Consulting and publishing
I already covered the very cool MacBook-based ModBook tablet in 2008 and 2007…
This year at Macworld, Axiotron announced the ModBook Pro. It’s a MacBook Pro 15″-based tablet that features concurrent pen (active digitizer) and touch (capacitive screen?) input, plus built-in GPS!
Here’s video and some pictures :)
Here are some pictures of the Axiontron ModBook that I took on the show floor (including some from last year)…
The ModBook is a really interesting product that received a lot more attention at Macword this year around!
I also made a couple live videos of the ModBook:
– ModBook and Axiotron booth
– ModBook interview with Nathan Oshidari
I’m hoping to get my hands on a ModBook for review very soon, so stay tuned.
Other than the all the iPhone excitement…
– I took some pictures
– I got interviewed by 2 hotties (Sid & Stayce?) affiliated with this site (I think)
– I hung out with Jon of Uneasy Silence fame at the Microsoft blogger lounge
– I ran into Annalee Newitz of Techspoitation fame (it’s nice to see other women tech bloggers)
– I got interviewed by Dan Pourhadi for TUAW
– I got to play with the ModBook
– I went to the Blast! party, which kinda sucked
Loads of fun :)
I was walking through the Apple booth at Macworld just before closing yesterday when I noticed an Apple employee actually using an iPhone. So I walked up to him:
– tnkgrl: “Hello, is this the iPhone?”
– Apple employee: “Yes it is.”
– T: “Can I try it?”
– AE: “I’m sorry I can’t let you touch it.”
– T: “Can I take a picture?”
– AE: “OK, as long as you don’t have my face in it.”
He then put the phone down on the carpet next to him. Unfortunately, when I pushed the shutter button on my phone (Nokia N80) I noticed that it was still in video mode (320×240 at 10 FPS) instead of being in camera mode (3 megapixels), from having just filmed the iPhone display… Oops! So I recorded a few seconds of video and tried to switch my phone back to the camera, but I was fumbling with the controls because of all the excitement:
– T: “I’d like to take a couple more pictures if you don’t mind. It’s for my blog”
– AE: “For your blog? Oh no… I can’t let you take any more pictures!”
– T: “Why not?”
– AE: “I can’t let you take pictures for a blog.”
– T: “But you didn’t mind a minute ago. It’s not like I get paid to blog, you know?”
– AE: “Sorry… No blog pictures!”
– T: “Well, it’s 2007… People are going to publish pictures all over, blog or not! Thanks anyway.”
And I walked away, mildly annoyed. The Apple employee’s badge was turned over, so I didn’t get his name. The video was short so I slowed it down, but you’ll notice that the iPhone was running Google maps :)
Update: (June 11, 2007) – turns out the Apple employee was Scott Forstall.
As amazing as the iPhone is, I’m apparently not the only one wondering why Apple settled with EDGE when Cingular is already supporting HSDPA. Perhaps it’s a limitation imposed by packaging requirements or power consumption. Perhaps it’s a desire to avoid supporting the myriad of HSDPA bands worldwide.
Sure, the iPhone features WiFi, but it’s difficult to stream SomaFM reliably over EDGE while driving down the freeway at 70 mph :)
What do you think?
So, the iPhone is here.
Unfortunately, it’s not available today… Doh! But it will be shipping in June and it will be available exclusively on Cingular for $499 (4 GB) or $599 (8 GB) with a two year contract. As a result it’s probably going to be locked to Cingular. That’s pretty disappointing :/
On a positive note… Wow! The device is revolutionary, with style and substance to boot. It’s unclear if the 2 megapixel camera features auto-focus or a flash, but it’s clear that the iPhone is packed with amazing technology.
And that’s definitely exciting :)
I’m at the Apple Store here in San Francisco and the iPhone was just announced by Steve Jobs at the Macworld keynote!
I’ll be trying to pick one up (assuming it’s released today as well).
I’ll keep you posted….
iPhone or not, ultra portable MacBook or not, it appears that I’ll be at Macworld next Tuesday taking pictures and doing interviews… So I’ll see you there!
