Amazon, Apple Expected to Strut Their Small-Tablet Stuff Soon 115
After a few years of rumors and hints, All Things Digital says that a smaller iPad will debut in October. And Amazon may be trying to steal their thunder with a revamped Kindle tablet: Nerval's Lobster writes with a report at SlashCloud that "Amazon could be readying a new set of Kindle tablets for unveiling in early September. That's the widespread speculation following the online retailer's invitations to media for a Sept. 6 event in Santa Monica, Calif. Even by the coy standards of most tech companies' event invitations, Amazon's is notably bereft of detail. It will take place at 10:30 AM PST at Barker Hangar, a noted (and quite large) event space. But the timing of the event is auspicious: with Apple rumored to be unveiling a smaller iPad in the near future, and the holiday shopping season a few months away, early September could prove the ideal time for Amazon to whip back the curtain from a new tablet and dominate the media conversation, at least for a few days."
the right price (Score:2)
It would mean bridging the phone and the tablet. I hope it's available before mid October, since my wife's birthday. Yes, it'll come out in September, I read that, but availability is a different thing.
Re:the right price (Score:4, Informative)
Phones and tablets currently cost roughly the same $200 - $700 depending on features. Cellular carriers hide this cost behind a subsidized contract when a 3g modem is included in either the tablet or the phone, but we are all still paying it. How much more can the price of the phone and the tablet be bridged?
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Kindle Fire is irrelevant due to being US-only for so long.
Underwhelming Nexus (Score:2)
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Nexus 7 got the price right Kindle Fire is irrelevant due to being US-only for so long.
I'm in Mexico and can't buy a nexus 7 either
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Add a phone... (Score:1)
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The more credible rumors have the second ipad coming out in October at a separate event from the new phone. But probably with immediate availability, so maybe in time for your wife's birthday anyway.
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Make sure you have a 'Plan B' before the day in case things don't work out though.
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and maybe, just maybe, get a few sales in before Apple.
is the height of absurdity.
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I think this about sums it up:
Kindle expected to sell well among parents who always buy the wrong thing [allthingsd.com]
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no clouds, no thunder (Score:1, Interesting)
You can't steal Apple's thunder. They could release the iTurd, a literal green three-coiled turd, with a USB port squished into it, and people would buy it. People aren't interested in the hardware when they buy Apple -- they're interested in the brand, the experience, the ability to tell all your friends you have the latest iThing. Look at the iPod for example; Even when the very first version was released, there were plenty of alternatives that beat it on cost, service, feature set, and form factor. Peopl
Re:no clouds, no thunder (Score:5, Insightful)
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Correction: user perception is king.
However, most users are not qualified to speak about nuances of user experiences nor technical specifications. Most Slashdotters aren't qualified, honestly. Brand image plays a huge part of what a consumer perceives to be a good product.
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However, most users are not qualified to speak about nuances of user experiences nor technical specifications.
They are perfectly qualified to speak about their own, personal, user experience. No one better.
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User experience really is one of the few things where "I don't know much about art, but I know what I like" really applies. Randomuser may not be able to articulate why they prefer a particular user interface, but that doesn't make them any less qualified to decide which one they find the easiest or most comfortable to use.
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rather than nuances of user experience.
By which you mean a corporate logo.
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Let's not play pretend that Apple has somehow mastered the mythical "user experience". Even the iPod didn't have a UI that was in any way superior to alternatives on the market.
The iPod was running on Apples reputation for design, oddly enough, from the gum-drop-like iMac. Their well-executed "silhouette" ad campaign did the rest. All Apple did for digital music was make it "okay" -- bringing it out of the shadows in the wake of Napster. At the time, digital music was synonymous with Apple because cons
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Actually, they could tell the difference; they all said Pepsi tasted better.
Parent was marked troll, but Pepsi actually did taste better to participants of the Pepsi Challenge marketing campaign, which was responsible for triggering the New Coke fiasco [wikipedia.org].
The "rest of the story" (as described by Malcom Gladwell in Blink) is that sip-testing (where participants just sip the two samples) gave misleading results: when enjoyed over longer periods of time, Pepsi's sweetness becomes cloying.
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Does the iTurd have rounded corners? If so, I probably owe Apple $1.05 billion.
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As for shipping iturds, apple could get away with that shit exactly once. Never seems to occur to some people that a brand becomes respected because it's repeatedly associated with good products. Out of all the willful blind spots nurtured here on slashdot I find this one frankly
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Damn it, man, the Cola Wars are over. It's time to put the past behind us, pound our swords in to plow-shares, and rebuild.
The battles still seem just like yesterday, and we've still got a long road ahead. But you've got to leave the fight on the battle field. It has no place in this new world.
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People who turn their swords into plow-shares will plow for those who didn't.
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It's Goliath... and unlike the biblical parable, a few rocks will not down this beast.
Fortunately it's likely to collapse under its own weight sooner or later anyway. Nothing grows at that rate indefinitely.
I'm not sure I get it (Score:2)
Are they looking at the success of ebook readers and trying to jump on board? Pearl e-ink technology is why those took off, not the form factor. I could go for a slightly larger reader to be honest.
