Hasta La Gadget!

A 9.7-inch iPad next to the 7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Fresh rumors are suggesting that Apple could be working on a small form factor tablet to share shelf space with the iPad and iPad 2. Specifically, a Taiwanese website called the United Daily News reported Tuesday that Apple has received samples of 7.85-inch displays based on the iPad’s 1024 x 768 resolution.

This latest rumor follows a wave of speculation fueled by Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White. Last week, in a statement positing that Apple is working on a lower-priced iPad, the analyst wrote, “Essentially, this ‘iPad mini’ will also fend off the recently announced Amazon Kindle Fire that addresses the low-end tablet market with a $199 price tag.”

White was careful to add that this “iPad mini” may only be “mini” in terms of its $199 price tag, but at that point a new iPad mini meme had been released into the wilderness, and rumor mongers couldn’t resist the bait. Just do a search for iPad mini, and you’ll find story after story using White’s loosey-goosey language as substantiating evidence in support of a 7-inch iPad release.

And now for the reality check: Although the release of a small form factor iPad is possible — and come on, just about anything is possible — conventional wisdom very strongly suggests that a small form factor iPad is not the “Apple way.”

“We expect Apple to maintain its premium price point on tablets,” wrote Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps in an e-mail. “Apple will not allow Amazon to dictate the terms of competition — Apple makes its own rules.”

Ross Rubin, an analyst with NPD, also believes a 7-inch iPad isn’t in the cards: “Based on Apple’s past comments, it is unlikely that we will see a 7-inch tablet from Apple, which has decried the screen size as too small. The company is enjoying strong sales with the iPad, and it could be difficult for developers to make their iPad-optimized apps look at home.”

Chasing Amazon’s Fire

Bloggers were speculating on the possibility of a small form factor iPad in late 2010, almost immediately after it became apparent that the iPad was a transformational device. But the latest wave of speculation keys into anticipation for Amazon’s Kindle Fire, a 7-inch device that has renewed interest in the mini-tablet form factor, which had largely been abandoned by Apple competitors in the wake of the 9.7-inch iPad’s runaway success. Because the Kindle Fire is being celebrated as the first tablet with the goods to seriously challenge the iPad, it’s spurred a lot of talk that Apple could break into — and quickly overwhelm — the smaller tablet arena.

“The Amazon Kindle Fire is catching consumers’ attention and pre-selling well because it is priced very competitively, not because it is just smaller,” says Desiree Davis of Resolve Market Research. Indeed, according to a recent Resolve study, only 9 percent of consumers are looking for a 7-inch tablet, while two-thirds want a 10-inch device.

Davis has it right: The 7-inch form factor just isn’t that appealing to consumers. Screen real estate does make a difference in the mobile space, and a 9.7-inch iPad will always provide a more luxurious experience than a 7-inch Fire. But there are also three other reasons why chasing a 7-inch tablet doesn’t make sense for Apple.

First, developing a product just to upend a competitor is not in Apple’s DNA. Apple strives to create new markets (or at least new product tiers) that it can own in dominant fashion. Just look at the iPod, iPhone, the MacBook Air, and of course, the iPad. No, none of these items were the “first” in their respective areas, but Apple innovated products so unique and with so much style, it almost seemed like these devices were entirely new inventions.

Desktops, traditional notebooks and monitors are computing staples, yes, and Apple makes those too. But in recent years, the iPod, iPhone, Air and iPad lines have been Apple’s shining stars, carving out new niche segments that leave competitors playing catch-up. Bottom line: Apple has more to gain by creating new product spaces than chasing Amazon into the unproven territory of 7-inch screen real estate.

One Size Never Fits All

Second, Apple has a carefully curated app store stocked with software specifically designed for the 3.5-inch display of the iPhone and iPod touch, and the 9.7-inch display of the iPad. Adding a 7-inch display to the lineup would create problems for app developers. Even though a 7- or 8-inch display could comfortably clock in at 1024 x 768, existing iPad apps may not look good (or be user friendly, or feel quite as natural) on these smaller screen sizes.

“There would be a lot of interface changes,” said indie iOS developer Zac Witte with respect to converting an iPhone or iPad app to a 7-inch screen size. “I don’t think Apple would ever do that. They wouldn’t want to create noise. That’s a very Android thing to do.”

Just ask Android app developers about the difficulties of accomodating all the various screen sizes in the Android line-up, which includes a 3-inch mini phone, 4.5-inch uberphones, and tablets at 5, 7, 8.9 and 10.1 inches. Apple has avoided this “screen fragmentation” problem by offering only two screen sizes for iOS devices. A third size, care of a 7-inch tablet, would require app creators to explore a third track of development to reconfigure U.I. and other visual elements.

“There’s a big difference between building apps for the iPad and for the iPhone. A 7-inch device would have its own set of activities and applications, [and be] more gaming and utility focused,” iOS developer Brian Fino said.

