More details emerge about iPad tablet

Posted by Editor on Jan 21, 2010 in Apple, Tablets

Some more details emerging today about the Apple iPad/Slate/Tablet.

AppleInsider says according to its sources of all the Apple concept drawings artists have come up with, this one is the closest:

When Apple finally takes the wraps off its long-anticipated tablet next Wednesday, the device will strike a familiar chord with owners of the original iPhone, with similarities in industrial design trickling all the way down to the handset’s button and connectivity components, AppleInsider has learned.

Nearly two and a half years have passed since AppleInsider exclusively reported in September of 2007 that the Cupertino-based gadget maker planned to follow the blockbuster success of the iPhone with a broader entry into consumer electronics, spearheaded by a completely new category of device akin to a “slate” and reminiscent of a modern-day reincarnation of the company’s now defunct Newton tablet.

Since then, Apple has surprised in its capacity to work alongside dozens of partners and still maintain a relatively tight lid of the product’s design, feature set, and software-driven functionality. Though recent weeks have been met by a flurry of reports on Apple’s likely intentions for the device, a 28-month trail of rumors and speculation have left onlookers with exponentially more questions than answers.

One lingering uncertainty has surrounded the device’s aesthetic or, more precisely, what it may look and feel like in a user’s hands. According to people familiar with the device, it’s largely redolent of a first-generation iPhone that’s met its match with a rolling pin.

Of all the mockups and renderings that have surfaced on the Web attempting to depict what the final product will look like, the rendition below created by Flickr user Fotoboer.nl last August is strikingly close to the real deal, those same people say. It would be more precise, they add, if it weren’t missing a handful of design elements of the iPhone.

Nestled in an aluminum shell that leverages the Apple’s expertise in unibody construction but thinner proportionality than the original iPhone, the tablet reportedly sports all of the same buttons found on the handset, right down to its iconic home button — which, like the volume toggle, is missing from the rendering.

Meanwhile, the Nextweb has this to see about iPad tablet details:

Twin Dock Connectors

This new information combined with what we already know about the device give us a pretty full perspective, even though we can’tsee it for another week at the earliest. The idea of twin dock connectors isn’t a new one, as there have always been a large group of nitpickers who complain about a plug sticking out the “side” of their iPhones when they use them in widescreen mode. The fact that the new tablet will be a 10″ device allows for a dock-connector on both the bottom edge, andthe other bottom of the device — the left edge.

The size of the tablet makes this not so much ridiculous and more utilitarian, as the added docking station will allow users to choose their viewing orientation on a whim, and not by what works with the cable.

Plastic Patch

As for the plastic segment of the aluminum casing; the idea isn’t novel in any way, it’s the size of the strip that counts. Instead of a small plastic dot like a phone would have, this unit is supposed to have a full strip of plastic along the top rear casing. This generally means a greater concentration on those harder-to-reach wireless signals.

It also lends to the idea that the tablet will sport 802.11n along with the usual gamut of wifi standards.

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Overall, it’s shaping up to be a rather nice device, should all these leaks, rumors and “facts” add up come release-date. The added docking station, along with the ability to dock the tablet in either portrait or landscape mode at any given time, make for a much more appealing device for people actually considering using it as a mobile computer, and not just a huge iPhone. The screen size is on par with that of the most popular netbooks (mine included), and it’s undoubtedly slick, but at an expected price-point of nearly $1,000 USD it’s an awful lot to ask of consumers.