Guessing game
Last year, a rumour that Apple was developing an iPhone nano, a slimmed-down version of the iPhone, sparked a wave of speculation and conjecture. The rumour proved to be false.
It’s often difficult to separate fiction from fact when it comes to Apple.
The company indirectly encourages the rumour mill because of its secretive approach to new products. When CEO Steve Jobs delivers a keynote speech, he is always able to wow his audience when introducing new products because the information in the market beforehand is usually sketchy at best.
So, it’s with some trepidation that I broach the subject of the latest Apple rumours. But, hey, what’s a column of opinion without some wild conjecture from time to time?
Apple’s recent order of 10-inch touch screens from Taiwan’s Wintek, the same company that makes the touch-screens used in the iPhone, has led to speculation that Apple is planning to introduce a touch-screen netbook.
Netbooks, low-priced mini laptops that typically cost less than US500, mostly use 10 inch screens. Sales of netbooks have proved a light amid the economic gloom — while sales of traditional notebooks and desktop PCs have slumped, netbook sales have soared.
Analysts say Apple must be keenly watching the new market segment.
But is Apple really building a netbook? Jobs has previously said Apple “doesn’t know how to build a sub-500 computer that is not a piece of junk”.
I’m not convinced by the netbook rumours. I think Apple might be planning something altogether cooler — a general-purpose Internet tablet that can be used to listen to music, watch movies and read electronic books. Such a device — a keyboard-less, high resolution tablet that serves as a mobile entertainment and information device, and which connects to the Internet via high-speed Wi-Fi and 3G networks — would bridge the gap between smartphones and notebook PCs.
And it would open up a whole new business line for Apple — e-books, which it would sell through its online iTunes Store.
Apple already sells music, television programmes and movies through the store. Adding e-books would be a logical next move.
Of course, it would set the company on a collision course with Amazon.com, which makes the Kindle e-book reader. The Kindle, which is not available in SA, uses high resolution electronic paper that mimics real paper. It includes a wireless chip that allows users to connect to Amazon.com and purchase and download new e-books over the air.
It is unlikely Apple will use e-paper technology. But it may have something up its sleeve to make reading for extended periods on back-lit displays easier on the eye.
The device, if it’s coming, undoubtedly would use a multitouch interface similar to the iPhone’s.
There’s also a possibility that Apple may pitch the new product as a gaming device, as a rival to Sony’s popular PlayStation Portable. But without a big community of game developers behind its operating system software, Mac OS X, this seems less plausible.
We will probably know more in June, when Jobs, who should be back from a six-month, health-related leave of absence from the company, is due to deliver the keynote address at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference.
Jobs has traditionally used the conference to launch new products.
Of course, I could be far wide of the mark and Apple could be planning a cheap, low end netbook after all.
I just can’t see it, though.
Apple Internet Tablet – give your views
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