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I'm not so sure about that, between my Samsung Tab 10.1 and my Nexus X -- I find myself using my Nexus X much more frequently. There is something to be said for that smaller form factor.
And no, except for reading mangas, I don't read much with it, I mostly play games, I use it as a remote control, or I watch Viki or CrunchyRoll with it. And I do switch to my Tab 10.1 for reading comic books/mangas occasionally, but that size of a tablet is a bear to hold in bed (even if it's supposedly lighter and thinner t
Not gonna be an iPad (Score:4, Interesting)
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What's the difference?
The iPhone is just an iPod Touch that can make calls.
The iPad is just an iPod Touch that's bigger.
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The branding matters. It is intended as an upgrade for iPod Touch users, so that it does not eat into the sales of iPad. I believe Apple would expect people to own both an iPad and an iPod (7" one, not old generation one).
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Perhaps it allows Apple to skirt round the otherwise embarassing comments they made previously about how no one would ever want a 7" tablet so they can hence claim "It's not a 7" tablet, it's a 7" media player with tablet features!" ?
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Next Season of Court (Score:5, Funny)
iPad Mini, why not just an iPod touch? (Score:4, Interesting)
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I was going to buy an iPad mini/Air/whatever when it came out - because there are a few apps that I know will never come to android and which I would really really like, but after the monstrous patent bullshit that Apple have pulled I can't in good conscience get one.
I've held out against Apple for a long time, and they make some great hardware - the Macbook Air is, IMO, a perfectly targeted piece of tech. And the new iPad would have been perfect for my needs. Even after I bought a Nexus 7.
But I can't do it
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I'm a big fan of Brian Eno and his music, and the apps I was referring to were Bloom, Air and Trope.
I'd love to see them on Android, but I don't ever see it happening.
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Apple are guilty of this too of course, but do you want to know the difference? They have the confidence to enter fledgling markets where it's in no way obvious to anybody th
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Well I've got nothing better to do, sorry for feeding...
However I also think that Samsung are the bigger assholes who basically get a free ride by copying competitor products.
Damn Samsung and their lack of innovation. It's so easy for them to just wait for Apple to release something and then make the exact same thing, taking customers that rightfully belonged to Apple.
The software is kind of a moot point cause it's really just Android which is obviously nothing like iOS. Their hardware performs better than Apple's and it's way cheaper. It also looks good in a way that's different than the iPhone's brick-with-a-screen desig
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So you are going without? Google just as bad (Score:1)
Sorry, but I don't buy the argument not to buy from ANY company because of legal actions they take, at least not when legal actions re not the core business model.
Google is I think even more guilty than Apple of bad patent lawsuits, by having Motorola violate the RAND patents they were supposed to offer to all companies on equitable terms but they tried to shake down Apple for way more money on.
Even if you disagree with Apple being able to sue for design patents the fact is they had a strong case and it was
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What do you mean by the iPad terribly? Are you trying to run iPhone apps on the iPad or something? Try running actually tablet optimised apps.
Better late than never, 7" is very mobile (Score:2, Interesting)
I wonder how Apple is going to spin the fact that every man and their dog was releasing a 7" tablet at the time that Jobs was vitriolic in his total contempt for that size. How times change.
Welcome to the party, Apple. You'll discover that it's an excellent form factor for tablets, very mobile for use on the go instead of merely transportable like larger ones, and it doesn't force you to squint like a smartphone display. Best all-rounder size, I reckon.
I love mine, it's proven repeatedly to have been the
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I wonder how Apple is going to spin the fact that every man and their dog was releasing a 7" tablet at the time that Jobs was vitriolic in his total contempt for that size.
Steve Jobs said, at one time, Apple wasn't interested in developing a phone - that didn't stop them from developing the iPhone.
Steve Jobs also said, at one time, people don't read anymore - that didn't stop them from developing iBooks.
Jobs consistently said whatever made sense for the company at the time he said it. But he obviously had no qualms about reversing himself once it made business to do so.
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Easy, it will be 6.9". Who would want a 7" tablet?
Apple coming to 7"... Samsung suing ? (Score:2)
What about Samsung suing Apple for stealing it's design of a tablet with a size smaller than 10" but bigger than a phone ? After all, we DO KNOW (it was publicly said) that Apple came to that idea after using a Samsung 7" tablet !!! Blatant copy...
I'd say that samsung should ask for... 1B$ damages ;-)
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Sent from my Nexus 7
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Exactly. At the resolution available at that time, the 7" would have sucked. He made the right call, and is still right about releasing the 7" now.
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Ummm... No.
It was not a limitation of the technology of the time. They could have had the same resolution with a smaller display.
Apple will just... (Score:2)
...sue them for making somthing that looks and feels like Gene Roddenberry invented it....
Who's copying now (Score:4, Insightful)
Everyone from Archos to Yarvik who already make 7" tablets should sue Apple for blatantly ripping off their IP.
