Hasta La Gadget!

It’s a strange bit of history that the concept of an Apple tablet led to what we know as the first iPhone. It’s a fact that Steve Jobs made mention of back in 2010, at an appearance at All Things D, realizing that Apple was capable of building a handset based on the technology it pieced together for a multitouch display. Now, thanks to Apple / Samsung court filings (you know that whole little kerfuffle between the companies) and digging by the folks at NetworkWorld, some early concepts for an Apple slate have come to light. The dates of the mockups are a little nebulous at the moment, but during his deposition, Jonathan Ive, puts them at somewhere between 2002 and 2004. Check a few more angles and a stiff case usage in the gallery below.

Update: Our friend Anand Shimpi of AnandTech pointed out that the first iPad prototype used a Pentium M processor. We sure have come a long way.

Update 2: BuzzFeed obtained some color photos of the gigantic prototype placed next to an iPad 2. Head over there to see more.

Filed under: Tablet PCs

iPad prototype renderings from early-2000s revealed in Apple / Samsung court filings (update: comparison shots) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jul 2012 10:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While Google may have grabbed headlines for its recent wearable tech stunt, Olympus is doggedly forging ahead with its own similar prototypes, seven years on. Unlike Project Glass, the MEG4.0 isn’t a standalone structure and needs a glasses frame to hang on, although the sub-30g unit shouldn’t tax it too much. The QVGA (320 x 240) display can connect to devices through Bluetooth 2.1, with Olympus pointing to a smartphone hook-up to provide both the processing power and internet connectivity — which sounds different to what we’re expecting from Google’s effort. The current prototype can squeeze out eight hours of intermittent use, or two hours of non-stop projection. While the device is being pitched at everyday users, Olympus isn’t offering any suggestions of launch dates or pricing, but you can check on what the company is willing to share in the (Google-translated) press release below.

Continue reading Olympus announces MEG4.0 wearable display prototype, skips the skydive

Olympus announces MEG4.0 wearable display prototype, skips the skydive originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Jul 2012 08:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The must-have smartphone accessory of tomorrow might just be an unbreakable touchscreen epaper tablet, saving your eyes from squinting at a mobile display. Plastic Logic revealed its work-in-progress slate to us today, as SlashGear browsed the goodies in the company’s UK R&D center, confirming that talks with several manufacturers and carriers are ongoing to bring the companion device to market. Potentially bundled with your next smartphone could be a 10.7-inch super-light touchscreen pane for easier viewing of webpages, documents and more.

The concept behind the idea is straightforward: smartphones are incredibly capable, powerful devices, but in being portable they also demand a huge compromise on screen size. Even the Galaxy Note, with its 5.3-inch display, is considerably smaller than the average tablet, and that can make reading news, ebooks, presentations and other content frustratingly uncomfortable.

Plastic Logic’s idea is an ultra-thin companion device using one of its plastic-transistor based displays, paired with a wireless technology such as WiFi or Bluetooth, a battery, touchscreen, and a smartphone app – currently a hastily-cobbled-together Android app – that exchanges data between the two devices. With that app, users could squirt over emailed documents or webpages to the epaper, paging through using the onscreen controls. Alternatively, you can do the same thing with photos taken with the phone, which could be useful for those with partial-sight wanting to enlarge pages.

Although Plastic Logic bills its displays as flexible, in this context the company says its potential carrier partners are more focused on a rugged device: something that can be dropped into a bag or briefcase without concerns that the screen might crack. Rather than the Heath Robinson prototype, the final design is envisaged as a slim frame with a carry-handle on the top that would contain the electronics, battery and other components.

Battery life could be a real advantage over existing tablets. Since the Plastic Logic display only uses power when it changes the on-screen image, it’s far more frugal than a traditional LCD or OLED. That could mean 2-4 weeks use on a single charge, potentially, though final runtimes haven’t been confirmed.

In practice, use is a simple affair. The rudimentary app allows you to pick a file and share it to the display – in this prototype’s case, using a WiFi connection – and, after a couple of seconds, it blinks into life. Photos are shown full-screen and, while it’s currently monochrome and obviously lower resolution than a new iPad, it’s still easier to look at than a compact phone screen. As for multi-page documents, like PDFs, they can be paged through with a few stabs at the on-screen buttons, though there’s the usual blink-refresh we’re familiar with from other e-paper products. That should change if Plastic Logic uses one of its video-capable panels, which has a higher refresh rate.

The deciding factor is likely to be price: Plastic Logic and its partners would need to bring this in significantly lower than regular tablets, which could be a challenge given the $199 Nexus 7 announced yesterday. The company wouldn’t give us an estimate – it depends on who supplies the rest of the components and builds the slate, as well as how carriers decide to market it – but the idea of it being supplied as a freebie with a new phone was vaunted.

Plastic Logic flexible smartphone epaper companion hands-on is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Google’s Project Glass has been one of the most anticipated and hyped projects to come out of Google in quite some time. After a rather epic demo the company finally gave us a slightly deeper look at the wearable computer of our (supposed) future. Inside is the usual set of components you’d expect inside any mobile phone. There’s a “powerful” CPU and “lots” of RAM (though, there was no mention of specifics) alongside an accelerometer, gyroscope and wireless radios for pulling in data. There’s a mic for voice commands, a speaker and a camera, which can also be controlled by the touchpad that lines the side of the wearable device. All of those components sit off to one side, though Google says they’re still well-balanced and actually lighter than some pairs of sunglasses. The tiny transparent display doesn’t actually sit directly in front of your eye. It’s slightly above your line of vision, so that it shouldn’t interfere with your normal life.

Sergey Brin had three different prototypes on stage — a light blue pair, a white pair and a black pair — indicating that personalization and style were concerns. And that’s a good thing since Glass is meant to be worn in public. Ultimately Google hopes that the project will be the next step in its quest to make information quickly and universally accessible. The ability to capture images from the first person perspective seems to be key to the device. In a new demo video, a new mother waxes about how hard it is to capture those perfect moments with her child. She “smiles at faces not devices” which makes sticking a D5 in the baby’s face a bad idea.

If you’re impatient and lucky enough to have been at IO (and live in the US), you can actually pre-order an Explorer Edition of the wearable computer for $1,500. The dev focused units will be shipping early next year. But, be warned, this is not a mass consumer item and will likely be more than a little rough around the edges.

Check out our full coverage of Google I/O 2012’s opening keynote at our event hub!

Google’s Project Glass gets some more details originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jun 2012 14:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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