Well, above is my edited photo of the invite which has been sent out. Rumours have been flying around the web for years, literally, about what this could be. There are a number of things it could be; and in this post they will be rounded up.
There are two main products rumours have mentioned; the iPhone and some sort of tablet/slate/ whatever you want to call it. Firstly, I will focus on the slate thingy. As I earlier mentioned, this rumour has been going on for years; with first rumours back in 2002 of a large iPod with no keyboard. So, now I shall round up rumours, expectations and what I think it will be.
So, yes, the first rumours were back in 2002, but they got back in 2005 with hopes about a touch screen computer, but somehow I think that this was about the iPhone since Steve Jobs said it was a pocket computer at the time. But they sort of died out in 2008 because of the iPhone.
Things started heating up beyond control towards the end of last year though, with rumours coming thick and fast and everything spiralling out of control. Almost all of the rumours point to the device being around 10” in size, and either being OLED or LCD. Prices seem to be around $1000, but with some hinting at prices being as low as $700.
I have to say, that since the iPhone is sold in the UK for £549 Sim-free for the 32GB 3GS, that would hint that the price will have to be around £700, or around $800. However, then entry level macbook is $999, so it will have to be priced more than that. The macbook pro is $1200 and macbook air is $1500; so that means that the tablet might be priced around $1300, or maybe £1100. However, the pricing still remains a mystery, because it could be less if it had less specification then it could could be $700.
There are also many rumours that it could be based on an iPhone. However, this just would not function. The iPhone has a relatively small screen of 3.5” and 480x320 pixels, now if it were to be based on the iPhone OS, people would expect it to house the 100000 apps, but it simply wouldn’t work. That small a resolution on a screen of maybe 10” would just not work. If it is to be based on the iPhone OS, then they need to make it look so different that it doesn’t have anything to do with it so that it doesn’t make people wish they had the apps on it.
So, it can’t be based on the iPhone OS. Simple. But remember that post I did about the Modbook? Well, it is a stripped down version of Mac OS. This is what Apple need to base their tablet on if they are making it.
Let’s look at the the other rumour, the iPhone. People are saying that iPhone OS 4 will be unveiled, but somehow I think that it won’t be, considering OS 3 wasn’t announced much before the iPhone 3GS was announced. So, that rumour is out of the question.
There is also the rumour that an 8GB 3GS will be announced. The current 8GB iPhone 3G is just there as a cheap option, so this would replace it. This 3GS would have to cost the same as the current 3G, otherwise the 3G would still have to be sold as that cheap option.
There is also a rumour that an iPhone 4G will be announced, but with 4G networks hardly anywhere and no real demand for it. So, that too is out of the equation.
To round up, a tablet is expected tomorrow to be around 10” and cost between $700 and $1300. iPhone 4 OS might be announced, but don’t expect it. What do you expect? Tablet? iPhone 4G? Be sure to comment below to have your views across the web.
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