“During the past 6 months… I have pieced together the puzzle which portrays a picture of what can be perhaps best described as Apple’s rival product to the Intel Ultra Mobile PC [UMPC] initiative which has unsuccessfully tried to marry Microsoft’s Windows OS to a highly portable computing platform,” David Sieger reports for Seeking Alpha.
“My strongest piece of evidence came from a trusted tipster about 4 months ago who described an image s(he) had seen of a mysterious touch screen device larger than the iPhone featuring one distinguishing button or depression on each side,” Sieger reports.
“Then about a month ago, another source revealed that Apple has shown significant interest in a 5.2″ 800 x 480 pixel touch screen design by Balda, a German company and the current iPhone screen supplier,” Sieger reports.
“This second piece of evidence reveals the real purpose of this new device, an ultra mobile device occupying a position between the 3.5″ iPhone and the much rumored 7-10 inch Apple tablet,” Sieger reports.
“This new Apple device, which could be an Ultra Mobile Computer, has not been sighted out and about the Apple campus or even in the area normally designated for testing new Apple products, suggesting that it’s still in the software and hardware design period,” Sieger reports. “Once it’s physically spotted outside Apple’s secretive labs, we may see an actual product release of 6-8 months…”
Full article here.
Your Ultra Mobile Mac. YUMM!
Oh, I thought it said “Tumors Grow…”.
I guess that will come out about the iPhone anytime now.
Is it Snappy!
That’s o.k. as long as this trusted tipster didn’t also pick Miami for the playoffs. Apple’s secretive labs seems to have the right holes plugged this time around.
“labs seem”
Not enough coffee.
And I hope it’s more schnappy than snappy.
@ TowerTone
It’s NADDA TOOMAH!
Sometimes-reliable tipsters with access to the acoustic section of Apple labs have reason to believe that the start-up sound being tested for these devices closely resembles the waveform created by a real human finger snap. Always the innovator, Apple appears to be preparing to introduce a generation of new devices that will be forever snappy.
I think of an “ultra mobile” Mac as one that can levitate itself and follow me around.
Sound yummy to me… I could use a smaller format than the present MacBook for sure. Even a 9″ screen small MacBook would be great!
The Real® Zune…
Perfect mobile size.
how utterly pointless.
Apple wont go near anything like this – there is simply no market – a device like this wouldnt be a ‘hobby’ a la the AppleTV – it would need to sell.
instead expect to see a tiny freakin laptop – that folds on itself… with touchscreen.
around same price as a mac mini.
This sounds good except for the screen resolution.
Mysterious Ultra Mobile Mac 5.2″ 800 x 480
iPhone 3.5″ 640 x 480
It should be scales up better or be even more dense maybe 800 x 600 or better.
If they do have this in the pipeline, I don’t see Apple making a separate tablet – this would be their tablet. They have never put that many products of a similar nature and of similar specifications before in their lineup.
This is what I’ve been saying all along, a mac in my pocket, then I can just dock it on my desktop to a larger screen. No?
To create this <i>and</a> a 10 inch laptop makes no sense to me, either. Multi-touch is clearly the future, so my money is on the tablet.
…and
Sorry. Preview sure would be nice.
“Rumors grow about Apple’s mysterious Ultra Mobile Mac”
I heard it was outted when Rove pushed Scooter to give Dick a heads up….
I seriously hope that Apple comes out with a new line Macbook Pros to accompany this; I’ve been waiting for an update since November!
APPLE will be developing the size of screen suggested.
It will be 12 – 13 inches.
S. Woz
@jeff
iPhone’s screen res is 320 x 480.
I agree with the rest of your post though.
“Multi-touch is clearly the future”
I disagree. I think Multi-touch is of limited usefulness, and will probably remain useful only for small devices such as the iPhone. Having touch screens on larger devices would be too strenuous on the hand. A tablet would be about as large as I’d want it to get, and even then, some applications wouldn’t work very well with it, so I doubt it would completely replace the mouse and a real desktop any time soon.
It would be more accurate to say that “Multi-touch will likely replace the stylus as the input method of choice in mobile devices.”
Yeh, And they’re working on a stealth computer, too. You can’t see it until you find its been paid for by your credit card.
“You can’t see it until you find its been paid for by your credit card.”
That’s similar to Microsoft’s strategy. They’ll provide customers with software that is bug-free and virus-proof once they’ve decided you’ve paid enough for it. They use calculus to determine the correct amount using limits approaching infinity. It’s buried in the EULA somewhere.
This is certainly intriguing, but doesn’t make sense given Apple’s current mode of operation with regard to product lines. Apple is very focused in their product lines. While there are slight variations in sizes and colors, etc. They have only 4 iPod models, the Shuffle, the Nano, the Classic, and now the Touch. They make only six computers. Three consumer models, two pro models, and one server. Too mnay product lines creates confusion for consumers and positions them as being way too fractured.
Why would there be any need for a 5.2″ device when the iPhone, or the “Ultra-Portable” bracket it so well on either side? Just doesn’t sound like a product Apple would do.
“It would be more accurate to say that “Multi-touch will likely replace the stylus as the input method of choice in mobile devices.”
There is one thing the stylus can do that the finger cannot. It can point to and activate much smaller and closer objects.
I too see the multi touch screen as being very useful for handheld computers but it will never be anything more than a novelty input method for the desktop or even laptop computer.
If you have a 20 inch screen do you set your mouse to require a full 20 inches of travel on your mouse pad to move the pointer across the screen? Of course not!
The whole idea of the mouse or the laptop’s trackpad is so you don’t have to move your entire arm all over hell.
> Your Ultra Mobile Mac. YUMM!
I agree, except that such a device, which is sure to be released at some point (but not at MacWorld 2008), will not be called a “Mac.” It will be an iPod or iPhone, depending on whether it has mobile phone parts inside.