14 DAY TRIAL // A report quoting a person with proven knowledge of Apple's future product plans reveals that a revamped iPad is about to launch in the coming months, in a departure from Apple’s 12 month product cycle for iOS device refreshes.
AppleInsider claims to have learned from this person that a new version of the tablet device with a built-in video camera has progressed to the advanced testing stages. The tablet is FaceTime-capable, this source reportedly said.
The device would see the light of day no later than the first quarter of 2011, the report notes, despite Apple's historical product cycles, which generally span 12 months.
In fact, this person said, “there was an ambitious push inside Apple to verify the refresh for a possible launch ahead of this year's holiday shopping season,” according to the report.
AppleInsider appropriately notes that such a move would fall well with Apple’s strategy to deliver value while maintaining price points and margins, rather than slash prices for higher unit volumes.
It makes a citation from chief operating officer Tim Cook who once said: "We have never been about being the biggest, we’ve always been about making the best products. Not having highest market share or most revenue."
In other words, Apple, as a company, focuses on value, satisfaction, and quality -- not quantity, the report outlines.
Coincidentally the news comes on the heels of a rumor saying Apple plans to extend FaceTime functionality to computers, including Macs and Windows PCs.
The video-chatting standard is already present in two of Apple’s iDevices (iPhone 4 and the fourth-generation iPod touch).
Details of an upcoming 7-inch iPad have emerged earlier this summer, with DigiTimes reporting that Apple was planning the unveiling of a smaller iPad, citing researcher Mingchi Kuo.
Kuo said that Apple was on track to launch an upgraded version of the 9.7-inch iPad boasting a new ARM Cortex-A9-based processor and 512MB RAM in the first quarter of 2011, alongside a smaller, 7-inch tablet employing the same processor and featuring an IPS panel with a resolution of 1024×768.
The analyst added that Pegatron Technology would supply new CDMA iPhones to both US-based Verizon Wireless and China-based China Telecom, and that that this new iPhone's back plate would be forged from metal.
Not long after these rumors had been dished out, Samsung was reportedly preparing to ship a tablet computer to compete with Apple’s 7-inch iPad “nano”.
Sources from upstream component makers said, according to the same Taiwan-based tech industry publication, that Samsung had decided move away from a 10-inch tablet, which would rival Apple’s current 9.7-inch iPad, in order to better compete with an upcoming, 7-inch version of the device.