The latest Apple iOS 4.3 beta has led to much speculation about the home button being removed in future devices. BGR reports

We have exclusively been told that the reason Apple just added multitouch gestures for the iPad in the latest iOS 4.3 beta is because the iPad will be losing the home button. Yes, we are told that Apple, at some point in time, will remove the home button from the iPad’s design. Instead of button taps, you will use new multitouch gestures to navigate to the home screen and also to launch the app switcher.

There has been much said about why it will stay.

I think it will stay (for now) but will eventually be completely removed from future iPad devices once people learn the gestures. I think the home button is a permanent fixture on the iPhone because it is a one hand usable device. The iPad however is a device you primarily hold in one hand and interact with using the other. Eliminating the home button is easier on such a device.

Apple is known for introducing changes slowly, training people and then making the switch when it is very well known. For now the idea is they want feedback. If the gestures break a lot of apps, they will find another gesture to get home. This is why it is either four or five finger pinch. Otherwise, they could put an option in the settings app for those in the know to turn it on, put it in more TV spots and in the near future make it permanent with those intelligent bezels.

Functional replacements

A lot of the other complaints about the home button can be easily fixed, albeit not as easy on the iPhone.

Screen capture: press and hold the sleep button with a new gesture swipe for screen capture instead of pressing the home button.

Right side up: the sleep button can still be used to determine which way is up on the iPad.

Force quit: Press and hold the sleep button and options will appear for things like restart device or quit current app along with the standard slide to power off and cancel.

Theres a running joke that Steve Jobs hates buttons. Well maybe he is just trying to remove one more button on future devices just not in the iPad 2.

The Back to the Mac event held today introduced the new Macbook Air 11.6" and 13.3" models, Facetime Beta for Mac, Mac App Store, iLife 11 and had a preview of Mac OS X Lion. This included Launchpad, Mission Control, App autosave and Full screen Apps.

The theme of the event was back to the mac, but I couldn't help but think of it as the move towards a better, more powerful iPad

Steve claims they took what they learned from the iPad and are applying that to the Mac. I think this was their plan all along. Just like how Apple had the iPad but released the iPhone first, they are still training us. The question is for what?

The Macbook Air is what happens when an iPad and a Macbook hook up. Look for all Macbook Pros to become just like the Air, maybe not in the next iteration but in the next two iterations starting with the elimination of the 13.3" Macbook and possibly Macbook Pro. Other hardware and software manufacturers better take notice of this quickly if they are to keep up with customer expectations going forward. What do I mean?

The Air has instant on capabilities. Using an iPhone and iPad, the time it takes to turn on my Macbook Pro or even the time to wake it up from sleep is beginning to seem frustratingly long. Going forward, I cannot imagine any piece of equipment I use which doesn't turn on instantly. Even my camera better catch on.

Things like Auto-save and Full screen applications are already all the rave on the iPad. Simplifying the user experience is the single most important thing Apple is doing, but Apple is also setting the standards to which all others must compete.

Apple probably had the Mac App Store idea a long time ago, but didn't think the time was right. Imagine if they had released this a few years ago. There would have been an uproar about how it wouldn't work. Now after years with iOS devices leading to more people complaining about streamlining the installation process on OS X, we have the Mac App Store. It seems like the best idea ever. Although at this time I am sure the standard installation process will still remain for developers that do not want in.

This marriage of iOS and Mac OS will continue until we have one gesture/touch based software device powerful enough to run anything we can throw at it. From applications such as Photoshop, to programming using Xcode, to games like Flight Control but with all the speed, battery life and ease of use we have come to love.

I wonder what this OS will be called...

Today the new Apple TV (iTV) will most likely be launched by Apple at their music event. There is a lot of excitement around this release as we hope to see the iTV move from being a "hobby" to a much more capable device.

More

99c TV shows are appealing, but what I really want is the ability to watch brand new movies instantly. When a movie is released, I want to come home, kick back with my home theater system, turn on my iTV, fire up the new movies app or iTunes, select an in theatre movie, click watch, accept the payment and start watching instantly.

The idea may seem far out, but at All Things D, Steve Jobs said “I even think you’ll be able to watch a first run movie before it hits theaters” as long as you are willing to pay the price to do so.

The options to achieve this are plentiful as Apple has been slowly moving away from being just a content provider to a platform provider for any type of content. This is the real appeal of the iOS devices.

iTV as a Platform

The power of the device will be in the content. Apple understands this and that is why they are changing the name of the device from Apple TV as it will no longer be about only TV content. It will tear apart the fundamental go to market strategy of the TV industry by doing one thing Steve loves to do. Price low and aim for mass market adoption. He mentioned during his All Things D interview that for music they priced low and went for mass adoption. He wants to do the same for print, and now TV. The iTV will be priced low so that consumers will see it as cheap enough to buy for all TV’s in the house, cheap enough that if there is damage to it they wont need insurance just buy another one. Cheaper than a Kindle...