Amazon should sue! (Score:5, Insightful)
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You got that right
Tablet? (Score:3)
Microsoft Surface (Score:5, Interesting)
The last two categories (games, platform specific apps) give Apple, and Android based devices, a significant first-mover advantage (in that order). When it comes to web-browsing, office applications and familiarity of interface, Windows has an edge (now along with Mac OS X) - at least in the consumer demographic that's waiting to spend money on a new device. If the rumors of low-pricing of Surface RT are true, and they are sold in the vicinity (or under) USD 300, and if the curiously interesting keyboard-and-mouse-on-a-flap turns out to be a seamless peripheral, then there is a good chance that Surface RT + Windows RT will gain momentum. Microsoft has already announced that they will bundle Office with Windows RT - and that's going to be a big deal IMO. This will certainly upset Google, and Amazon offerings - but perhaps only make a small dent in to Apple. Nevertheless, the world could look like an Apple and Microsoft dominated one this holiday season, leaving behind Android offerings. If the sales momentum is even somewhat interesting for Surface RT devices, I think that App developers will start implementing Metro style applications quickly - and developer experience (using Visual Studio and
Of course, my analysis is predicated on two important assumptions - pricing and a great execution on the flap-keyboard, but I'll nevertheless be tempted to at least wait until Surface starts selling before deciding which tablet to buy next (and which ones to recommend to my non-techie friends).
Re:Microsoft Surface (Score:4, Insightful)
Surface needs to be very cheap if Microsoft wants to make a splash. Microsoft cannot afford another failed product but I'm not sure if they understand how much money a successful product is going to cost them.
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but I'm not sure if they understand how much money a successful product is going to cost them.
It's a toss-up, really. They succeeded with XBox despite entering a new market crowded with leviathans, and they are failing with Windows Phone despite having a real first-mover advantage. They have succeeded in building very good first-party peripherals - keyboards (esp. ergonomic ones) and mice, and they did terribly with Zune. Microsoft Router (for those who can remember their 802.11b offering) was one of the best in the market, but they stopped building more when other companies started flooding the mar
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True, in marketshare if not in profit, because it focused on an area neglected by Sony and Nintendo: online play. If they could find a similar (large) niche to exploit, maybe they could make inroads into the tablet market.
But: netbooks already provided keyboards in lightweight form factors. Maybe a sub-netbook would make a difference, but then the Asus Transformer line has been around for a while without setting the world on fir
Can they afford cheap really though? (Score:1)
Surface needs to be very cheap if Microsoft wants to make a splash.
Very true.
But can they afford the resulting backlash from other hardware makers? A number of them have already fired shots across Microsofts bow warning them they will be very displeased if Surface is undercutting the hardware they make.
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Yes they can afford it. The OEM's can't really go anywhere.
That being said I'm nor sure if Surface exists as a reference implementation or as a product or as a serious push. I know Microsoft is getting frustrated with their OEM's selling crap and they are pushing for a better experience ( example: http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/html/pbPage.MicrosoftSignature [microsoftstore.com] ). But... there is a huge difference between Microsoft bitching about OEMs and be willing to lose the bottom 3rd of the market.
I think
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Keynote runs powerpoint rather well. If your goal is to display that exists.
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pricing and a great execution on the flap-keyboard
I've typed on my netbook plenty of times which theoretically should have a better keyboard than the Surface flaps and I still hate it. So does practically everybody else I've ever heard discuss it. I just don't see how they think relying so much on the keyboard gimmick for their tablet is going to shift units. As for the price, yes, if Android tablet OEMs think they can keep pushing their 10 inch stuff for 499 then it could be a rout but I think Google is showing the way with the Nexus 7. Cut the featur
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Except Microsoft is releasing this with a completely unfamiliar user interface.
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When it comes to web-browsing, office applications
Office applications, maybe, but web browsing? Both iOS and Android have excellent browsers.
A small iPad will finally make room for others (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:A small iPad will finally make room for others (Score:4, Informative)
If it uses the same resolution as the iPad 1/2, the fragmentation should be pretty minimal in terms of apps and the like.
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It would appear that you've completely missed the parents point. As did a few mods.
Actually it will fill in the MATRIX (Score:2)
LAWSUIT! (Score:1)
dead on arrival (Score:2)
that's what prophet Jobs called the smaller Samsung tablets when they were announced.
At this point... (Score:1)
I would rather buy something made by Microsoft then something made by Apple.
Altavista expected to sue MS over Vista trademark. (Score:2)
Who cares what's expected. I expect a lot of things, but this world isn't full of sane or rational individuals, and my hopes are uncorrectably too high.
Events, or it didn't happen.
Fuck Apple (Score:1)
Their fanboi's whould buy an apple product even if it was made from the dry shit of Steve Jobs. I hope they get a big fat lawsuit when they dare copy Amazon or Google small form layout.
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Seriously though, do you know where I could get some dried Steve Jobs shit?
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You'll find it crusted around the mouths of the average hipster.
What shape ... (Score:3)
It had better not be rectangular with rounded corners.
"Strut their small-tablet stuff"? (Score:2)
customer survey much? (Score:2)
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Do you always cry when companies release products that aren't designed specifically for you?