Booted flawlessly for the first time this century. I had assumed Win95.

Adorable.

Posted via email from hxf148′s posterous

The quick answer is yes.

The price is amazing right up to the top end, which could be more here in Canada by as much as $100. It will be interesting to see what Rogers, Bell, Telus offer for 3G packages but the $499 Wifi only version is going to sell wildly. They all will.

The size and construction are perfect. It is light but durable, strong and svelte. As laptops have taken over from fixed personal computers; today will be the day we saw post laptop computing. This is what comes next. Tablets exist today, there are several small specialty markets and devices available. In a single day, following decades of internal research at Apple, more of the future has arrived.

Dozens of companies are making or will make a tablet device this year many more will make a dedicated e-reader. Several of those companies have been waiting for today, to see Apple’s move before beginning to market their own devices show as CES earlier in the month. Still even with Android and Chrome OS leading the charge every other maker has instantly slammed into a unibody aluminum hardcover powered by iPhone OS and iTunes along side a custom Apple designed processor. The introduction of the 1GHz Apple A4 is in the long term the most important announcement to be noted.

As the laptop’s eventual heir the tablet form factor fits in with how modern personal computers are actually used. It will indeed take some time before it’s prevalent but this is a watershed moment for the clamshell computer.  A matching keyboard+dock and reports that Apple’s own Bluetooth keyboard is supported addresses the concern of serious typing while proving it’s position as a personal computer evolved.

Developers are going to be instantly making their current applications support multiple screen resolutions. By the end of March most experienced developers would be ready and waiting. At 9.7 inches diagonal many released applications for the iPhone will begin to look very impressive when compared to those installed in OSX.

Apple is basically repeating history for the third time since 2000. First iPods. Then iPhones. The beginning of wednesdays presentation stated that as a business enterprise they are in a league of their own. In today’s smart/phone market though to consumer devices they dominate sales. If there was a lesson it was that everything was pretty obvious in hindsight. iPod, iPhone, iPad.

Now a 60 day wait.

Disappointments for 1.0:

- voice control not mentioned
- no camera. very sad. Helps on price but a concession to carriers and version 2
- a dongle connector (separate) for usb and SD cards and cameras
- huge bezel
- resolution

Thanks for the question Colin.

Posted via email from hxf148′s posterous

1. There will be a camera with video, a microphone and a maybe 64GB in the Touch. The screen is probably going to have the same coating as the 3GS. GPS with compass is also a distinctly possible option but might also be too expensive for Apple to include.

Camera, microphone, gps didn’t happen, 64MB and a 50% speed increase did. A little bit shocked that they didn’t announce a Touch camera today. They really pushed the gaming.

2. There will be a still only camera in the Nano and there is potential for a touchscreen here too, a mini Touch/iPhone if you will but I waffle on that.

Camera, with video and microphone, bigger screen, FM radio with VoiceOver and cheaper price points. Impressive.

3. The Shuffle is probably not going to change; if for possibly more storage and/or colour options.

I got the new colours perfect and overlooked the lower price and limited edition.

4. A distinct possibly we will see the end of life for the hard drive based Classic iPod.

The Classic lives and moves up to 160GB, same price.

5. iTunes 9.0 will be announced for general availability. Includes social hooks to Facebook, Lastfm, Twitter.

Available today (downloading now). Includes a new look, new Genius features along with the social networking stuff and app organization.

6. The Beatles will finally arrive on iTunes. Beatle(s) on stage is a possibility. They did show up for Microsoft and Rock Band. Which also arrives on 9/9/09. A CD set of Beatles music is also set to drop soon. Might be Beatles overload including preloaded iPod special editions.

Didn’t happen.

7. We will probably hear something about Project Cocktail, an attempt to return the art of music cover art digitally. If it does happen the Beatles will be a showcase for it.

It’s called iTunes LP and looks very good.

8. iPhone users in the US might finally get MMS, but probably not the same day. AT&T has three weeks to meet their end of summer promise regarding enabling MMS and tethering options. (Update: MMS will be ready September 25th)

Not covered but we knew already.

9. Finally iPhone and Touch users should expect OS version 3.1 sooner than later.

It’s out today. Includes a ringtone store, Genius recommendations for the App Store, Augmentation API’s and general improvements.

Adding it up I think I got somewhere around 6 of 9 items at least partly right. I’m happy!