As an example of iTV as a platform, let’s take a look at the various methods my dream service can be achieved

Apple and iTunes

Apple already has the iTunes store with which it can provide new movies. The only problem will be licensing deals. Assuming Apple attains this, it can just provide a way for people to instantly stream new release movies already using their iTunes accounts. This could be the iTunes movie theater.

The Movie Studios

Each studio holds their catalog close to their chest. They have lucrative deals to sell DVDs and structure their deals to aid this. They could create iOS apps from which you could directly buy, consume and download movies from their catalog. The only issue will be who provides the infrastructure. Apple can provide it for a fee (maybe at that server facility in NC) or they can build their own data centers to provide their catalogs directly to consumers. Using apps wraps the content in a secure shell (without flash) that should reduce if not eliminate their fears of piracy.

The Movie Theater Companies

Each movie theater already has a deal with the movie companies to show their movies upon initial release in their facilities. Now with iOS, you could create an AMC app, and allow people watch movies in their homes, keep the pricing the same or slightly less and reap the rewards of distributing more movies and spending less on upkeep of theaters. This could lead to maybe even a new kind of movie theater specifically focused on distribution through apps.

So...

I have no idea if this will even come to pass, but who says I can’t dream. I know moving the Apple iTV to iOS will open doors for all sorts of other content like games, sports, documentaries, independent movies and music and I can’t wait to see how things change in the next few years. Maybe the end of Cable TV as we know it.

Recently the question was asked of how the iPad will change the state of subcompact computing going forward. Maybe it’s time to start asking how the iTV will change the television as we know it going forward.

So there was no one more thing today at the Apple press conference, but a few things surprised me.

Apple played the iPhone Antenna song to start it off. I would have been laughing if I was there. I think the theme of the event was the issues has been over exaggerated and if you go by the numbers they might be right.

The second thing is the all smartphones have this problem argument.

The point is simply that Apple chose to design the antenna outside knowing there would be a trade off. Saying well every phone has the same problem is one thing, but none of these companies decided to put the antenna outside. Watch the videos on that page. How many times do you hold your blackberry in that position with a tight grip? Now pick up the same Blackberry and hold it to your ear. Again, you wont hold the phone that way. The iPhone however is built to be held that way when on the phone in either hand, you will touch the location of the “death grip”.

To be honest, I think Apple tested the hell out of this phone in a location of great signal as jobs mentioned, they have AT&T cell towers at Cupertino. Outside of Apple however, the testers had to hide the phone in a 3GS looking case and I am sure that is how they missed this problem entirely.

I think it is safe to say the next time a manufacturers battery explodes, they can just play a video saying well Apple laptops explode too.

Garrett Murray the maker of the popular Ego iOS app went on a rant today about his issues with his iPhone 4.

I’ve never been so completely disappointed in Apple. I genuinely believe Apple knew from the beginning their antenna design was flawed and would cause issues. I believe that’s why they used bullshit math to show an incorrectly positive number of bars, and I believe that’s why they designed the Bumper.

This idea that Apple knew about the antenna issue and did nothing about it or made the Bumper to hide it is something I have been hearing mumbled about recently. This is definitely a problem for Apple.

Apple is known for making innovative products that just work. This iPhone however seems to have many reported issues, starting with the antenna, the proximity sensor and most recently bluetooth issues. All of these experienced by Garrett.

Apple released a statement two weeks ago saying the fix was coming in a software update to use a new formula in calculating signal strength. This fix was implemented today, but doesn’t seem to have fixed the actual problem. The NY Times is however reporting that there is another possible software fix to the problem

The glitch could presumably be fixed with a software update, and it appears to be unrelated to one that affected the display of the phone’s signal strength.

Another aspect of this however is AT&T. This problem seems to be severe when in areas of poor service. Already Apple has said that using the wrong formula was the problem, and now they have fixed this problem, people will no longer see the “fake” 5 bars they used to see, but now see possibly one or two bars in its place. I think Apple is afraid of this and have hidden it as long as they can using the above mentioned “fake” bars.

Apple used the signal formula to buy time to dig deeper into the issue. With this type of public outcry, Apple will do the right thing tomorrow and apologize and announce a permanent hardware or software fix.

The one more thing (if there is one) however will be the announcement of the iPhone 4 coming to Verizon.

This will cause people looking to buy the phone to hold off for that Verizon iPhone 4, and buy Apple sometime to eliminate this bad PR by changing the topic toward something the public has been asking for, for years.

Only time will tell.

