Latest Apple slate rumors focus on features, interface, sexiness

Jake Widman
Monday, 11 January 2010 23:58

Your IT - Mobility

After months of speculation about the impending Apple slate's form factor, discussion has turned to the UI and functionality.

The reports about the size, price, and availability of the long-awaited iSlate have coalesced around a consensus package.

Conventional wisdom at this point is that we can expect a device with a 10- or 11-inch touchscreen, priced around US$1,000 (or about AU$1,299), and available in March or April.

But now that we supposedly know what it'll look like, the discussion has turned to what it will be able to do and what it'll be like to use it.

First up: an executive from the French telco Orange, Stéphane Richard, sort of confirmed the presence of a webcam that will enable real-time video chats. In an interview with the radio station Europe1, Richard was asked about a report in the French news magazine Le Point that the tablet would have a webcam.

His simple replies of "Yes" could be interpreted as confirming that he'd seen the report in Le Point, not necessarily that the tablet will have a camera.

But the interviewer then asked him if Orange subscribers would benefit from the webcam, and his answer is less ambiguous.

The video of his reply was posted by technology news site Slashgear and transcribed by tech blog Engadget. Richard says, "Avec la webcam, on pourra se transmettre de l'image en tems réel. On va moderniser en quelque sorte ce visiophone qu'on a connu y a quelques années..." Or, as translated by an Engadget reader, "With the webcam, we will be able to transmit video in real time. We will modernize in some way this videophone that we have known for some years."

[Update: the Orange public relations staff has been busy walking back Richard's comments. An e-mail sent to mobile news site mocoNews.net reads, "These responses in no way reflect Orange’s confirmation of the existence of the rumoured device. The spokesperson was merely confirming that he is aware of the speculation surrounding a launch and that Orange would be delighted to have such a product were it ever to be available."]

For more on the "sexy" iSlate, see Page 2.