatively poor navigation and organization, the App Store already represents a $2.4 billion dollar economy. (That's bigger than the GDP of some small nations!) What's perhaps the most difficult task for Apple, software developers, and content providers is getting the pricing for everything right. This is a critical point for getting profits to incentivize continued innovation.

Stay tuned to see what's coming next.

P.S. -- For the record, the advantage eBook readers have over something like a tablet is battery life measured in terms of days rather than hours and less eye strain reading it for extended periods of time. When it comes to reading, I believe there will continue to be a strong market for both types of products. What would be ideal is if someone would develop a tablet that can display either color (like the iPhone) or e-Ink. (Barnes and Noble's eBook reader is expected to have both types of displays.)

Apple's Been Working on a Tablet Since 2003?

Former Apple employees informed The New York Times that Apple has been working on a tablet since 2003. What's the hold-up? Here's what they had to say:

Apple has been working on such a Swiss Army knife tablet since at least 2003, according to several former employees. One prototype, developed in 2003, used PowerPC microchips made by I.B.M., which were so power-hungry that they quickly drained the battery.

“It couldn’t be built. The battery life wasn’t long enough, the graphics performance was not enough to do anything and the components themselves cost more than $500,” said Joshua A. Strickon, a former Apple engineer whose name is on several of the company’s patents for multitouch technology.

Another former Apple executive who was there at the time said the tablets kept getting shelved at Apple because Mr. Jobs, whose incisive critiques are often memorable, asked, in essence, what they were good for besides surfing the Web in the bathroom.

The iPhone has certainly changed all of this. It demonstrates that reasonable battery life (although still to short in my experience), a wonderful interface, and simplified software make for a powerful user experience and an incredibly useful product. If Apple expands on this success and builds it into a larger platform, they have the potential to launch another computer revolution.

Here is my wishlist for such a tablet from Apple:

• Day-long battery life (8-12 hours).
• Ability to wirelessly tether to an iPhone for data connection when wi-fi isn't available.
• The option to use either multi-touch (like on an iPhone) or a stylus for more precise writing/highlighting of text. My dream tablet could be a replacement for pencil and paper which would require more than finger painting on the screen. I think some form of stylus would be needed to best accomplish this goal.
  
• Some type of video output so it can be used for giving presentations.
• It would be a brilliant eBook reader, capable of reading Kindle format books (the iPhone already does this) as well as PDFs, Microsoft Office documents, ePub, and more. Additionally, the eBooks should provide the ability to reference the same page numbers as in the physical books -- something very important for research. Even better would be the ability to select and copy text, complete with all the reference information. There is no technical reason this type of metadata couldn't be embedded in digital books and would be a tremendous boon to students and researchers.
  
• It will maintain the same pixel density as the iPhone but have a larger screen size. Ideally, it would be something like a 10.6-inch display with 1440x960 resolution (three times the length and width of the iPhone).
• The ability to immediately install all apps you have on your iPhone without having to repurchase them.
  
• A decent virtual keyboard with the ability to pair with a bluetooth keyboard and mouse. (Making it Apple's answer to netbooks.)
• At least 64GB of solid-state memory.
• Ideally, some ability to multitask -- either running programs in the background and/or the ability to divide the screen in two and run two apps side by side. Even better would be the ability to use the multitouch interface to cause the two apps to interface with one another. (Similar to the two screens on the Microsoft Courier concept.)
• Built-in GPS, wi-fi, and Bluetooth -- with the option to get a 3G modem. The 3G modem should include a non-subscription based ability to download eBooks and apps -- similar to the Amazon Kindle.
  
• At least one USB port.
• An SD card slot for transferring photos from a digital camera.
• Nice options for cases. (Something like the covers M-Edge makes for the Kindle.)
• Size, weight, and form roughly like that of the Kindle. Great for carrying around without too much bulk.
• Mini-USB for charging/syncing instead of the 30-pin iPod connector. (Not holding my breath on this one.)
• Like the iPhone/iPod Touch, it should require minimal training for figuring out how to use it and install/uninstall new apps. Everything should be intuitive and simply work without all the fuss people have to contend with on desktop and laptop computers. (Hopefully this robustness will eventually come to those platforms as well.)
• Standalone capability -- requiring no computer to fully use or update.
  

Elsewhere, John Dvorak describes his Apple Tablet theories:

The idea of a touchscreen, full-color e-book reader combined with a device that can run those 80,000 iPhone apps as well as easily browse the Internet does have appeal. One thing to note is the uniquely high readability of the iPhone's screen. Making the screen even larger would provide a stunning display that's easily as readable as the Kindle MEMS screen.

The screen would also be ideal as a photo display, photo-sorting table, and small presentation device for business meetings. Look for it to come with a remote control, so you can blow through PowerPoint slides during sales pitches.

The tablet's battery life will, of course, stink, compared with that of the Kindle. But I can see a device like this tethered to a wall plug and sitting near the couch in the family room. It could be easily unplugged and passed around as needed.