There was a time when your choice of book told people who you were, or at least who you wanted to be. Or, barring that, who you wanted people to think you wanted to be. Having an e-reader doesn’t say anything but “I read books and have power outlets in my home”.

This quote from the article reminded me of riding the train into downtown and looking at what people were reading. I could look around and quickly see the new self-help books businessmen were reading, fiction novels that were popular and textbooks students were studying.

Now it is just a

white or black rectangular device with a screen and recessed buttons.

It got me thinking. What if there was an e-reader that when you bought a book to read, had a way to camouflage the whole device with the artwork from that book cover. Maybe when we have cheap flexible screens, these could be a case for the e-reader that would show the artwork. This would give publishers that extra bit of free marketing and people like me ways to pass the time.

Everyone knows what the next iPhone will most likely look like but what I look forward to is the software. Apple has always been about the software and the user experience.I mean both the iPhone and iPad have one main button I look forward to finding out what is in store on the Apple ecosystem going forward.

Things such as

iPhone 4.0 full features

The features not announced in the earlier preview. Things like cloud capabilities, social integration (Facebook, although I am not excited about that), iChat (finally) and document sharing (I really hope this includes cloud syncing with iDisk as well and works with Mobile Me).

More stable Mac OS X

Those Bluetooth issues are really beginning to bug me.

iTunes

The future of iTunes moving to the web and allowing streaming. This could be the beginning of the untethering of apple devices like the iPad to iTunes, and moving to the cloud especially with the next thing on the list.

Mobile Me

Mobile Me access to all. You buy an Apple mobile device, you get an Apple ID. That ID is linked to your mobile me account and used to tie into game center, cloud syncing, movie and music streaming, iChat and other iPhone features. However, still expect to pay for Find my iPhone.

A MacBook air software announcement

I just have a feeling that the MacBook air will become the first touch enabled iPad-like mobile device but instead have the keyboard built in. This is my wildcard

Apple TV

The Apple TV software change to iPhone OS mention to allow developers to start working on their apps for tv. Hardware mention and SDK launched. Expect new iPads and ATV in fall. They will work together with some kind of app and hopefully an iRemote.

WWDC Keynotes have always had a way to just blow me away. I'll be all ears tomorrow holding on to something.

The next battleground in the Apple vs Google war is the TV. Apple has had the Apple TV since 2006 (shipped in 2007) but Google is looking to launch Google TV later this year combining your “TV with the web” and allowing seamless search for media from different content sources. Google is leveraging their search strength but the rest of it is nothing new but a different direction none the less. Where does that leave Apple?

The new Apple TV

Apple TV was recently rumored to move to the iPhone OS and become a much smaller device with a focus on streaming video and possibly integrating iPhone and iPad games. This sounds great. Moving away from physical media to cloud services and media streaming with apps providing extra functions will make this a much better device than the current version. But how will you control this device?

The Remote Problem

Remotes today suck, especially for devices like Apple TV. The current standard Apple remote leaves much to be desired, but its simplicity is a testimony to the fact that the Apple TV interface is easy to use.

Using the standard TV style universal remote means configuring buttons to do different things, and adding special function buttons as well. This requires learning different combinations and remembering them when needed. A friend could walk into my living room and not even know how to turn on the DVD player, talk less about launching and watching something on the media device.

Media keyboards with the control stick/trackball on one side and buttons underneath or on the opposite side for use as a mouse with a qwerty keyboard are the closest to having more control of the device when using something like a media PC. This solution however means you will need to have a large keyboard within reach in your living room. Not a very pleasant solution.

People have suggested that just creating an app for the iPhone and Android devices would do. Maybe to browse through media, select shows, and change the channel once in a while. However, these devices are personal items and even if everyone in a household had an iPhone, there would be conflict about which iPhone is controlling the device and sharing would not so easily achieved.

Also, none of these solutions solves the problem of playing games which both these future platforms promise.

Imagine using any one of these remotes to play Android or iPhone OS games? Are you going to have to buy another remote/controller to add to the clutter just to play games? That means having two remotes, maybe even three if you get a separate keyboard to browse the web for just one media device.

No I think I will pass.

