Touchbook??? Apple 10" Touch

According to AppleInsider Blog, it appears a giant touch may well be the next iteration of smart phone/netbook device. Should be a very interesting launch. The synergy with carriers is starting to raise more eyebrows as the network becomes as important (if not more important) than the device itself.

Some highlights and thoughts from Sam Diaz:

The blog is reporting that Apple has plans to launch a 10-inch, 3G-enabled tablet, kind of an oversized iPod Touch, if you will. Because it would be 3G-enabled, there’s also growing speculation that Apple is tapping Verizon to be the carrier partner. Remember: the exclusivity agreement between Apple and AT&T only applies to the iPhone. (see update below)

Of course, none of this has been confirmed by Apple. Still, AppleInsider doesn’t just attribute the information to a source but rather, in a WSJesque way, cites “people well-respected by AppleInsider for their striking accuracy in Apple’s internal affairs.”

What’s most striking about this rumor is that it also includes information about the Steve Jobs Seal of Approval, which doesn’t come easy around Cupertino. The back-to-work CEO has reportedly signed off on the device and “cemented” it into plans for a Q1 launch next year.

With all of that said - and recognizing that no one is officially commenting about the device or fielding on-the-record questions - I offer the following thoughts to ponder, based on what I’ve read in other postings today.

• The price becomes an issue because it would have to be cheaper than the lowest-priced laptop in the lineup ($999) but likely would be more than than $500. Anything less than that would put it on the comparison charts against the netbooks, which COO Tim Cook has called “junky.” At the same time, with a wireless carriers involved, subsidies will likely drive down the price even more.
• Is it a oversized mobile device or a small-sized laptop computer? Well, that could depend on 1) whether it’s powered by Mac OS X or the iPhone OS and 2) the type of chip it has inside. The AppleInsider post has some good historical insight into the issue over the chip choice (in the latter half of the post.)
• I wonder what this means for the Crunchpad, the tablet device that’s the love interest of TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington these days. That device, a 16mm thick tablet with a 12-inch screen, is expected to retail for about $300 and will be available “as soon as possible.” A post on CrunchGear this week, reporting on rumors of Verizon powering an Apple tablet, ends with blogger Peter Ha writing, “We (as in Michael and CrunchPad Inc.) better get on their horse and get the CrunchPad out.”

Keeps things interesting. More to come...

ATT announces netbook lineup

From engadget, AT&T announced it's netbook lineup. The announcement is not that groundbreaking other than offering choices for the subsidized netbook plan. Pricing is still fluid.

Sprint Announces $.99 Netbook w/ 2yr Plan

Not a really big surprise, Sprint is getting into the subsidized Netbook market. As wireless providers have done with (and continue to do) smartphones, they are waving reduced (now nearly free) hardware with a 2 year contract for data services. There obviously is a cost associated with the device but taking the total cost of the data plan and saying that's what you are paying is not a true TCO since you are getting a service that would cost you basically that amount for data to your smartphone or a 3G modem for your own laptop. I think we will continue to see this trend (and even free netbooks) by all the providers as the adoption rates continue to rise, the variety of options expand and data becomes the network of choice for the masses.

YOUR THOUGHTS???

It’s a race to the bottom.

Best Buy and Sprint have teamed up to offer a Compaq-branded HP Mini 110c netbook for only 99 cents when you sign a two-year data contract.

Normally, the system would run you $389 at Best Buy, no contract, and buying a similar model with Verizon (or a comparable one from AT&T) would still set you back $199. (Or, for free, if you sign up for Verizon’s Fios.)

But as you might have guessed, Sprint and Best Buy make their money not from the hardware, but the contract, which at $60 per month would cost you $720 per year, or $1,440 over the life of the contract.

The Compaq Mini 110c-1040DX offers a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor, 1GB of memory and a tiny three-cell battery. It weighs about 2.6 lbs. and is 1.3 in. thick, and it has a built-in camera and microphone, 92 percent-size keyboard, 3 USB ports, a 5-in-1 card reader and Intel GMA 950 graphics.

(Or, you know, you could save yourself the trouble and buy yourself a proper laptop.)

Does this Mini netbook have enough of a miniature price tag to get you to commit?

More diversification within the Netbook (pre-2.0) world. Cheaper or stronger/faster? You choose. As we approach the Holy Grail of Q4, we are seeing iterations/splinters/niches/diversifications appear at a very impressive rate (think of all the challenges of Netbook 1.0 - no optical drive (available now), limited OS (Win7), touchscreen (soon), smaller (check), larger (although a little more opaque - avail now), Processor options (avail). And so it continues...

Story from ZD:

There are two ways to address the limitations of netbooks: 1.) offer less-costly notebooks, or 2.) give netbooks a little more muscle. Both are now happening.

The ultra-thin laptops based on Intel’s ULV processors or AMD’s Athlon Neo are an obvious alternative to netbooks, and they’ve already received lots of coverage. Dell took a different approach with the Vostro 1220, which it announced earlier this week. The Vostro 1220 is also based on a 12.1-inch display, but it uses standard Intel mobile processors. At 0.9-1.5 inches thick, it’s not as thin as the HP Pavilion dv2, for example, but it is still highly portable weighing 3.4 pounds (with the 4-cell battery). Interestingly, Dell claims the 6-cell is good for 9 hours of battery life despite the fact that the Vostro 1220 does not use the ultra low-voltage chips.

The Vostro 1220 starts at $729 with a 2.2GHz Intel Celeron 900, 2GB of memory, Intel GMA 4500M HD integrated graphics, 160GB hard drive and Vista Home Basic. The 6-cell battery adds $60. That’s more expensive than a 12-inch netbook–the Dell Mini 12 starts at $500 with Windows XP–but you also get more, including an internal DVD drive. There aren’t many standard 12-inch business ultraportables in this price range, so Dell deserves some credit for trying this out. I haven’t seen any full reviews yet, but it will be interesting to see how the Vostro 1220 stacks up.

Meanwhile plans to boost the performance of netbooks are in full force. Lenovo had already announced plans to offer a version of its IdeaPad S12 12-inch netbook with Nvidia’s Ion chipset. Now Samsung has confirmed that it will release an 11.6-inch netbook, the N510, with Ion later this year. Nvidia’s chipset promises to improve the performance of Atom-based PCs by replacing the integrated graphics with the GeForce 9400M GPU, but to date it has largely been confined to nettops such as the Acer AspireRevo, not netbooks. Samsung already sells a 12.1-inch netbook, the NC20, through Newegg.com for $510 with a 1.3GHz VIA Nano U2250, 1GB of memory, 150GB hard drive and Windows XP Home. I’ve also tested the Samsung N10 and N20 10-inch netbooks, which have received positive reviews.