The iPad

[ajs15822]

Well, it's official-- the Apple tablet is real and it's called the "iPad": http://www.apple.com/ipad/

Thoughts, comments?

I think the biggest part of this announcement is the fact that all existing iPhone applications run on the device (which means Ogre3D already runs on it thanks to masterfalcon's iPhone port!).

[masterfalcon]

Well, it's official-- the Apple tablet is real and it's called the "iPad": http://www.apple.com/ipad/

Thoughts, comments?

I think the biggest part of this announcement is the fact that all existing iPhone applications run on the device (which means Ogre3D already runs on it thanks to masterfalcon's iPhone port!).

Not quite yet. I'm actually building Ogre right now for the simulator. The screen resolution is hardcoded into Ogre so I'll need to get the screen dimensions at runtime. I'll try to get a patch in tonight.

[Klaim]

I'm waiting for someone to build a RTS game on this. (maybe me, but I don't think I'll be the first then ^^; )

[betajaen]

I think the biggest part of this announcement is the fact that all existing iPhone applications run on the device (which means Ogre3D already runs on it thanks to masterfalcon's iPhone port!).

Then imagine then playing Torchlight on that thing.

[haffax]

I think the biggest part of this announcement is the fact that all existing iPhone applications run on the device (which means Ogre3D already runs on it thanks to masterfalcon's iPhone port!).

If it were a proper PC with Windows/Linux/MacOS, then Ogre would run on it too.

I am severely under-impressed, especially considering all the buzz beforehand. This is basically a netbook without keyboard and touch display instead, with a heavy vendor lock-in and with very limited connectability (I even need to buy an extra SD card adapter? haha!)
From the top of my head I can only think of highly theoretical, constructed occasions where this thing is favorable to a real netbook.

Edit:
Ah, I just remembered this article by Jeff Atwood

But netbooks are more than just PCs. If the internet is the ultimate force of democratization in the world, then netbooks are the instrument by which that democracy will be achieved.

No monthly fees and contracts.
No gatekeepers.
Nobody telling you what you can and can't do with your hardware, or on their network.

Very fitting.

[stoneCold]

...This is basically a netbook without keyboard and touch display instead, ...

I can't imagine reading ebooks on a netbook, but your other points are very true still.
Also I'm afraid the nowadays usual 1$ = 1€ exchange rate will kick in

[Kojack]

I think the claims that it runs all iphone software is a bit premature.
Not only does it have a different screen resolution, but it's a different aspect ratio too (ipad is roughly 4:3 screen, iphone is 3:2). Not too much of a difference, but I wonder how many apps actually handle variable aspect ratio and resolution correctly?
The biggest issue would be that the cpu is different. Instead of an Arm Cortex A8 cpu, the ipad uses an internally developed Apple A4 cpu, which apple is being very tight lipped about. How well will software optimised for the Cortex A8 run on the Apple A4? There's no word on the gpu either.

The problem with games like rts's and torchlight on something like this is that I actually like being able to see what's happening on the screen. Even using a stylus on my axim pda to play real time games annoys me with how much screen is covered by the stylus and my fingers (except turn based games like Pocket UFO, which rocks), using a touch screen on a device this big means your entire hand and wrist is covering the screen when you go to touch any part besides the edge. Accelerometer use on something this big will be annoying too. I can't imagine a device I'd dislike for playing games more than the ipad.

I can imagine a lot of these being dropped. Holding it with one hand doesn't look convenient.

It would make an interesting navigation device though. Gps, compass and a big screen would be very cool for google earth/maps. Although using google earth without a space navigator is much less fun.

What I'd really like is a stand alone Wacom Cintiq 12wx. Slightly bigger than an ipad, but with higher resolution screen and a proximity based pen sensitive to 1024 pressure levels and a fraction of a pixel accuracy.


Hmm, although I just thought of a use for the ipad which could almost make me want to buy one: touch screen controls for simulators. I've been thinking of buying a 15 or so inch touch screen to use as a control panel in X-Plane or DCS Black Shark. An ipad wouldn't use up any of my main pc's cpu, gpu or monitor ports, and multi touch would be good for throttle quadrants. A bit small though, but could be cool.

[warmi]

I think the claims that it runs all iphone software is a bit premature.
Not only does it have a different screen resolution, but it's a different aspect ratio too (ipad is roughly 4:3 screen, iphone is 3:2). Not too much of a difference, but I wonder how many apps actually handle variable aspect ratio and resolution correctly?

The OS will "lie" to iPhone only apps and present them with good old 480x320 .

The biggest issue would be that the cpu is different. Instead of an Arm Cortex A8 cpu, the ipad uses an internally developed Apple A4 cpu, which apple is being very tight lipped about. How well will software optimised for the Cortex A8 run on the Apple A4? There's no word on the gpu either.

We don't know it is different. It looks like to me like just another Soc.
Personally, I think it is some version of Cortex A8/A9 + SGX GPU.

[masterfalcon]

You can ascertain some aspects of the CPU from the SDK but it is in beta and under NDA.