Sure, iPhone apps could be ported to a 7-inch iPad, as has been done in the past with popular apps (like Facebook) that lacked an iPad-only option. But this approach isn’t graceful, and wouldn’t leverage any unique benefits of a miniature iPad form factor.

Steve Said Nuh-Uh

Third, the iPad already has a solid, ostensibly intractable foothold in the tablet space. The iPad basically is the tablet market. People want an iPad, not just any tablet, and competitors are resorting to dire price-slashing measures to carve out a slice of the tablet space.

Oh, and here’s a bonus fourth reason why Apple won’t develop an iPad mini: Steve Jobs emphatically stated that 7-inch tablets are too small for a pleasant touchscreen experience.

I think that if Apple does reach out to the budget market, it would use a similar approach to its iPhone strategy. It would dramatically reduce the price of the original iPad (maybe down to $200), slightly reduce the price of the iPad 2, and then offer a full-priced iPad 3. That’s just fanciful what-ifing, though. Sales of both the iPad and iPad 2 are still going strong at full price. Apple would only reduce their prices if it looked like user adoption would skyrocket thanks to bargain prices.

Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com

Amazon will now sync your reading position for personal documents

A somewhat innocuous update for the Kindle looks like it’s not even worth a press release, but a closer look reveals it to be a pretty big deal. Kindle Keyboard Software update v3.3 brings Whispersync and cloud storage to personal documents.

While some might frame this as an answer to Apple’s iCloud, it seems like an obvious move for Amazon. Right now, you can redownload any purchased content — like ebooks, music, movies — from Amazon any time you like. This update (already included in the new Kindle and Kindle Touch) does the same for any content you add yourself.

If you e-mail documents to your Kindle, or add them via USB, they’ll now show up on the personal documents section your Kindle management pages at Amazon. From there, you can delete them or send them to one of your devices. You get 5GB of space, which should be more than enough, even counting PDFs

What’s more, if the file is in “Kindle format” then your reading progress will be synced between devices. Thus you can read a converted ebook on the Kindle in bed, and switch to the Kindle app on your phone when you’re waiting in line at the store.

Or you will. The new services only work with the actual Kindles right now. Updates are coming soon for the various Kindle apps.

There are two more new features in this update. You now get local deals included in ads if you own a Special Offer Kindle, and the Voice Guide can now be started by pressing the shift and space keys together. I tried this last one and it seems buggy at best. I could only get it to work once.

The update is free, and don’t panic if your Kindle seems to go into an endless loop of restarts. It will end eventually. I promise.

Kindle Keyboard Software Update Version 3.3 [Amazon]

See Also:

• A Map for the Kindle 2's Whispernet Coverage
• Amazon Shows Off Kindle for iPad
• Kindle Software Update Adds Twitter, PDF Zoom, Sharper Fonts …
• Amazon Adds Real Page Numbers to Kindle
• Amazon Promises Kindle Update for Better Content Organization …

There’s been gnashing of teeth between Apple and Samsung in courts across the globe for a while now, but Australia’s temporary injunction against the sale of a Samsung tablet is a huge win for Apple, and could be very bad for the Android platform.

A court in Australia ruled today that the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 cannot be sold in the country because it infringes on two patents held by Apple relating to multitouch. Because the patents are so broad, other Android device makers could find themselves mired in similar litigation, FOSS Patents’ Florian Mueller said.

The two patents in question describe a “multipoint touchscreen” and a “touch screen device, method, and graphical user interface for determining commands by applying heuristics.” (Steve Jobs is listed as an inventor of the latter.) The preliminary injunction could have drastic effects for Samsung, leaving the tablet “commercially dead” in Australia and causing the company to miss out on lucrative holiday sales.

Samsung commented in a written statement, “We are disappointed with this ruling and Samsung will be seeking legal advice on its options.” Apple did not respond to a request for comment for Wired.com.

Apple began battling Samsung in court over design-related patents in April. In that lawsuit, Apple claimed that similarities between Samsung’s products and Apple’s iPhone and iPad were so similar it was “beyond the realm of coincidence.” Apple has continued to sue Samsung in courts across the world, including Germany, The Netherlands and Australia. The launch of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 was initially delayed in Australia, but today’s injunction makes it even more likely that the tablet may never reach Australian consumers.

There are currently more than 20 lawsuits in litigation between Apple and Samsung.

Mueller stated in a blog post, “I believe no company in the industry may be able to launch any new Android-based touchscreen product in Australia anytime soon without incurring a high risk of another interim injunction.”

In previous rulings — for example, when Apple beat Samsung in a Netherlands’ court battle regarding a page-turning patent — Samsung was able to simply re-engineer a function and issue an update (often barely noticeable to the average smartphone user), and skirt the issue. But today’s ruling is different, because it concerns a patent for key, intrinsic, product-defining features.

