The Return of the Newton (Apple PDA)?
AppleInsider reports that Apple has had an ongoing project to reinvent the Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). Steve Jobs had previously admitted that they had been working on an Apple PDA in the labs, but had never shipped it. Certainly back in 2003 all the rumors had aligned pointing to the imminent release of an Apple Tablet from traditionally reliable sources. The product never came to light.
AppleInsider now claims that Apple has had an ongoing PDA project which uses the same multi-touch OS X as the foundation and may soon be ready to see the light of day. They describe the PDA as an ultra-thin slate about 1.5 times the size of the current iPhone. The screen is said to have a high resolution (720x480) display that takes up almost the entire surface. The rumor site states that the PDA could see an announcement as early as January 2008 (Macworld San Francisco) but with a ship date closer to the middle of the year.
Apple's PDA project would represent another core business segment beyond the existing Mac, iPod, iPhone, Apple TV lines. The introduction of an Apple PDA would mark Apple's return to the PDA business, which it invented in 1993 with the introduction of the Apple Newton.
AppleInsider now claims that Apple has had an ongoing PDA project which uses the same multi-touch OS X as the foundation and may soon be ready to see the light of day. They describe the PDA as an ultra-thin slate about 1.5 times the size of the current iPhone. The screen is said to have a high resolution (720x480) display that takes up almost the entire surface. The rumor site states that the PDA could see an announcement as early as January 2008 (Macworld San Francisco) but with a ship date closer to the middle of the year.
Apple's PDA project would represent another core business segment beyond the existing Mac, iPod, iPhone, Apple TV lines. The introduction of an Apple PDA would mark Apple's return to the PDA business, which it invented in 1993 with the introduction of the Apple Newton.
Top Rated Comments
(View all)
57 months ago
That would be a very interesting development indeed. I still have 2 Newtons that work just fine. I would love to see Apple make some progress in that arena. Somehow, I can't envision this as a standalone product, though. I'd imagine they'd want to bake this functionality into some other product line where it would make sense to combine a PDA with something else.
Time will tell...
--DotComCTO
Time will tell...
--DotComCTO
57 months ago
People still use standalone PDAs? I would imagine there would have to be something besides multitouch to sell this thing.
57 months ago
Surely the iPhone as it stands isn't far off from being a PDA?
Exactly, just add a few more features and that should do it. Or maybe offer an additional iPhone with all those extra features?
There are now loads of iPods so maybe we'll start seeing loads of iPhone's too? Who knows.
57 months ago
People still use standalone PDAs? I would imagine there would have to be something besides multitouch to sell this thing.
Agree.
Can't see it. This whole thing seems like an application on iPhone. People don't want multiple items - they want 1 gadget to rule them all PDA, Phone, Camera, Music Player all in one. How many things do people want in their pockets?
57 months ago
Makes good sense to me. Now that they look as tho' the UI can do everything they might have dreamt of originally, there must be synergies in production and development.
But I think there's value in the idea that perhaps people don't always want one device that does everything, at some trade off somewhere, but rather a device more specifically tailored to what they would want.
So essentially here you have three similar devices, but aimed at different users.
But I think there's value in the idea that perhaps people don't always want one device that does everything, at some trade off somewhere, but rather a device more specifically tailored to what they would want.
So essentially here you have three similar devices, but aimed at different users.
57 months ago
The interface is pretty much there already. As long as they nail the handwriting recognition (do people still do that?), they will be fine. All I can think of is that Simpsons episode with the "beat up martin" Newton. :p
57 months ago
If dell can't even sell any of these things, if hp can't sell any of these things, if palm can't sell any of these things......the pda died, the iphone/multiuse device lives
[ Read All Comments ]
Analytics firm Chitika today released a report showing that by its metrics iOS has now surpassed OS X in overall web traffic share in the United States. Chitika's methodology involves an analysis...
One of the most frequent reasons for an iPhone to go on a trip to the Apple Store's Genius Bar is because of water damage. Typically, a water damaged iPhone can be replaced for a flat $199...
TheVerge's Joshua Topolsky summarizes the iPad 3 casing findings reported earlier today, but also adds his own sources regarding some details of the iPad 3.
Image from RepairLabs
As...
Last July, Apple discontinued the white MacBook from its consumer lineup, pushing consumers toward the company's popular MacBook Air line or the 13-inch MacBook Pro. The company didn't kill...
Popular iPhone Twitter client Tweetbot has finally arrived on the iPad, with a user interface instantly familiar to any current Tweetbot user. Designed for the Twitter power-user, Tweetbot packs a...