I hope he's wrong about the battery life, but like most of the rest of what he had to say. Others are saying that an Apple tablet could redefine print. (Possibly being to eBook readers what the iPod was to MP3 players?) Gizmodo seems to agree.

Brad Stone lists five reasons tablets have flopped:

1. Commitment of manufacturers.
2. Technology -- particularly touch screens. (The iPhone has changed this.)
3. Input systems.
4. Price.
5. Software. (Most tablets ran Windows which is primarily designed for a mouse and keyboard.)

To this list, I'd add battery life, size, weight, and clunky, non-aesthetic design.

Hopefully, all of this is about to change. If it does (and I think it will), I believe it will help pave the way for new paradigms for computing technology and interface that will have broad implications including dramatic reduction in the size, weight, cost, and learning curve for using computers. The more people interact with easy-to-use computers, the more they will expect this type of interface from other technologies. I'm optimistic the computer industry, with Apple leading the charge, will ultimately live up to these expectations. I can't wait for these expectations to be realized.

The Most Detailed Apple Tablet Rumors Yet

It's coming January 19, 2010?

That's when iLounge says the Apple tablet will be announced by. And it'll go on sale in May or June, like the iPhone.

iLounge has a trove of new rumor about the Apple tablet. Briefly, they say it runs iPhone OS, and that there will be two tablets—one with 3G and one without—with about 7x the touchable surface area as the iPhone, with a resolution that's high enough to read books, magazines and "cropped" newspaper pages. Which is what it's supposedly designed to do: Replace books and magazines, while being a better media player and web browser than the iPhone.

Interestingly, they say that the original tablet had a 7-inch screen, but it was deemed too small, and the latest version is 10.7 inches. (Which differs slightly from the "consistent" 9.7 inches coming out of the Asian trade magazines for the last few months.)

But they also say there's still a 20 percent chance that Steve Jobs will kill it. Again. So, uh, fingers crossed, guys! [iLounge]

My fingers are crossed.

In other tablet news, here are some more details about Microsoft's new Courier tablet prototype (including another neat video of how it might be used) and a cool looking prototype tablet by Hanvon.

Let the tablet wars begin!

10 Reasons Why Tablets Will Succeed

One of the key reasons? The iPhone and iPod Touch:

Tablet PCs were cool, but they never captured the imagination of the public. The iPhone and iPod Touch, on the other hand, created a computing revolution. The iPhone trained millions to compute with their fingers. What should have been detriments—its size and lack of physical keyboard—turned into key attributes. People love touching the screen, and no one complains about the iPhone not shipping with a stylus. Adding an accelerometer to the mix was sheer brilliance, and I'm sure that tablet PC manufacturers were kicking themselves wondering why they hadn't thought of that. Future tablets are now seen as an extension of the Apple iPhone ideal, not a better tablet PC.

Other reasons include longer battery life, cheaper processors, and better displays. Follow the link for more.

I expect to see significant innovation in these areas over the next few years. The success of the iPhone and Apple's App Store show there is huge untapped potential for this kind of technology and business model. Toss in the effects of the netbook revolution on cheap computing and long battery life and, and the effects of the Kindle on eBooks, and you've got the perfect storm for driving innovation of high-volume, low cost technology the can greatly benefit developers and consumers alike. I think the personal computing revolution has just begun.

Will Microsoft Beat Apple Out of the Gate With a New Tablet?

If nothing else, they may steal some of Apple's thunder (and potential market share). Introducing the Microsoft Courier:

It feels like the whole world is holding its breath for the Apple tablet. But maybe we've all been dreaming about the wrong device. This is Courier, Microsoft's astonishing take on the tablet...

The Courier user experience presented here is almost the exact opposite of what everyone expects the Apple tablet to be, a kung fu eagle claw to Apple's tiger style. It's complex: Two screens, a mashup of a pen-dominated interface with several types of multitouch finger gestures, and multiple graphically complex themes, modes and applications. (Our favorite UI bit? The hinge doubles as a "pocket" to hold items you want move from one page to another.) Microsoft's tablet heritage is digital ink-oriented, and this interface, while unlike anything we've seen before, clearly draws from that, its work with the Surface touch computer and even the Zune HD.

Over the next couple days we'll be diving much, much deeper into Courier, so stay tuned.

I agree with the folks at Gizmodo -- this design is intriguing, but it reeks of complexity. Follow the link and watch the video to see what I mean. It looks cool, but it seems to fail on precisely the areas that Apple succeeds -- simplicity, elegance, and intuitiveness. The one thing Apple nailed with the iPhone is the user interface. Hopefully, Microsoft will have a few surprises with the interface with the Courier.

While I can see some merit to a dual display device like this, what I think the majority of consumers would want is something more akin to a 10-inch iPod Touch. I simply love my iPhone and would delight in a similar device with a larger screen.

What I like about the Courier:

• Digital Ink. My tablet PC can recognize my handwriting and convert it into digital text. Very handy for searching through handwritten notes and for entering data without a keyboard. (It's much faster than typing on the iPhone's keyboard.) This is much easier to implement with a stylus than with a finger.
  
