Apple reportedly has an event planned for the first week of September that has Apple watchers going crazy at the potential arrival of the long-rumored ‘iPad’ tablet. If there is an Apple event September 7, it would be just one week before the launch of the new Microsoft Zune HD.
Of course, the event is not official. All Things D, the news site that first ran the story, cited unnamed music industry executives as the source.
That would indicate an iPod event, which would be in line with past events. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) may not be the most open of companies – it has not responded to requests for confirmation of the event – but it is a creature of habit, and iPod launches have always come in the fall.
However, the long-rumored tablet might also make its debut. Alternatively nicknamed the “iPad” and “iTablet,” the device is widely believed to be a larger version of the iPod Touch. It would have a screen just under 10 inches in size, play apps from the App Store and sell for between $500 and $700. Just what is discussed will be hashed out for the next three weeks on the blogosphere. One Apple blog, The Loop, is stating unequivocally that the tablet will not be discussed, and it will come in 2010.
But the iPad have some failed like ;
No 3G support for Verizon
One of the earliest rumors about the iPad (which I’d still rather call the iTablet) was that it would come with embedded 3G support in addition to Wi-Fi. Well, the 3G part was true (monthly pre-paid plans will start at $14 for 250MB of data, or $29/month unlimited), but alas, no Verizon; instead, we’re stuck with good ‘ole AT&T (which is either a good or a bad thing, depending on how you feel about AT&T).
No jaw-droppingly new user interface
One of the most amazing things about the original iPhone was its ground-breaking touch interface; just pinch to zoom into a Web page! Tap to turn on the speakerphone! Swipe to flip through your photos! So maybe it was only natural that many of us gadget hounds (myself included) thought that Apple would come up with some new, “Minority Report”-style interface for the iPad … perhaps some cool haptic feedback for the virtual QWERTY keypad, or maybe (as outlined in some recent patent filings) the ability to sense a finger that’s hovering near the screen but not touching it. What we got, instead, was … pretty much the same touch UI as on the iPhone, except with a lot more room. Not bad, but not all that revolutionary, either.
No built-in camera
The iPhone has a camera, the MacBook has a camera … heck, even the new iPod Nano has a camera (well, a video-only camera, anyway). So, what about the iPad? Ahhh … nope, and that’s especially disappointing given the chatter from the Wall Street Journal that Apple has been toying with facial-recognition software that could potentially be used to, say, identify the various members of your family and deliver their own, customized iPad interface.
No Flash support
When, oh when, Apple, will you let us view Flash videos and Web modules on the mobile version of Safari? Who knows, but it’s definitely not starting with the iPad, which is just as bereft of Flash support as the iPhone and iPod Touch are.
No user-replaceable battery
Steve Jobs claims that the iPad will come with an impressive 10 hours of battery life and a full month of stand-by time. Pretty cool, but as with the iPhone, the iPod Touch, and the latest MacBooks, the iPad battery comes sealed in the case, and there’s no way to swap in a new one yourself.
No TV subscriptions
One of the more intriguing recent rumors was that Apple was going around to all the TV and cable networks, trying to sell them on the idea of monthly TV subscriptions that viewers would be able to watch on iTunes, the iPhone, Apple TV, or … the iPad. Word even had it that Disney’s Bob Iger was in San Francisco today, all set to announce a new content deal with Apple, but … nope, didn’t happen. (The writing for this non-event was on the wall, thanks to a recent New York Times story that reported that TV execs looked over Apple’s subscription proposals and said “thanks, but no thanks.”)
No iPhone software 4.0 announcement
Yet another interesting rumor had it that the reason that there hadn’t been a big iPhone software update lately was that the new code was too intertwined with the iPad OS, and therefore we’d get a big announcement today for iPhone software 4.0—complete with full-on app multitasking, UI enhancements, and other goodies. The rumor sure sounded plausible (and hey, the part about the new iPhone software being closely interwoven with the iPad may well be true), but the Apple event came and went Wednesday, with nary a sign of iPhone software 4.0.
sources : yahoo.com and internetnews.com
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