Apple is set to roil the publishing world with a Jan. 27 unveiling of a tablet device that could serve as the platform for the next generation of eBooks and eMags while also staking out a position as a leader in the emerging smartbook category.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the new Apple table will have a color 10- or 11-inch touchscreen and retail for close to $1,000 -- a price point significantly higher than the $800 thrown out in previous tablet discussions. It will ship in March.
Smartbooks -- devices larger and more powerful than smartphones while being more portable and easier to use than netbooks -- are emerging as a major sector of the computing market for the coming two years. They are positioned as devices that can change the computing experience by putting more power and accessibility in a smaller package. Though we've had tablet computers for several years, we're finally reaching a point where the power of both the hardware and software are merging to create a user-friendly experience.
Getting ahead of the trend will be important, which is why Apple has been so focused on bringing a product to market in the beginning of 2010. The new device will represent an iPhone on steroids in some ways, supporting iPhone apps and providing a similar user interface.
But the plan is to push the boundaries of the iPhone by encouraging developers to work on feature-rich applications, judging by the whispers we're hearing among our friends in the big publishing houses. The magazine experience will be translatable to the tablet experience in a very direct way. Similarly, eBooks on the Apple platform can transcend the text and gray-scale images currently displayed on the likes of the Amazon Kindle and B&N Nook.
Whether the new Apple tablet represents a direct assault on the Kindle, however, remains to be seen. On the one hand, both Amazon and B&N have experienced tremendous success by pushing cheap books easily downloaded on a inexpensive (under $300) device that can be easily thrown into a purse or backpack. Smartbooks will be more robust in terms of weight, size and capabilities; were guessing the battery life of an Apple tablet won't come close to the battery life of a Kindle. Amazon and B&N both have done good jobs in positioning their offerings for many other devices as well; Amazon will probably be pretty happy to sell you a book on a Kindle or an Apple tablet -- the retailing giant will already sell you books on PCs and iPhones.
The Apple tablet will do one thing that a Kindle or Nook cannot do: adequately display a magazine page or newspaper article. Yes, we know The Wall Street Journal has lots of Kindle subscribers. But reading magazines or newspapers on a Kindle is a tremendously frustrating experience: you have the words, but you don't have the total experience. A magazine like The New Yorker just doesn't translate to a Kindle.
So our early prediction: the new Apple tablet will add to the increasing momentum of eBooks and expand the market, while at the same time giving potential new life to magazine publishers. And anything that expands the market is just fine with us.
RELATED STORIES: More details emerge about Apple tablet; Apple owns iSlate.com -- so what?; Analyst: Apple ramping up for spring tablet release, is wooing publishers; Time lays out intriguing future for eMags; Researching the researchers: IDC says to expect Apple tablet in 2010
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
