ParisLemon » Apple’s Multi-touch Mini Tablet/UMPC Details?

Apple’s Multi-touch Mini Tablet/UMPC Details?

Seeking Alpha (which nailed Apple’s stock hitting $200 a share earlier in the year [via Mahalo]), now claims to have details about a new “mysterious” Apple Portable Device.

No, this supposedly isn’t the ‘MacBook Nano’ or ‘Slim MacBook‘ rumored to be coming at MacWorld, this device is said to be closer to a Ultra-Mobile PC (UMPC) that Microsoft, Intel, and others kind of tripped out the door in the past.

They claim the device will basically be a 5.2″ 800×480 screen that is meant to be situated horizontally and gripped on both ends (like a UMPC or Sony PSP). It would not have a QWERTY keyboard like a UMPC does, but rather a Multi-touch keypad similar to the iPhone’s. They also claim this is the device that could be somewhat erroneously thought of as the new version of Apple’s Newton – the PDA device long discontinued that has an almost cult-like following still on the Internet.

Disappointingly, Seeking Alpha thinks this device is still in the design phase and could be several months away from production. This does however seem to go along nicely with Apple’s rumored major partnership with Intel over the course of 2008 on multiple mobile computing devices.

Interestingly, Apple itself kind of predicted this UMPC-esque device in this video from 1987.

[rendering via Seeking Alpha]

Post by MG Siegler on 12/26/07
Comments

Paul

Of course this would be a natural progression from the iPod Touch / iPhone. I know plenty of people that are using their iPT and iP's as psuedo-PDA's, myself included!

MG Siegler

@paul - definitely, I do as well.

Anonymous

touch input without a keyboard is fine on a phone but for a full computer that is just plain lame. If you are operating word processing and other more typical desktop softwares then a real touch type keyboard is what I and most people would want. What Apple should do is make a clamshell computer that provides a touch type keyboard with a touch screen to eliminate a mouse and thus provide more space for the keyboard. If they did that they would kiss butt on the UMPC's whom have yet to create such a computer. They would probably take overa lot of Microsoft die hards. Most of the people I know whom have been keeping an eye on UMPC's all wanted a pocket laptop and have been dissappointed with UMPC's so far. They would switch to MAC OS if they created one; and I bet once they do that they would never go back to a PC?