The Apple Solution

Apple already has the right type device to use as a remote. Its called the iPod Touch. However as it stands today a $199 entry price is high for a remote, but with a few modifications I believe this will be the perfect companion for the Apple TV. Introducing the iRemote (Sorry, I couldn't think of a better name to give it)

Features

Hardware

• A larger glass touch screen
• Cost less than $50
• A smaller custom HD or SD card (small capacity device)
• The original iPhone 412MHz processor or custom processor of comparable or higher speed
• Accelerometer
• Bluetooth and Wi-Fi radios
• Rubber/plastic padding to protect from drops and everyday use as a remote
• Large battery to last days without a charge
• Conductive charger (preferably built into the Apple TV device)
• IR for controlling non-Apple devices
• Two hardware buttons

Software

• IPhone OS Lite (a stripped down version of the iPhone OS or just a customized version)
• Support for multi-finger gestures
• Can be paired with other macs to act as remote
• Custom SDK for TV manufacturers to allow for control of their devices using the iRemote

Putting it Together

The iRemote is a companion device to the Apple TV. Its main function is to fill the gap between apps and a dedicated hardware device. It loads the controls necessary for the task being carried out on the Apple TV. For example, launching game controls when playing a game, or a keyboard when on an input box or acting like a trackpad when on a web page. This will be determined by the developer.

The device will have the same dimensions as the iPod touch but with the screen taking up a larger portion of the device. This will be achieved by either removing or moving the "Home" button, maybe even making it completely software based. This would allow for a larger keyboard on the device making it easier to type on it for most people using their thumbs.

The device will connect to the Apple TV either using the home Wi-Fi network or using bluetooth. Multiple iRemotes can connect to the same Apple TV allowing for multi-player games.

The device will not contain any apps except for a settings app to configure preferences and other restrictions.

The device needs a small hard drive and memory to carry out its functions. All components are selected to keep the price as low as possible while providing necessary functions.

How Does it Work

You come home from a long day at work and pick up the iRemote from the Apple TV conductive charging top. The accelerometer notices movement and iPhone OS Lite is launched giving you the option to turn on already paired devices such as your Apple TV, iMac or Mac Mini. You select the Apple TV and the device turns on.

You see your app selections on the TV but the iRemote shows smaller versions of the same icons on it's screen.

​You swipe right looking for the iTunes store to stream the new episode of your favorite show. You click iTunes then the TV shows icon on the iRemote and it launches on your TV giving you a list of your favorite shows with new episodes first. This list appears on the remote and you click the show you want and it immediately begins to stream.

You get a notification that a new post on your favorite blog needs your attention. You pick up the iRemote and it shows the standard video controls with a button for the home screen. You click this and are immediately returned to the home screen with your video pausing. You then launch the web browser, open the bookmarks and select the blog. You begin to scroll on the remote, and the page scrolls on the TV. The iRemote becomes just like a Macbook trackpad.

The standard left and right mouse buttons appear on the iRemote screen or based on your configuration you can use the top hardware buttons. You double tap to zoom in, press and hold to select, pinch to zoom... All the standard touch interface gestures including two and three finger gestures. You touch the screen and hold, the circle navigation (instead of the generic mouse arrow) follows your finger to select a link or a piece of text just like in the iPhone OS. Once selected, you click again to follow the link.

You have something to say about the article so you click in the comments box and this immediately brings up a full screen keyboard on the iRemote while the site and comment box remain on the TV screen showing your text as you type.

Your best friend is at the door. He wants to play that new racing game you downloaded the other day. You click the home button and select the game. It loads on the TV and the iRemote immediately loads the controls for the game, using the accelerometer where necessary. He picks up the second remote, it launches and immediately detects the game asking if he would like to join as the second player. He selects yes and the game controls are loaded.

You push the left hardware button (again developer/user configurable) to accelerate and turn the iRemote just like you would any iPhone/iPod Touch to make turns in a racing game.

Its time for bed. You walk up to the Apple TV and drop the iRemote on top of it. It immediately begins to charge.

What?

The device will look and feel like an iPod Touch but with a larger screen and no home button restricting it's size. By putting all controls on the device, apps such as games and notes can run full screen on the TV while allowing for comfortable control from the couch. The device will be easily customizable to the user, allowing for ease of use, better controls and a familiar yet superior experience. Developers will have more room to build better controls for their applications without fear of these blocking the viewable area.

I don't know about you, but when the next Apple TV launches I would like for a companion device like this that comes bundled or at least doesn't cost $199 (base model iPod Touch).

The iRemote is a companion device that transforms into the controls for whatever app you are using. A keyboard, game controls, trackpad, tv remote. Anything you need to make the app easier to use on your TV.

There are a lot of reasons why Flash is being excluded from the mobile platform today, especially on the highly anticipated Apple iPad. Before we jump into these reasons, lets take a look back in time.

Origins

At the time when Flash was released by Macromedia in 1996 after its purchase of FutureWave, Apple stock hit $18 a share, Google had just been developed as a research project in Stanford, Windows IE 3 launched and Intel released the 200MHz P6.

Over the next 10 years, the prevalent computer form was the desktop and then the laptop. It is of course important to note that during this period, computer processors speeds grew from 200MHz up to 3.00GHz and they got smaller and more efficient. However, the focus was still on creating more powerful computers at the expense of battery life because they were still going into desktops or laptops that had 2 - 3 hours battery life and spent most of their times plugged in.

