Blackberry Playbook

Remember about a week and change ago when I said the first round of 'iPad killers' would be making their way into the mainstream in the coming months? The first one was the Samsung Galaxy Tab was the first one to hit the market, and now, the good people over at RIM have prepared their answer to the iPad: the Blackberry Playbook. Billed as the first 'Professional tablet,' ironically the Playbook is going to be an 'amazing gaming platform' according to Research in Motion co-CEO Mike Lazaridis. That's a big departure from the usually business-oriented Blackberry mantra, but I'm interested to see how they pull it off. The Playbook will have Flash out of the box, so that immediately puts it at an advantage over the iPad. In addition, the Playbook has an impressive spec list that clearly outdoes the iPad, with a 1 GHz processor, 1 GB of RAM, and a bigger screen. The Playbook also features a front-facing camera for video chatting over either a 3G or 4G network. The introduction of the Playbook might be a lost cause considering the iPad's hold on the market, but then again, what's a market without options? Not to mention, the Playbook looks pretty and polished. Check out some flicktures and rendering in the video...

Dear Apple

#shoutout to Engadget for the flicktures

Okay, first it was the Mac, then the iPod, then the iPhone. Now it's the iPad?? Yeah, I'm not buying it, guys. And I mean that in every sense of that euphemism. Apple, to tell you the truth, the iPad looks impressive. If anyone walked up to me with it in hand, here would be the conversation:

DRAMATIZATION (because I clearly don't speak this way)

Me: WOW!! What's that??
Friend: It's the iPad!! It's really neat, isn't it?
Me: Yeah, it looks like a winner!! What does it do??
Friend: It goes on the internet and does e-mail and you can put music on it and take pictures and do word processing and has a wicked awesome touchscreen and...
Me: (interrupting) So it's a computer?
Friend: Noooo, it's an iPad! Check out how good the 3G coverage is!
Me: So it's a phone then?
Friend: Noooo, it's an iPad!
Me: (blank stare) So it's a phone and a tablet computer at the same time?
Friend: Noooo, it's an i... Well, yeah. I guess it is a phone and tablet computer.
Me: That's pretty cool... What are you going to do with your iPhone and your Macbook?
Friend: (blank stare)

END

Therein lies the problem, Apple. Most people are probably not going to drop $499 (Why don't companies just say $500?) on a second computer with no keyboard, much less one that costs another $30 a month to use (via AT&T's data plan). You guys at Apple have gotten so smitten with innovation and finding ways to meld every device together, that you've made something useless to 90% of the market. Sure, someone that has neither computer, phone or MP3 player will piss his pants when he sees this. But how many people do you guys know who DON'T have a computer, phone or MP3 player? In fact, I dare you to find ONE person who doesn't have any of the three. If and when you do, you need to sell that iPad to each and every friend and relative that that person has.

Apple, I've long been a Mac, and will probably continue to be a Mac after this post (given my Macbook doesn't shit itself again). That said, it's pretty funny to see the entire internet on hold just to see something that we already knew was going down. I laughed when I saw the iPad because I was expecting something out of this world and saw a product that most likely could have been made 2 years ago. Kudos Steve Jobs and Apple. You guys have successfully duped Americans into believing that anything Apple-branded is made by God. I hope the iPad does the numbers you thought it was, because somehow I don't see it happening. But who am I to judge? I'm just another Mac user. The iPad still looks cool...

The Apple Tablet

via Engadget:

According John Paczkowski over at All Things D, Apple is planning a "major product announcement" for Wednesday, January 27th -- not the 26th as we've heard in previous reports. Additionally, the French site Mac4Ever says developers have been given a beta of the iPhone OS 4 SDK which includes a "simulator" for reformatting / scaling applications to a new, tablet-sized screens. Here at Engadget, we can confirm that sources very familiar with the situation over in Cupertino have been given info about a tablet heading for launch at the end of January, which will -- in fact -- require reformatting and resizing for (we assume)... yep, its new screen size and resolution.

First off, the Mailing List is getting a bit of a change. Instead of having 5 per month and pretty much having a countdown, if it's going down this month, it's in the Mailing List. Most of y'all don't catch that, but, I suppose it's cool.

Anyways, enter the Apple Tablet aka the iSlate aka the Macbook Mini, or whatever heads want to call it. On January 27th, Apple will announce a 'major product'. The interwebs have been raving over a bunch of hear-say about the Apple Tablet, and have gotten a few hints via Apple product development. The final result should be DOPE. Of course these pictures are all photoshopped fan pictures, but you have to admit the possibilities are endless when it comes to Apple. Check the rest of the pictures and stay tuned for more Mailing List posts, especially when it comes to Apple...