Of course I am only guessing but that’s most of the fun in being a blogger turned Apple analyst. Specifically if we pick apart the guessing, I think we will see several (9) fun things from the iPod line:

1. There will be a camera with video, a microphone and a maybe 64GB in the Touch. The screen is probably going to have the same coating as the 3GS. GPS with compass is also a distinctly possible option but might also be too expensive for Apple to include.
2. There will be a still only camera in the Nano and there is potential for a touchscreen here too, a mini Touch/iPhone if you will but I waffle on that.
3. The Shuffle is probably not going to change; if for possibly more storage and/or colour options.
4. A distinct possibly we will see the end of life for the hard drive based Classic iPod.
5. iTunes 9.0 will be announced for general availability. Includes social hooks to Facebook, Lastfm, Twitter.
6. The Beatles will finally arrive on iTunes. Beatle(s) on stage is a possibility. They did show up for Microsoft and Rock Band. Which also arrives on 9/9/09. A CD set of Beatles music is also set to drop soon. Might be Beatles overload including preloaded iPod special editions.
7. We will probably hear something about Project Cocktail, an attempt to return the art of music cover art digitally. If it does happen the Beatles will be a showcase for it.
8. iPhone users in the US might finally get MMS, but probably not the same day. AT&T has three weeks to meet their end of summer promise regarding enabling MMS and tethering options. (Update: MMS will be ready September 25th)
9. Finally iPhone and Touch users should expect OS version 3.1 sooner then later.

There will be no tablet, make no mistake I want to see one, or Jobs as I postulated above. Again all of my thoughts here are in fun speculation, I have no direct sources. Further predictions of the future sees the return of Steve and the computer of tomorrow in January and/or moved off to WWDC.

Regardless of what comes to be I’ll write a follow-up next Wednesday to and we can point at what I got wrong or didn’t anticipate. Apple is nothing if not great at delivering the unexpected with great flourish.

Predictions, disagreements, comments?

Posted via email from hxf148′s posterous

Personally I don’t think the Apple Tablet will be a larger iPhone/Touch styled device. I think to look at it will give you more sense of an Apple Computer proper. That is to think of a strong aluminum frame with lines like a Macbook then giving over to the curved black backing of an iMac, minus the hard edges. Not unlike the iPhone really but an with an air of difference. I also think this device will work with Bluetooth keyboards and mice and it will run a nearly complete build of OSX, with a switch mode for the Touch OS. My last possibly wishful prediction is that while having a capacitive touch screen, it will also work and write well with a pen accessory.

In the not too distant future all these images will be novel but I’ve included a few for fun them for being fun. An image search for Apple Tablet patents gives lots of ideas for our pad computer future, beginning or announced sometime in September hopefully.

With no Canadian iPhone expected before June and no (available) Windows Mobile to recapture my desire I found myself making a return to the offerings of RIM/Blackberry for the first time since 2003. It didn’t take very long for me to focus in on the Pearl 8110. It had the shape, size, weight, features and availability I was looking for– save for Wifi.

It’s true that a Pearl with Wifi is starting to popup and will be offered on Rogers sooner then later but I have never found a great need for that particular battery sucking feature even at home. The iPhone and its large screen+webkit browser likely change my mind again on that facet but until then.. After having the 8110 for a week, I know I’ve made a good interim choice in a Blackberry– maybe even a final (as these things go) one.

So after a few days I’ve settled into the device, everything I had in software and entertainment before is installed, closely replicated or due out soon, the voice/email/messaging is beyond fantastic, the keyboard is something of a marvel with it’s soft accurate touch, the LCD is crisp and bright even in sunlight, the 2.0 megapixel camera (with flash) is surprisingly good, and most importantly even with the built in GPS and Bluetooth going battery life is acceptable– with Bluetooth and GPS off it’s epic.

I will write more about my Blackberry experience as it develops but for now, on to the applications!

Applications:
WeatherEye
Opera Mini
Twitterberry
Beyond411
Facebook
Audible
Blackberry Tracker
Sudoku
Call of Duty 4
Caeser
Rove Mobile Desktop
Viigo
IM+
Mobile File Manager
Mini Monitor
Google Search
Google Talk
Google Reader
Google Docs
Google Sync
VNC
jmIrc

Update: Guitar Hero III Mobile.