The Smartphone

In the smartphone world, 2006 was the year of the Motorola Q, Blackberry Pearl and Nokia E62. The battle was for which phone could do email the best as the smartphone was first defined by the Palm Treo and then the Blackberry devices. If you read through the CNET Nokia E62 review, this paragraph jumps up about the web experience on the phone.

The E62's browser will present you with a thumbnail of the full Web page so that you can easily navigate to a certain point on the site, rather than having to scroll all over the place.

Another interesting thing to note is that Cingular (now AT&T) was just building its 3G network and browsing the web on your phone was still not an important feature at the time and mobile web browsers were still trying to make the experience good any way they could.

Then came 2007 and Apple introduced the iPhone with a full, true mobile web browser, not a gimmick like the E62 but with a larger screen than other phones, and a new innovative way to move around the page with double tap to zoom. With the introduction of the iPhone came a flurry of other devices with improved web browsers, 3G connections and multimedia applications. The most important thing the iPhone led to was the fact that the mobile web was now a big part of the average consumers need on smartphones. I may be wrong but before the iPhone, I was using a Sony Ericsson M600i that would just load a large version of a web page and I would have to navigate my way around it using a small screen. This made browsing the web a chore, and I don't believe I know anyone who would say different about their previous web mobile experiences.

When the first iPhone was released, it didn't have Flash and not many people noticed, but as browsing the web became an expectation and major part of cell phones, something else began to happen. People everywhere would try to go to a website and not be able to see its contents because it was a Flash site. I remember this experience and thought something was wrong with the EDGE connection till I realized what the reason was later on my laptop. Now the the legendary Apple tablet, the iPad has been released to try and completely make us dependent on a mobile platform, but wait... it doesn't have Flash!!! Really???

This was the reaction of many people who proclaim this as the reason they will not be buying an iPad when it is finally available. The reason being a Tablet computer which has internet browsing as one of its major features can't show a lot of websites out there especially Hulu. The Hulu point is irrelevant because they will definitely make either a web optimized version or an app based on H.264 playback. Most of the Flash web however will be left in Limbo.

Flash Today

Lets take a look at the requirements for Adobe Flash Player 10 and tell me what you notice. On a Mac, the recommended minimum requirement for standard and HD video playback is a Power PC 1.8GHZ or an Intel Core Duo 1.33GHz with 256MB of RAM and 64MB of VRAM. Now lets compare this to the only certain fact we know about the iPad in that it runs on a 1GHz Apple A4 ARM processor. I think of this akin to downloading a movie on 56K. it will work, you will eventually get the movie but in this day and age the speed would be a disappointment. A few years ago, taking a few hours to download a movie was acceptable but now expectations have changed and people want to be able to download full movies on their phones almost immediately. My point is that running Flash on this device will not meet expectations. It will run slowly and if it does perform, it will force the processor to use a lot of power thereby drastically reducing battery life.

Flash performs well on a lot of netbooks by accessing accelerated graphics options using the GPU and other hardware accelerations such as Quartz and Open GL. These are not fully available on a mobile device like the iPad, especially not to a third party application or web plug in.

The point is that Flash over the years has grown to be a resource heavy application which can thrive on our even more powerful desktops and laptops. The mobile hardware though is still young. If you take into account that you couldn't run Windows Vista on a machine from 1996 with a 200MHz processor, you understand that at this point mobile processors and graphics cards are not ready for this type of application. This is why we are building new optimized apps for all our mobile devices and not just porting them from the desktop. Why is this consideration not being taken with Flash, because it is a web app and people don't realize that it runs just like a desktop application with access to hardware and a "background application".

In the future as more people buy mobile devices and the processors get faster and smaller as well as more efficient, we will begin to see even more powerful mobile applications. At this point, a resource heavy application like Flash will be okay. Heck we might even port over the full Photoshop application on a device like the iPad.

Another problem is one I pointed out in an earlier post after reading this article about the way Flash applications are built. The focus again is on the use of a mouse to navigate the site with hover capabilities and a separate click function. On a touch screen, this ability is negated which will lead to broken actions and UI elements. The things you expect from using your iPhone wont work on a Flash based site or application and this would be a problem for the average user. The expectation that because it runs on your desktop it should run on a mobile device is just not true yet. This is why even Apple is rebuilding all their applications for their mobile devices and all desktop applications are rebuilding their applications. Even now if you have an iPhone app, you will probably want to build an iPad specific app because although it runs the same iPhone OS, it is a different platform altogether.

Flash Mobile Options

What Flash needs is to step back and re-evaluate its options. I believe they have two options.

