“Apple Computer plans to launch a wireless display for a desktop system, according to sources. The display is said to resemble a Tablet PC in appearance and include a detachable keyboard but not have a battery. Whether it has handwriting recognition or any screen input capability is unclear. Taiwan?s Quanta Computer will contract manufacture the product and has begun test production, sources said.
The Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported today that Quanta had landed orders for a 15-inch Tablet PC-like device, with shipments to begin in the first quarter of 2004,” reports Sarah Chang, DigiTimes.com. Full article here.
I don’t get how a device can be wireless and yet have no battery… Are we talking wireless power transmission here? Is Tesla now working at Apple?
Without a battery this device would be grounded to the nearest power point. I think that detail makes the story a bit dubious. After all, a wireless tablet would hardly be practical if it has to be plugged in to AC power in order to use it.
perhaps the article was written poorly and they just meant it didn’t have a removeable battery, while the keyboard is detachable – the reverse is true of the new powerbooks, so…
I am thinking they meant no removable battery. I remember the first time we heard rumors about something like this… Seems like it was 3 years ago or so. Apple was going to make a desktop with an LCD displaythat was removable and had handwriting recognition and was connected to the desktop wirelessly. Not an independent computer unto itself, just a detachable display. Very cool, but not all that useful if you want real portability. Who knows maybe it will be a tablet-pc like thing, but I wouldn’t count on it.