Predictions for the (alleged) iTablet
There is much speculation about whether or not Apple will release an iTablet, and if so why would anyone care. I figure where there’s smoke there’s fire therefore yes to part (a), and for part (b) I definitely think Apple will remind us why we should just give in to the power of our consumer urges and wonder how we ever lived life without such a device.
Here are my predictions for an iTablet:
1. Album Art / Notes
As rumoured on the interwebs, I tend to agree Apple will work with the music companies to provide art and additional content with full album purchases. In a digital age of digital music we have lost the tactile satisfaction of flicking through records (not that I’ve owned any) and CDs looking for the right song, then reading the album cover to cover. With a larger screen and a Touch UI, it makes sense in a multimedia device to create the same experience where you can sit on the couch with your whole music collection and flick through you collection and, in doing so, creating the full album experience instead of track by track.
This feature creates profit for Apple and the music labels, creates an experience that is difficult to mimic (for a while) from pirated music, and provides a great reason to upgrade your music library to support cover art and notes. For the consumer, the iTablet takes pride of place as a lounge room accessory.
2. Video Chat
Here’s the feature that dawned on me this morning that caused me to write this blog. The iPhone to date has not supported video chat / calls and, to be realistic I’m not convinced a phone device bopping around in your hand is the right device for video chat. However a tablet on a stand is potentially exactly the right form factor for mobile video chats – you could hold it with two hands (e.g. sitting on the couch) or on a stand (e.g. at a desk).
I’m sure Apple would push the iChat protocol, and potential bundle other benefits of a MobileMe account (e.g. encrypted calls), however to be truely revolutionary and reach mass market (assuming the iTablet has WiFi but not 3G), I would love to see them partner with Skype to create a true telephone alternative as a home, office or mobile video phone over WiFi. After all the bad press Apple have had with AT&T in the US, it would be refreshing to see Apple take the market to the next level and provide truely ubiquitous and user friendly video chat to everyone via this simple to use device without the strings of a contract attached with a mobile carrier. Perhaps they could make a deal with Skype to share revenue of Skype In / Out credit to the plain old telephone network. As an iTablet would not replace mobile phone calls (i.e. too bulky and limited WiFi everyone) this approach would not significantly erode mobile phone (i.e. iPhone / carrier) revenues, but would truely revolutionise the home phone market in particular (I’m thinking the video chat in the movie Aliens).
3. Web Browsing
An obvious one but I believe under-rated. I have wanted a thin (book size) device for browsing the web on the couch for years. I can’t believe others don’t see this alone as a killer feature. Most current affairs and articles I read these days are from the web, so why not sit on the couch in a slightly more sociable fashion to read, like a book or newspaper.
Obviously the web browser then provides the potential for all other web based applications (e.g. Facebook).
On the topic of search, personally I think the mobile web is not all about HTML on a mobile device. I think the form factor of and iPhone or iTabet and the type of input (i.e. touch) is much more manageable using the native user interface (e.g. lists in iPhone), therefore I believe something like search should be performed using a native client that structures results in a touch-friendly way. Tapping for a URL should only ever be a last resort – common applications should all have a Touch UI. In other words, a dedicated Google search client designed by Apple not Google.
4. Magazines / Books
Related to web browsing, I would love to see Apple work with the magazine industry to create eZine versions of their publications. This means full page interactive versions that resemble their print versions (i.e. without the web-style ads, but with hyperlinked ads like the magazine).
The same approach could be extended to eCatalogues, etc.
I’m not convinced that Apple could create a beautiful colour device and support long battery life require for the iTablet to be a book reader. If anyone could come up with a dual mode screen (e.g. colour and Kindle-esk e-ink like, I’m sure it would be Apple) however I think rich UI and long long battery life are too contradictory for a first version. I would however like to see basic reference books emulated with a glorious reproduction of their physical counterparts (e.g. atlas, dictionary, thesaurus).
In fact, I’ll call our an Atlas as another standalone feature, for example partnering with Google to provide a digital version of the coffee table atlas, perhaps with linked content to either a respectable encyclopedia provider (e.g. perhaps a feature of a premium subscription) or Wikipedia.
5. Photo Album / Frame
I think an iTablet would have to capitalise on the social (e.g. large enough to gather around but not as geeky as sitting around a computer) and tactile (i.e. touch interface, similar size to a traditional photo album) experience for viewing and managing photos. I’m thinking basic features like sorting, rating, cropping, rotating, sharing and perhaps adding tags / captions. I have an Apple TV and I’ve previously suggested to Apple that sitting on the couch looking at photos on the TV with friends is a much better experience for viewing and managing photos (e.g. to view photos straight after uploading from the camera). In true Apple fashion, all edits would be synced to all other devices (iPhone, PC/Mac, Apple TV, MobileMe, Facebook, etc).
As in point (1), in a digital age we have lost the tactile experience when managing our photos, however an iTablet is the perfect form factor and closest UI to simulate a traditional photo album, pile of photos or a box of photos. Of course, when not in use the iTablet could just be a digital photo frame in the lounge room.
6. Graphics Tablet
I heard this elsewhere so can’t take credit for originality, however I think Apple could bring the benefits of a graphics table to the average consumer that is currently only used by graphics professionals. An iTablet used as a touch based input device to accompany a Mac (and PC, although I doubt it as Apple has less control over the OS) could add several interesting features like those currently only available to Macbook’s with the touchpad (e.g. gestures).