Flash Lite

Adobe has something called Flash Lite and the requirements here are less than that needed for Flash 10 but definitely doesn't have all the features. This player could however be made to load optimized iPhone, iPad and other mobile device Flash sites and content. This Lite player application would have a new set of API ActionScript functions to create touch screen gesture based applications. Developers would then rebuild their sites based on this new touch based unified system and create something that is in line with gestures used on touch screen devices today, especially if this is the future of the computer. Then when a mobile device goes to a Flash based site, it will automatically revert to the Lite site created by the developer and the experience would be as expected (depending on it being bug free of course).

Flash App

If you are browsing the web on mobile Safari and come across a YouTube video, you just click and the video launches in the YouTube app. The same happens if you open an iTunes link or an app link, you are taken to the respective iTunes or app store application. The iPad will definitely contain this type of behavior allowing for links between apps.

Adobe can take advantage of this by building a Flash player application (not sure if this is feasible) so when you open up a page with Flash content, it provides you an icon like the YouTube play icon. Upon pushing this, you are taken to the iPad optimized app where the application can use resources like Open GL SE available to all apps.

So

At this point, Flash is not available on any major mobile platform and it is definitely because of hardware and software constraints. In order to keep battery life high and performance at an expected level, Flash is being excluded. It may soon be added to Android and possibly Windows Series 7 phones, but the highly complicated web sites and applications built for native computers won't feel as expected and will bring more complaints from users. The apps we have for our mobile platforms have been built to meet our expectations. Yes the iPad brings even higher expectations especially to at least have Flash but I still feel Flash (the way it is mainly used today) isn't an application built for the mobile platform. Adobe should take Flash Lite and build it up for the mobile platform the right way. Keep resource use low with high performance and a new API to keep applications at an acceptable mobile platform level.

In Duplicates existing functionality, Marco stresses that

With all of the discussion of the benefits and drawbacks of applying the iPhone OS to more general-purpose computing tasks, this is one aspect that’s easy to overlook at the beginning: software competition evaporates for anything already done by an Apple app.

I completely agree with his analysis that it will hinder future development on the iPad and iPhone OS. However looking at recent events I think Apple is taking a different stance on this.

First let's look at the state of bookstores available on the iPhone OS. There are already a bunch of book apps available in the app store, even a kindle app that takes you the the Kindle online bookstore to buy books. Following the above argument, now that Apple has an iBookstore, all existing bookstores are now duplicating an Apple app.

The thing to notice here as Gruber pointed out is that the iBookstore is actually just an app which you will need to download from the app store. It is not a native iPhone OS app. In fact they did the same thing for the entire iWork suite of apps.

This could mean that Apple is aware of crippling competition and is opening up the platform to allow competition. The iBookstore will compete with the Kindle app, Stanza and any other future book or magazine apps that are introduced. If Microsoft decided to release Office apps for the iPad, they will most likely be accepted by Apple. I believe that even in the near future, an app like mobile Firefox can make it into the app store.

At the end of the day, the ultimate goal is to sell as many iPads as possible. Restricting the duplication of functionality for the iPhone was okay, but the iPad will need a new set of rules and the availability of a multitude of different apps, even those competing directly with Apple.

With the possible introduction of the tablet looming (only a few hours to go), Apple looks to be ready to take the E-book platform by storm based on the slip by McGraw-Hill CEO. This isn't something we didn't already know but as I mentioned in my last article, the key to the tablet will be software and it's content distribution platform.

The Kindle has been the most successful E-book by far, and yes people want color and yes people want magazines but providing this alone will not push the Apple tablet to new heights. The integration of various types of content will undoubtedly give them the upper hand and the ability of indie writers to create, publish and distribute their work using iTunes will be awesome but at the end of the day, what the people really want is good software integration.

Touch gestures will be nice, swiping to turn a page will look pretty but the ability to make and share notes easily, markup text, track changes, and collaborate will seal the deal.

Imagine using a textbook with a pen, the teacher speaks, you make a note in your notebook, scratch some shorthand in your textbook between the lines for reference, add tabs to pages to indicate important sections, highlight a paragraph and coordinate this between the textbook and your notebook.

Now imagine carrying one device. You load your textbook, pick a color and swipe your finger across words, then hold to highlight. You press and hold and select note from the pop up menu. A keyboard pops up and you type in your note or mark it up with a stylus quickly. A little bookmark appears at the point you selected with a reference page for quick indexing later. Your friend asks about that paragraph later, you select your note from the index, hit a button and send it to them with full page and paragraph reference.

The professor is now in the next chapter and makes a reference to the previous one. You select the relevant text, and create a link to the mentioned section in the previous chapter so you can find it next time.