• Dual Displays. If the device is capable of multitasking, this could be particularly useful. The video shows a good demonstration of how you can interact between the two screens. If Microsoft (or other developers) takes full advantage of this, there could be some creative applications that shine in what they do.
  

What I don't like:

• Folding Design. Microsoft's design looks like it may be awkward to hold in one hand for extended periods of time. It also looks like it would be more prone to breakage than a more unified slate.
  
• Dual Displays. This is both a pro and a con. Having two displays means the device is twice the size/thickness it might have been and needs more power than a single display device. On the other hand, two seven-inch displays may not take much more power than a single ten-inch and fold down to a smaller size. Then again, you could simply have a 10-inch screen that digitally divides itself in half by displaying two programs side by side.

What I hope for:

• USB Port(s).
• SD Card Slot.
• Bluetooth. Including the ability to link to a wireless mouse and keyboard. (C'mon Apple! Give us keyboard drivers for the iPhone!)
• Open Architecture. No need to jailbreak the device or go through a burdensome approval process in the App Store.
• Lots of Storage. (Minimum 32 GB.) And the ability to connect this to a computer and use it as flash memory. (C'mon Apple! Give us this on the iPhone! You let me do it with my iPod.)
• Low Cost. Somewhere around the price range of a netbook. Say $300-$500.
  

If Microsoft is smart (and this design is real), then they will copy something like Apple's App Store. Part of the fun of owning the iPhone is constantly discovering new uses for it by adding very inexpensive software. The iPhone is also remarkably responsive, making it a delight to use. A tablet by either Microsoft or Apple that lacks simplicity, speed, reasonable battery life, and a plethora of fun and/or useful applications is destined to be a niche product. The iPhone has set a new standard of consumer expectations for technology. Let's hope both companies deliver.

Follow the link to see a video and more photos of this intriguing device.

(HT Unplggd)

Lenovo's ThinkPad X200s: 10+ Hours of Battery Life

Lenovo has taken their X200, de-powered it a little and turned it into an incredible power-miser:

If the X200t is just too convertible-y for you, and the standard X200 just doesn't last long enough for your 18-hour plane rides, the X200s won't do you any good either. If you only need 10-hours of juice, however, this unit is just about perfect. The ultraportable does give up some raw horsepower in order to deliver such stunning life, but true road warriors will certainly make the sacrifice. Critics over at Laptop Mag were duly impressed with just about everything the pricey X200s was packing, noting that the keyboard was "excellent," the design was sturdy and the screen was clean and crisp. Additionally, they found that the power decrease wasn't too noticeable in real-world use, though they did lament the omission of a WWAN module (agreed!) and webcam. Bottom line? These folks found it well "worth the splurge," though we'd recommend giving the full spill a read if you're seriously on the fence.

Now if only they'd do this with their X200t tablet. (Although they'd have to come up with a new name. "X200ts" looks ridiculous.) While still shy of the dream of a 24-hour battery life, 10 hours would be incredible for a tablet PC. Most people could safely leave their power adapter at home and enjoy untethered all-day computing.

If a manufacturer could get a lightweight, small form-factor tablet PC with 24 hour battery life, other than outdoor use, that would just about fit the bill for much of what I'm looking for in an ultimate eBook reader.

Speaking of using a tablet PC as an eBook reader, I've been experimenting with using my X61 in tablet mode to read PDFs on the subway. Other than being constrained by 2.5-3 hours of battery life it's actually works pretty well. I just downloaded a trial version of PDF Annotator and it has blown my socks off. PDF Annotator is a program that lets you mark-up PDF files directly on your tablet. With this, I have access to a whole slew of drawing tools including any color of pen and highlighter I want. When I'm done editing the document I can save it as a PDF file and share it with anyone who has a PDF reader. It's a great way to collaborate on a document, add a signature to an electronic form, or make notes on articles that you're reading.

I had downloaded a trial version on a previous edition PDF Annotator and liked it pretty well, but had a few gripes with some of the navigation. I'm happy to report that the programmers have improved on nearly every aspect of this software and it is a must have for any tablet PC user. If you're a student, you can purchase it for $29.90 (normally $69.95).



The advantage of tablet PCs relative to eBook technology includes speed, versatility, color, backlit displays (both a pro and a con), and much greater processing power. The strengths of eBooks include long battery life, durability, lower cost, and much lighter weight. I see both of these devices as both substitutes and compliments to each other. While I'm waiting for my uber-tablet and uber-Kindle, I will content myself with getting good use out of my tablet PC and (hopefully soon) an Amazon Kindle.

Incidentally, Microsoft may be inhibiting the progression of a small, inexpensive tablet. They are willing to sell Windows XP to netbook manufacturers, but not if it is going to be used on a tablet. My guess is they are trying to keep tablet PCs as more high-end devices, but it is really killing the potential market and development for these technologies. It's not so much that Vista is so much more expensive than XP, it's that the hardware requirements to run it are much greater. I could see a low-priced tablet netbook under-cutting both eBook reader and tablet PC sales. Loosen your choke hold, Microsoft! We'll love you for it!