7. Apple TV Integration
Probably not in the first version, however I think Apple will extend the iPhone Remote application to provide a much richer UI for controlling an Apple TV. For example, providing a dedicated UI to view your library with graphics, credits, notes, etc about music, TV shows, movies, podcasts, etc currently provided in the Apple TV menus. The idea here being that you can view your full library on your iTablet and only interrupt the currently viewing show when you have made a selection. Applying this principle to music, you could rack up your current music playlist (jukebox style) without interrupting the current song.
As an aside, my wish list and not-so-confident prediction for the Apple TV is to extend it’s digital content to support TV streaming a-la Hulu. I accept @darryn’s argument that why would Apple offer content for free that it currently sells via iTunes, therefore potentially it is only a live stream (i.e. no playback on demand), however I think this Apple TV needs to complete it’s digital transformation of the lounge room by offering some live content and I don’t see them doing this via an HDTV tuner (even though that would complete the perfect media centre) due to lack of control and partnership opportunities to create for digital delivery such as the Hulu model.
8. Widgets
Not a killer feature but cool never-the-less, I think the iTablet will extend the concept of the OS-X Dashboard to support widgets. For example, like your digital newspaper the Tablet form factor is perfect for viewing the Headlines (RSS), Weathers, Stocks, Webcams, etc.
Assuming, which I do, the iTablet UI is a scaled up iPhone OS (not a scaled down OS-X UI) then this could just be support to run multiple existing iPhone utility-style applications arranged in a grid. This provides instant access to thousands of potential widget-like applications that you could arrange, say for 8-10 to a page, or with updates for the new SDK could potentially take up more real-estate if supported (e.g. a 1/4 tablet and/or full page view).
9. Briefcase
In order to make this device an alternative for travelling with (e.g. for commutes) I think an iTablet would need to replace the need to lug around a notebook to a from work. Therefore I would like to see the Tablet also be a kind of portable storage device to effectively carry around your currently work such as a sync of your latest work (e.g. X days worth of emails, browser history, recent documents opened, etc). This would need to be a bi-directional (or potentially mesh) sync to ensure that anything you worked from your work or home PC/Mac was available on the road from your Tablet. This is more software than hardware, but I think a compelling requirement to make an additional digitial device in your life a complement and not a pain to manage. While this may work partly with the cloud (e.g. iDisk, MobileMe) unless it has a 3G connection (which I doubt) I think this device needs to mirror your last X days of work for anywhere access.
10. Obvious Stuff
Of course there are other features that are no-brainers that I don’t think require as much argument:
- Movies — sure, it would play movies in a form factor that is actually enjoyable. I just wonder where (plane?).
- Games — after the success of the App Store I’m sure Apple has plans to support games on the wider form factor. Personally I think they should include a D-Pad or similar for physical interaction as I think the touch and accelerometer UI are not immersive enough for most games.
- Apps — as mentioned I think Apps have been key to the iPhone’s success to break away from other competing phones however the managed environment and, dare I say it the App Store approval process, has been key to the simplicity and (relative) stability of providing Apps on a low resource device. I predict an iTablet will therefore be a scaled up iPhone OS (which is already a cut down OS-X) but with some extensions to to iPhone SDK to support the devices unique features. However while touch is the primary UI, this will be iPhone at the core.
User Input
A controversial topic is how to control said iTablet. Soft keyboard? hard keyboard? stylus? handwriting?
I don’t think Apple would reduce themselves to a stylus like Windows Mobile devices or Bill’s Tablet PC. Unless they have some kind of handwriting recognition that surpasses anything seen before (like their iPhone touch UI exceeded current technologies) I don’t see them mimicking an existing poor user experience.
They will definately have a soft keyboard like the iPhone, hopefully with full size keys, however would never expect this to be used for much more than tweet length. However I would want the device to be self sufficient using the soft keyboard only if desired.
I can’t image the right design, however I think a physical keyboard would make the iTablet a true competitor to the netbook. It would somehow need to be unobtrusive when not required, as I can image Apple wanting the clean lines / view experience of a large iPod Touch like design, and would need to support typing either in your hands (e.g. couch) or at a desk, and therefore somehow support an angle or even detached from the screen.
Given I know Apple love the idea that the iPhone is one physical design that can be shipped anywhere in the world (i.e. not language specific), perhaps the hard keyboard could be an optional (Bluetooth) extra with perhaps the ability to clip on to the Tablet if desired. Alternatively, Apple could potential implement the hard keyboard with programmable key labels.
Conclusions
As with the iPhone, I think Apple will release enough of the above features in a version 1 to make the iTablet a compelling technical device but with some pretty revolutionary real-world applications (i.e. like the Video Chat). However being based on the iPhone OS with the benefit of time the applications for the device will then explode as developers think of more an more purposes to complement the gap between a Phone UI and a Desktop UI. I think Bill Gates was on the right idea that there is space for a Tablet PC, however missed the mark by trying to implement a full PC and OS. I suspect Apple will perfect the form factor through a minimalist design, some discretion of features and appropriate UI to create the ultimate couch / mobile UI to extend our digital lifestyles in ways that are natural evolutions of their physical counterparts.
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