Apple’s Tablet Delayed to 2010 Thanks To New OS, Report
8:48 am, May 21st, 2009, Leander Kahney
Apple will launch a $700 touchscreen tablet with a new operating system and optimized apps in 2010, new research claims.
Apple’s response to the fast-growing netbook market will a touchscreen tablet like an outsized iPod touch. It will have a touchscreen measuring 7- and 10-inches; will cost between $500 to $700; and may have built-in 3G wireless, claims Wall Street analyst Gene Munster of investment bank Piper Jaffrey.
But thanks to the complexity of the tablet’s hardware and, more importantly, the new version of OS X and the apps it will run — it will not be ready until early 2010, Munster said i.
In a long and detailed research note to clients, Munster cited “mounting evidence” for his claims:
1. Contractors in Asia. Munster’s contacts with component makers in Asia say Apple is discussing the parts it will need to build such a device — but they have not yet seen a prototype.
2. New Patents. Apple has been granted recent patents detailing multitouch on complex computing devices.
3. Tim Cook. Statements from Apple CCO Tim Cook during a recent earnings call indicating that Apple was looking at netbooks but didn’t want to deliver a cheap machine that offered a crappy experience.
4. P.A. Semiconductor. The acquisition of chip design firm P.A. Semiconductor and several new hires of chip engineers — Munster said Appel is developing proprietary microprocessors in-house.
Munster said the device may include a wirelss networking card — and this may be why Apple is rumored to be talking to Verizon. If so, the device may be subsidized with a lengthy contract.
Software will be key. Munster said Apple is designing new “hybrid” operating system for the tablet that is more OS X-like than the iPhone’s operating system, but is designed to be operated by multitouch gestures.
“The device’s OS could bear a close resemblance to Apple’s iPhone OS and run App Store apps,” Munster said. “Apple could possibly introduce a second screen resolution into the iPhone OS software development kit (SDK), enabling developers to build apps specifically for the larger tablet device.”
The new OS would run Apps from the App Store — one of Apple’s key assets, Munster said — and may also allow background apps.
“We expect the end result of the expected product to be launched later but with more dramatic differentiation than the Street is expecting,” he said.
Via AppleInsider.
Posted by Leander Kahney in Apple, Hardware, Rumors | Comment on this article
I don’t care I WANT one NOW!!!!
Shawen Donnellan, on May 21st, 2009 at 12:17 pm
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