[warmi]

You can ascertain some aspects of the CPU from the SDK but it is in beta and under NDA.

I haven't found anything interesting yet ... on the other hand on their dev forums they are saying nothing ( and I do mean an explicit nothing - "we cannot reveal anything at this point" kind of nothing )

[warmi]

Ok .. so it is Cortex 9 + Mali-50 series GPU...

Don''t know anything about Mali though ....

[masterfalcon]

How was that info obtained? Just curious

[warmi]

How was that info obtained? Just curious

http://www.brightsideofnews.com/news/20 ... -gpu!.aspx

[Kojack]

Hmm, apparently (photos confirm it) the back of the ipad is rounded, so if you sit it flat on a table and press on the touch screen it rolls.
That sounds a bit annoying.

[warmi]

Hmm, apparently (photos confirm it) the back of the ipad is rounded, so if you sit it flat on a table and press on the touch screen it rolls.
That sounds a bit annoying.

That's typical of Apple .. putting form over function.

[Shockeye]

haffax:
I am severely under-impressed, especially considering all the buzz beforehand.

I was really hoping the big announcement wouldn't be a tablet! It would have been hilarious if, after all the rumours and hype it turned out to be, say, an iPod Touch now available in different colours!

I bet the first new accessories to market will be: a wireless keyboard & mouse!

[CABAListic]

Hm, I'm also not too impressed. I mean, tablets are cool gadgets, and with Apple's typical Software touch it'll certainly look shiny and all. But for a price of 500$ (500€ for me, more likely), I'm really at a loss as to what I would do with it after the first few hours of playing around?
Apple's site lists trivialities as features (photos, mail, browsing), and why the hell would I want to watch videos on that device? For its price I can (and did) get a pretty decent home cinema projector...

[justinandrews]

I'm vaugely interested. Mainly because I was thinking of buying a KindleDX, if the kindle software comes out on the iPad I might be interested, but I would need a few more reasons before I could justify spending the extra £££s

I'm not convinced this is all that.

[betajaen]

I can think of the top of my head, at least four people who would use this regularly. The type of people who don't spend more than a few hours a day in front of a massive monitor and intense computing power. It's for the types who want to look up something quickly on the internet, catch up on EastEnders on BBC iPlayer or check their email. It's someone who uses the internet as a device, rather than a hobby or a social medium. It's for people who prefer to have something sitting neatly and out of the way on a coffee table, rather taking up half a room of space. It's simple and easy to use and it doesn't have viruses.

The iPad is something you would give to your mum, or your computer illiterate sister, your grandparents and so on. It isn't for us, because it wasn't designed for us.

[Edit]

I am a bit disappointed that it doesn't support printing via wifi or bluetooth, (or I haven't seen any news about it) and it would go well with the iPad version of Pages, Numbers and Keynote.

[Vectrex]

the IPS screen will look super tasty. IPS is the best screen tech, next is VA (most big screen lcd tvs) and DEAD LAST is TN (99% of all computer lcds) so that's very nice. It'd make a great video viewer for lying in bed

[mkultra333]

Why are people so in love with getting smudgy fingerprints all over their viewing surfaces?

[betajaen]

The OS will "lie" to iPhone only apps and present them with good old 480x320 .

Will this "pixelate" the displayed content and make it look like a CRT from 1989? Just wonderin'.

From what read from various blogs and news posts; No.

I'm positive that the GUI system that it uses is vector based, so scaling up isn't a problem, and any OpenGL will obviously be fine too. Also it only scales up by 2, so any images will be a bit blocky unless a smooth filter is applied.





I am surprised it doesn't use a stylus though, even with the on screen keyboard it would be a nice alternative option; to use it as a notebook in one hand and write with the other. Can the multi-touch interface do styluses?

[warmi]

The OS will "lie" to iPhone only apps and present them with good old 480x320 .

Will this "pixelate" the displayed content and make it look like a CRT from 1989? Just wonderin'.

From what read from various blogs and news posts; No.

I'm positive that the GUI system that it uses is vector based, so scaling up isn't a problem, and any OpenGL will obviously be fine too. Also it only scales up by 2, so any images will be a bit blocky unless a smooth filter is applied.





I am surprised it doesn't use a stylus though, even with the on screen keyboard it would be a nice alternative option; to use it as a notebook in one hand and write with the other. Can the multi-touch interface do styluses?

Actually there are a lot of apps using absolute positioning so unless they really went crazy and redid every GUI related API to automatically scale every coordinate coming from the app, it will be pixelated.
Same applies to GLES ... you have different aspect ratios and beside, what are they going to do about people who hardcoded their viewport or projection matrices?


I suspect they are just going to give people options to either run the iPhone apps using 480x320 window or scale it up on the framebuffer level.

[masterfalcon]

Just something quick to note. Don't try to use the 3.2 Beta to compile Ogre for iPhone OS 3.1.2 or earlier on devices. There is a problem with missing gcc headers that prevents compilation.

[MrD]

This is basically a netbook without keyboard

An Apple product without a keyboard you say