WSJ says 8" iPad being tested

[Pliablemoose]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204795304577222354104574994.html

I'd actually buy one of these, and deep six the other 3 7" tablets I use in short order.

The WSJ is one of the more or less official leak sources for Apple, I give this rumor a bit more credibility than most.

Of my 7" tablets"

The PlayBook has no goddamn apps, and what it has are lame, trying to use a full web page on a 7" screen is just painful.

HTC Flyer, is pretty good, but laggy as hell, particularly after the HC update.

nook color is haxxored to death, works, but it's more of a dancing bear analogy, not so much that the bear dances well, but that it dances at all kind of functionality...


With an 8" iPad, I'd sell my iPad 2 and just use a laptop at home. The 8" would go in my bag along with my phone.

 

[dougp]

I would strongly consider selling my iPad 2 and going for one of these if given the choice ... hmmm

 

[ponyo]

I don't think it will happen. 8 inch is a good size though.

I much rather have Samsung 7.7" 1280x720 S-AMOLED Plus Tab. Smaller size is all about being portable. If I'm going to carry it with me, it needs to be able to do phone calls so I can leave the phone at home. Or at least serve as backup phone in case the battery on the phone dies.

 

[Pliablemoose]

I don't think it will happen. 8 inch is a good size though.

I much rather have Samsung 7.7" 1280x720 S-AMOLED Plus Tab. Smaller size is all about being portable. If I'm going to carry it with me, it needs to be able to do phone calls so I can leave the phone at home. Or at least serve as backup phone in case the battery on the phone dies.

If Jobs was alive, I'd say 0% chance, with Cook, I think we'll see one sooner rather than later. iPod Touch sales aren't great, and I think that's what Jobs was worried about, aside from his rant about functionality... an 8" tablet would sell like crazy, the trick for Apple is pricing and fitting a range of devices into Apple's pricing strategy.

An 8" tablet will pretty much kill the iPod Touch.

 

[PuppettMaster001]

I've owned a 7" 16:9, 10" 16:9, and 8" 4:3 tablet and I prefer the size of my 8" by far. The only thing it isn't as good with is watching movies. At the right price, I would buy an 8" iPad (this coming from someone that has owned many Android tablets and phones over the past 3 years).

 

[Puddle Jumper]

A 8" 1024x768 screen is pretty crappy compared to many of it's Android competitors, especially the 1280x800 S-AMOLED Galaxy tab 7.7.

I guess a 8" iPad could be good for the low end tablet market but the Tab 7.7 still seems to be the best choice when cost isn't the primary concern.

 

[bearxor]

I wouldn't buy a 7.8" 1024x768 over a 9.7" 2048x1536. If they were both the same resolution and otherwise identical hardware-wise, I'd seriously consider the 7.8".

 

[dougp]

A lot of people keep mentioning the screen, but regardless of the resolution, my iPad 2 still shows off pictures great. I'll take an 8" iPad 3 w/ great battery life over a similar higher DPI Android OR iOS tablet any day. I love that I don't have to charge my iPad every other day if I haven't used it like I would my Nook Color.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

A lot of people keep mentioning the screen, but regardless of the resolution, my iPad 2 still shows off pictures great. I'll take an 8" iPad 3 w/ great battery life over a similar higher DPI Android OR iOS tablet any day. I love that I don't have to charge my iPad every other day if I haven't used it like I would my Nook Color.

You do realize that the Galalxy Tab 7.7 has both a better screen and better battery life than the iPad 2 right?

 

[Red Storm]

Would be nice to see more variety and options.

 

[Wonderful Pork]

I would love a 8" iOS device because I use garageband a lot and the 10" is kinda big, but iPhone is way small to use while practicing, so I'd be all over this. Resolution isn't a huge concern, but just being able to put it in a bag/jacket pocket would be awesome.

 

[dougp]

You do realize that the Galalxy Tab 7.7 has both a better screen and better battery life than the iPad 2 right?

I think you missed the part where I mentioned the passive battery life. Active battery life at this point among tablet devices has really evened out in the past year or so. As far as I know, the iPad 2 still retains the best sleep battery life out there.

 

[badb0y]

Please Apple release this.

 

[Kenmitch]

I'd consider purchasing a 8" Ipad only if it's priced correctly for the market and not some butchered to compete product. There are a few apps for the Ipad that might be of some use for my daughter....The price in my head is $299 max as long as it has competitive hardware.

The 4s booted me over to the Samsung/Android world. I like the flexibility of the Android world a whole lot better than the Apple eco-system.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

I think you missed the part where I mentioned the passive battery life. Active battery life at this point among tablet devices has really evened out in the past year or so. As far as I know, the iPad 2 still retains the best sleep battery life out there.

I've not seen any reviews that indicate the iPad has better standby battery life than the Tab 7.7.

 

[dougp]

I've not seen any reviews that indicate the iPad has better standby battery life than the Tab 7.7.