You go home and sync to your main computer, edit your paper and load up Safari to go to iWork online where you meet with a fellow collaborator for your school paper. You write and chat at the same time, maybe using video while referencing your notes from earlier. You copy, paste and share. The paper is written, you click and email to all collaborators and the professor. Now time to relax and watch a movie or stream that TV show you missed while working.

This is just an example of the kind of software I expect from Apple. To do this and differentiate itself from competitors, Apple has probably created a new e-book format along with the standard versions just like they did with AAC for audio. This will stop other companies easily adopting this unless they buy into the Apple standard, which if widely adopted in the tablet will become the de facto standard.

Many things need to be done... One tablet to do them all (hopefully).

The Apple Tablet that will hopefully be released this Wednesday has anyone and everyone speculating about its hardware, features and much more. These are my predictions about the proposed Apple device, what I expect and what I think it should have in order to succeed. This is all purely speculation of course.

Hardware

The Easy part is the hardware. Here is what I expect

Apple processor:   Developed from their purchase of P.A. Semi in 2008. Apple has always looked for ways to be completely vertically integrated and this is their chance to do it.

Battery:  My hope is that Apple realizes that battery life will play a key role in the way the device is used. In short, it needs to be longer than 8 hours. I think they will achieve this by spreading out the battery over the back of the device enclosure and make it non-removable. Without a hardware keyboard, this can be easily achieved while keeping the device slim.

Solid state hard drive:  Anything larger than 64GB.

Wi-Fi:  Can’t see a mobile device without it anymore.

3G capability:  Here I expect them not to stick with one carrier like they did with the iPhone, but allow the buyer select one of their choice. If they do however stick with one carrier, my prediction is that they will go with Verizon. Maybe that is what all the iPhone going to Verizon chatter was really about?

Camera:  I’m hoping for a front side camera. I would expect apple to pioneer this and include their ichat product. Video chat anyone???

A back side camera is a given, but I don't see this as a device for taking pictures and video due to its size but if easily mobile will be used as such. Don't be surprised if it doesn’t have one.

SD card slot:  This plays well with the media ability the tablet will have to quickly grab pictures, edit them and post them anywhere online or just store them on the hard drive.

Pen/Stylus:  My surprise pick here is the addition of a stylus not as a main means of input, but as a secondary accessory needed for some of the tablets functions (more on this later)

Software

For me the tablet is all about the software. The look of the tablet will be one thing (easily duplicated), the hardware another, but the software will determine how well it does. It can’t just have iPhone apps running on a larger screen, it needs apps that take advantage of the fact it will have more power, memory, speed and capabilities. This is why I believe the tablet will run its own version of the iPhone OS, dubbed Touch OS by most.

iPhone

The iPhone was originally released in 2007 and has since become the mobile experience standard. I believe that the iPhone was released as a user experience experiment by Apple. At the time it was released, components for a tablet were not readily available and Apple had no idea how to make it work. The iPhone OS was the beginning. The phone app was probably the last and easiest part to add to the OS. The original hardware was very basic, no copy-paste, no search, MMS and no apps. The key was having a product out that people would use and get used to while providing valuable feedback, allowing Apple to continue developing the OS in the right way. The Touch OS I expect will be a hybrid between a macbook and an iPhone allowing for the manipulation of media in ways the iPhone cannot and a mac without a touch screen cannot. That in-between is a vast space of surprises ahead. The keys to this space lay in the iPhone OS.

Multi-tasking

If the rumors are true, the interesting thing to come out of iPhone 4.0 will be background applications. This is definitely coming from the Touch OS ability to run multiple applications. It would have been impossible for Apple to say the iPhone can’t but the tablet can.

Spotlight and Input

The tablet will succeed just like the iPhone has with touch gestures, but with the screen size comes the problem of keyboard layout and ease of use. I expect to do more typing on the tablet and as such the method of input must be a superior experience. This has to be a multi-input system, at least for now. Yes many people have pointed out Steve Jobs hatred for the stylus, but I just don't see how he will market this to students and possibly artists without one. I see applications like Photoshop (maybe a lighter version but not Photoshop.com app) where I can use it like a Wacom tablet and draw directly on the screen or some note-type apps. The improvements of touch screens have negated the need for handwriting technology. These screens are more sensitive and scratch resistant, therefore just writing my notes on an underlined page right on the screen should work better than it used to and produce legible notes with the users own handwriting. As I mentioned earlier, I see this as a secondary means of input and most of the time, we will still use only gestures and a software keyboard.

I can see the tablet lying on a table with a full keyboard taking up about half the screen while the other half contains the viewable area just like in the iPhone. I have a keyboard just like that, its the Apple aluminum wireless keyboard. Its about 11” wide, but with some of the keys removed like in the iPhone OS, I can definitely see it on the tablet and after using the iPhone keyboard it will definitely be a better experience. I currently use a netbook at work and most of the time I am typing with one hand while holding it with the other. This scenario has to work on the tablet software keyboard.