“Today’s ruling is the broadest win that Apple has got so far,” Mueller said in an interview with Wired.com. There’s not much Samsung can do but countersue, and Mueller feels, “It’s really unimpressive what Samsung brings to the tablet against Apple.” Samsung has yet to score any wins against Apple.

Apple is already in litigation with three major Android device makers: Samsung, HTC and Motorola. Mueller believes Motorola could soon overtake Samsung as Apple’s main target, given Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility.

As for non-Android devices — such as Windows Phone, webOS and BlackBerry models — they don’t have as much to worry about.

“Apple is careful to exclude Windows Phone; they own far too many patents,” Mueller says. And as long as HP owns webOS, it may be in a stronger position than Google as far as patent challenges. And BlackBerry, well, it’s likely that Apple doesn’t feel threatened by RIM as it’s on the decline. It would be a far more efficient approach, Mueller says, to just erode RIM’s market via retail sales of iPhones and iPads.

Mueller says that unlike Microsoft, which uses its vast trove of patents as leverage to raise cash, Apple uses patents as they were originally intended: to create a monopoly. “Apple really seeks and optimizes its products for differentiation. Apple takes a more exclusionary approach to patent enforcement,” Mueller said. Microsoft, by comparison, has established licensing deals with a number of manufacturers in order to score a cut of retail sales revenue. The latest example is PC manufacturer Quanta, the ninth OEM to pay Microsoft royalties for Android products.

Android makers are especially susceptible to litigation because they are late entrants to the market, and don’t have licensing deals or extensive patent holdings in place yet.

'No, your honor, we didn't copy the iPad. In fact, we've never even seen one before.'

One thing Samsung doesn’t seem to be able to copy from Apple is the success of its crack legal team. The latest court to ban the sale of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet is Australia, which upheld a temporary injunction against selling the device in Oz.

Samsung’s defense appeared to largely take the form of shouting “it’s not fair.” The South Korean company’s lawyers argued that if the tablet wasn’t allowed to go on sale, it would be “commercially dead” and wouldn’t be able to make any money from Christmas sales. Maybe Samsung should have thought of that before making its iClone.

According to the Wall Street Journal, “Samsung hinted it may appeal the Sydney court ruling.” “Hinted” isn’t exactly fighting talk, which was reserved for the company’s only real recourse — get nasty over alleged patent violations. In a statement, Samsung said “We will continue to legally assert our intellectual property rights against those who violate Samsung’s patents and free ride on our technology.”

That’s more like it.

The fact that Samsung is lying down quietly, and even making changes to its Tab 10.1 in order to get it back on store shelves, seems to show that courts are convinced that it has ripped off the iPad’s design. That Samsung is retaliating with patent threats is even more telling of its confidence to beat these injunctions.

Apple Wins Block on Samsung Tablet in Australia [WSJ (Use Google to get around the paywall)]

See Also:

• Courts Ban Sale of Samsung Galaxy Tab in Europe
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9. Seriously?
• The Copyist
• IClones

Try doing this with a desktop computer. Photo Veronica Belmont/Flickr

As if any Gadget Lab readers needed to be told, the mobile Internet is taking off. What might be surprising is that almost all tablet Internet traffic comes from the iPad. “In August 2011, iPads delivered 97.2 percent of all tablet traffic in the U.S.” says a new Comscore report. What’s more, the iPad is even beating its older brother the iPhone, managing 46.8 percent of iOS Internet use vs. the iPhone’s 42.6 percent.

According to the report, U.S mobile Internet use is still small compared to computer-based Internet use at just 6.8 percent, but it’s growing fast. More interesting is what the tablets (read: iPads) are being used for. Half of all tablet owners have made a purchase from their device (likely via the App Store), and more than half read the news regularly on their tablets.

Further, while iOS accounts for 43.1 percent of market share (by installed base, vs Android’s 34.1 percent), it accounts for a disproportionate 58.5% of traffic (Android 31.9 percent). This figure counts page views, so if you were to add in all the other non-browser Internet use, the number would surely jump a lot higher. Anyone used to a 3G connection for an iPad who suddenly has it cut will realize just how many apps rely on a data connection.

It may take a while, but computer Internet is going the way of the landline phone. We may still have internet-connected Wi-Fi networks in our homes to feed set-top boxes and stream things from here to there, but soon enough going to a special room and firing up a big machine to check Wikipedia is going to seem as clumsy and old-fashioned as punching a number into a landline phone.

Smartphones and Tablets Drive Nearly 7 Percent of Total U.S. Digital Traffic [ComScore via Twitter]

See Also:

• AT&T Adds iPhone Tethering, Kills Unlimited Data for iPad …
• Eight Great Tips for Traveling with the iPad