The iPad 2 maintains a 30 day standby battery life. Looking at Samsung's website, it looks like they claim 1500 hours in standby. That's 62 days, which seems a bit absurd but I'd like to see that. On paper, it clearly beats it then. But, either way, it has nothing to do with Apple looking at making a smaller size iPad. Regardless, I just realize you are being an Android troll in an iPad discussion, so I'll just fire back and say regardless of any specs or stats an Android tablet has, any iPad will outside it.

 

[MrX8503]

If Jobs was alive, I'd say 0% chance, with Cook, I think we'll see one sooner rather than later. iPod Touch sales aren't great, and I think that's what Jobs was worried about, aside from his rant about functionality... an 8" tablet would sell like crazy, the trick for Apple is pricing and fitting a range of devices into Apple's pricing strategy.

An 8" tablet will pretty much kill the iPod Touch.

I don't think Apple cares about the iPod Touch. Apple's pride and joy is the iPhone and they're only using the iPod Touch as a marketing scheme to get people to adopt the iPhone.

This is similar to the iPods, Apple wants you to buy an iPod Touch, not a Nano or classic. Ultimately in the end they want you to buy an iPhone.

So with the declining sales of iPods, I don't think Apple cares much about. They care about their iPhones/iPads more. As for the 8" tablet, I'm not sure if it makes much sense for Apple to sell an 8" when they can sell an iPad2 to fill the lower end price bracket.

 

[Sheep]

An 8" tablet will pretty much kill the iPod Touch.

Until someone can get an 8" tablet in their pants pocket (not happening), the iPod Touch is safe for awhile as Apple's gateway drug to the iPhone. On a tech blog we tend to forget that there's a segment of the population that's too young or poor or just not interested in smartphones that the iPod Touch still appeals to. That segment might be shrinking and slowly moving to smartphones but it's not so insignificant that Apple would ignore it...yet.

I'd be worried if I was Amazon though. This 8" iPad is aimed squarely at the Kindle Fire.

 

[luv2liv]

sadly, it will still force you to use iTunes to sync anything in and out.
no thanks

 

[Red Storm]

The iPad 2 maintains a 30 day standby battery life. Looking at Samsung's website, it looks like they claim 1500 hours in standby. That's 62 days, which seems a bit absurd but I'd like to see that. On paper, it clearly beats it then. But, either way, it has nothing to do with Apple looking at making a smaller size iPad. Regardless, I just realize you are being an Android troll in an iPad discussion, so I'll just fire back and say regardless of any specs or stats an Android tablet has, any iPad will outside it.

In your initial post you talk about how passive battery life is important to you, so he suggested a tablet that is seemingly the best in class in that specific area, and you reply by calling him a troll? And then after all that you say nothing else matters because the iPad will outsell anything? What exactly is the importance in that?

I'd be worried if I was Amazon though. This 8" iPad is aimed squarely at the Kindle Fire.

Unless it's going to be priced at ~$200, I don't see how.

 

[Dominato3r]

sadly, it will still force you to use iTunes to sync anything in and out.
no thanks

I thought iOS5 reduced the dependency on iTunes? (SOmeone correct me if I'm wrong here)

 

[dougp]

In your initial post you talk about how passive battery life is important to you, so he suggested a tablet that is seemingly the best in class in that specific area, and you reply by calling him a troll? And then after all that you say nothing else matters because the iPad will outsell anything? What exactly is the importance in that?

No, I think you missed my point entirely. It wasn't until the Galaxy Tab 7.7 that we saw something that can compete with the iPad 2 in terms of battery life. Then again, the 7.7 is not in the same class as an iPad 2 given the size difference, and since an 8" iPad is a rumor, nothing can be compared. But he also notes how it should be a budget device but then tries to compare it to the 7.7's screen which is an anything but budget device. I don't think his idea was any clearer than mine was.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

No, I think you missed my point entirely. It wasn't until the Galaxy Tab 7.7 that we saw something that can compete with the iPad 2 in terms of battery life. Then again, the 7.7 is not in the same class as an iPad 2 given the size difference, and since an 8" iPad is a rumor, nothing can be compared. But he also notes how it should be a budget device but then tries to compare it to the 7.7's screen which is an anything but budget device. I don't think his idea was any clearer than mine was.

The 7.7 didn't compete with the iPad 2 on battery life it completely destroyed it. Besides the Transformer Prime is within a couple of minutes of the iPads battery life and even the original Galaxy Tab 10.1 only lost to the iPad by 31 minutes which is certainly competitive.

The entire reason I made the screen comparison was to show that the 8" iPad would be a low end product, clearly the 7.7 is a premium product for people who are willing to pay what it costs to get the best in that form factor.

If you want to see a budget device that still beats the 8" iPad look no further than the upcoming Asus Memo whcih will have a 7" 1280x800 IPS screen and Tegra 3 for only $250.

 

[Sheep]

Unless it's going to be priced at ~$200, I don't see how.

If it's $100 more, I'd argue it's still aimed at the Fire. The combination of the bigger screen plus the fact that it has that shiny Apple branding will allow Apple to sell loads of these things provided they don't go too crazy with the price.

 

[Red Storm]

Maybe I'm out of the loop here, but where does it state that an 8" iPad would be low end? A slightly smaller version of the existing iPad isn't going to cut its price in half, so it would still be a high end product due to its price.