Another key to this experience is minimal input using Spotlight introduced in iPhone OS 3.0. With Spotlight, you can search your entire iPhone. This will search your phonebook, your messages, your apps, your music, everything. You can even launch apps right from here. Right now I don't use this feature very much, but it will become a very useful tool for a device like the tablet. Imagine Quicksilver built right into the software. This would reduce typing input to find anything on the device, launching applications, playing music and videos without having to click through a folder hierarchy which doesn't exist on the iPhone but probably will in some form in the Tablet OS.

iTunes and Safari

iTunes is another major application that will define the Tablet OS. iTunes preview is going to play a big role in the Tablet OS. Why? Because for one, iTunes is a resource eating animal and running it on the tablet will seriously affect the user experience. By creating a lighter, friendlier Itunes online, this will not only increase the ability to launch it worldwide, but it would ease resource use on the tablet. Also, Yes there is already an iTunes app on the iPhone, but in my opinion it is not a superior experience and instead of building a new application for the Tablet OS to accommodate the big screen it would be easier to just move to the web. A downfall of this though will be that media will need to be organized and stored somewhere else or with companion iTunes desktop software. This will also change the distribution and management of content.

Content

Media subscriptions through iTunes will also be a major factor in the Tablet OS. If this is targeted towards media use, it will need to be a seamless integration.

For print media, the easiest way to do this is allow people build their own websites based on an iTunes web like SDK and then distributing it just like podcasts are now. When a new magazine is released, it is automatically pushed to you if you have a subscription, or you are alerted if you purchase per magazine or maybe even through Genius if it is in your interests.

For music, this next speculation is a little farfetched, but I think with iTunes web comes music subscriptions. All the music you can eat for a certain price over the web. I think this is the case because I don't believe the Tablet will have large storage space due to using a solid state drive and having all these devices that already carry around our music, adding another one would not be ideal for the Tablet OS main functions. That being said, I am expecting the iPod app to be on the tablet for syncing with another computer.

Another possibility is that music purchased by a specific user is available to stream online anytime. This would eliminate the need to carry around additional music files but still have access to your music anywhere.

The same could be said for movies and TV shows. Instant gratification is the name of the game. This means no more 10Mb download limitations, maybe even on iPhones too.

Apple is trying to prepare for users desire to carry out most functions over the web without running heavy centric applications like iTunes. Apple is slowly moving to the cloud and could begin allowing people to use their mobile me iDisk to store their iTunes music and make it accessible anywhere just like they are doing with pictures now.

All of this is leading to Safari becoming a major player in the Mac lineup. Safari will have to integrate well with iWork, iTunes and all Apple cloud services, but also in a way other browsers cant.

Sync

iWork and other application also must work on the tablet as web applications in Safari with Multi-touch capabilities and online storage. The key here is ability to sync and ease of use. Ease of use because holding a 10" device for typing and making presentations might be a challenge, but being able to use it to present ideas on the go would be an interesting concept and something that I would love to have.

Conclusion

My final prediction comes from the Apple invitation sent out for the event on the 27th. One thing Apple has done well is differentiate their products from one another. Could we see multiple forms of the tablet with focus on different Areas? One for fun and one for the power user? My guess is the idea of an open Canvas allowing you to use it in whatever way you like. An e-book reader, movie viewer, work computer, media manager, game system, picture editor… The list is open to endless possibilities.

The iPhone paved the way for the upcoming tablet but in order for it to succeed, it will need to be more than a large screen iPhone. I expect Apple to blow me away with the final product. And hopefully redefine the entire computer experience.

This is my favorite quote ever and the question I asked myself every time I wanted to start a blog. Something just kept holding me back. Well this year I decided it was time. So here we go.

To sleep, per chance to dream

The focus of this blog will be concepts, ideas, business strategy, things I find interesting and a few personal things here and there.

So who am I

No one really. I am not one of those web celebrities who has designed something big or started a new company or even a champion of my industry. What I am is an ideas man. Always thinking, always pondering, always pushing. Find out a little bit more here.

Get Involved

In order for me to get to know my audience, I prefer emails. Comments can be left by anyone (even bots these days) and sometimes they have nothing to say or reason to leave one. Emails are more personal and take an effort to write and send. In order to appreciate this effort, I will be reprinting some good emails I receive right here on this blog with the permission of the writer and responding if necessary. I believe this way I can foster better relationships with my readers and get better opinionated responses and less spam.

To be

I hope to somehow contribute with this blog, get ideas flowing and hopefully one day build something useful and real.