iPad Apple Tablet Countdown

So the Apple Tablet (iPad?) announcement is scheduled in four weeks. It probably won't hit the stores for another five months, as it was the case with the iPhone. As any wireless device it has to pass FCC tests, so there will not be a point to keep it secret anymore by Apple. The world is waiting. Joining the speculating crowd, let me try to share my thoughts of what it will be like.

Looking back, especially at the iPhone announcement, we may be certain Apple is trying to address everything we do not like or do not feel comfortable with when using portable Internet devices.

Size. We may be sure it will be as thin as possible. I would say the thickness will be similar to the iPod Touch (thinner than iPhone). Hight / width probably twice the iPhone. And the screen will fill the entire surface.

Display. Everyone agrees OLED is very probable. The iPad does not have to compete on price. And OLED is the cutting edge today. The screen resolution is probably 720p (1280x720) and I think it is less than 10 inch diagonal.

Connectivity. My bet is the Qualcomm GOBI technology. This means both GSM/UMTS/HSPA and CDMA EV-DO. And this means both AT&T and Verizon in the USA. I recall Verizon mentioning a kind of Apple mobile data device sometime ago. WiFi will be there for sure too. Bluetooth - may be yes and may be no. Apple has never liked Bluetooth. I wanted Bluetooth since the very first iPod, they never delivered it to the full extent (even the iPhone can drive neither stereo Bluetooth headphones nor speakers). Basic Bluetooth is probable, as it would allow for wireless keyboards / mice.

CPU. This is a tough call. The iPhone 3GS is built around the Samsung S5PC100. There are rumors Apple is testing new hardware based on the new Qualcomm MSM7630, that sampled a few weeks ago. But of currently shipping processors, the Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD8650 would seem to be the choice. It supports both variants of 3G data (HSPA and EV-DO) and is capable of 720p video playback. There is also a chance Apple got their hands on the QSD8672. The QSD8672 is dual - core, has higher clock frequency (1.5GHz vs 1.0GHz) and a much better 3D graphics engine (80M triangles versus 22M triangles). On the other hand there must have been a reason Apple spent close to #300M in 2008 for P.A.Semi acquisition. But at the moment it may be simply unrealistic to expect a new in-house CPU design from Apple. The time has been too short.

Between the CPU and the screen I would love to have the latest Quicklogic VX4C helper chip, offering three functions:

• 2nd generation VEE™ technology (adaptive image enhancement, that brings down power consumption and offers much better screen visibility, especially outdoor)
• Display Power Optimizer (DPO - a circuitry that brings display power consumption even lower, by dynamically adjusting backlight). This however is somehow contrary to the assumption of an OLED screen. But Quicklogic parts are very flexible, so the DPO might have been just dropped for Apple's version of the chip. On the other hand should Apple choose to use the Pixel Qi dual mode display, the VX4C would come handy offering the DPO function.
• MDDI (Qualcomm's display interface standard) Client coupled with frame buffer - the essential part of a display subsystem.
  

I would not assign too much probability to VX4C having its place in the iPad, but really the QSD8672 + VX4C set would be a killer combination. Both parts are sampling just now, so the question is whether Apple can use them for prototypes already.

Input interfaces. Again, rumors are Apple implemented an on-screen keyboard with tactile feedback. I am sure there is no physical keyboard (although I really like the Kindle form factor, with both display AND a physical keyboard on the device). But Apple might have implemented some sort of mechanical feedback, that signals a press of a virtual key displayed on a screen. The screen will certainly be capacitive multi-touch - to be operated by fingers alone. With bigger form factor there may be a place for other little touch controls, like a vertical slider on the side, to control output volume without touching the screen.

Physical connectors. There is the standard 3.5mm headphones/microphone jack for sure. Every iPhone has one and it has been recently accepted as the standard by various international organizations. So has been the micro -USB jack, that by the way is mandated by the EU. So likely the iPad will have one too, for both charging and local connectivity (iTunes, etc).

Software. The common understanding is the iPad is based on the same operating system / API the iPhone is. If they could make the iPad backwards compatible with the iPhone and at the same time the upgrade path to native iPad mode was easy, we would see a flood of applications for the iPad. They would be ready just in time for the commercial launch - late Q2 and early Q3. Interesting thing is at that time we would have two major phone + tablet operating systems riding the mobile Internet wave: Apple and Google's Android. That would essentially mean the end for Windows Mobile and Symbian. RIM would stay in its Helm's Deep of enterprise messaging and Palm would probably have to find a new home (Sony? Nokia? Samsung?).

The countdown has started. Soon we will be able to judge if the real iPad comes close to the expectations :)