My top 10 fantasy Mac tablet features

Apple is rumoured to be working on something bigger than an iPod Touch but smaller than a MacBook. Past patent applications filed by the company and whispers from contract manufacturers point to a midsize gadget with a screen of seven to eight inches in the works, perhaps scheduled to debut early next year. It's been described as both a tablet-like device - a "media pad" - and an iPod Touch on steroids.

But the middle ground between handheld device and traditional laptop has historically been a hard sell to mainstream consumers. Apple has some experience reinventing what were thought to be staid or failed product categories, and is known for its stringent product review process, so if anyone has potential to make something compelling for this 'in-betweener' category, it's the company to do so.

For Apple, this could be its answer to the netbook craze - 20 million of those scaled-down PCs will be shipped to retailers this year, doubling last year's output.

Apple has been fairly clear in its distaste for them, using descriptors like "junky", and the average selling price of around $400 wouldn't allow Apple to keep its margins as high as it's used to.

But there is clearly a market, particularly given the current state of the economy, for a device in that middle range between a smartphone and a laptop. Interim CEO Tim Cook recently admitted that Apple has "some interesting ideas in this space".

Let's say it does make one. What exactly should a tablet from Apple do and what kind of features does it need to sport to avoid the pitfalls of every other failed tablet PC, ultramobile PC, and mobile internet device now gathering dust in the basements and desk drawers of early adopters?

Some suggestions:

Reinvent the category: First, Apple has to solve the major problem that has plagued all tablet-like devices until now: lack of interest from consumers, and a clear purpose for the device, which is no small feat. "This must have a very different spin on the tablet phenomena," said Michael Gartenberg, VP of analysis at media and tech research company Interpret. "What can [a tablet] do that neither [a phone or laptop] can do that causes a consumer to carry one more thing? Consumers maximum want to carry two, maybe three things."

The solution will be to make it as easy to use as possible, in a way no company has yet, and with features, such as those listed below.

Be thin and light: A device thinner and lighter than the three-pound MacBook Air and slightly heftier than the 1.1-pound Kindle DX would make people more apt to carry it around. Clunky, heavy ultramobile PCs (UMPCs) like the OQO, for example, were portable in theory, but weren't practical for more than a niche business audience. If people don't want to carry it around, they may as well stick with a smartphone and a laptop. This is what happened to tablet PCs, which currently occupy approximately one per cent of the overall PC market, according to IDC. UMPCs' market share is essentially zero.

Have customised software: No-man's-land devices like tablet PCs and UMPCs/MIDs failed partly because their operating system, Windows XP, wasn't optimised for those devices. Apple has an advantage there with the iPhone OS. It could be tweaked for a midsize device between the iPhone and MacBook.

"Going with the iPhone OS would likely bring advantages in terms of simplicity, battery life, form factor, cost and stability," noted Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis at The NPD Group. "Mac OS, on the other hand, would provide a more robust web surfing experience by enabling Adobe Flash."

What's key is to keep the best parts of the iPhone and the best parts of the Mac desktop OS, like the iPhone's version of the Safari browser, and compatibility with the App Store, he said. "One way to accommodate this might be by putting them in a window, similarly to how Canonical is now talking about running Android apps on the desktop."

Built-in wireless 3G: This seems fairly obvious but while the iPhone has this, the iPod Touch and MacBook don't. The point of a tablet would be to get online quickly, download videos, books, apps, etc, so this seems fairly certain if Apple were to make a tablet.

Incorporate the best parts of the iPod Touch such as a multitouch screen, an accelerometer for quick switches between landscape and portrait mode, and built-in App Store access. Apple's pinching and zooming multitouch screen is what gets iPhone users all giggly. Imagine those gestures on a much larger surface: swiping through photo galleries and album art, drawing with your fingers, and zooming way in on tiny photo details would all be enhanced on a seven-inch (or so) screen.

App Store access is a must. It's insanely popular - having passed a billion downloads in April after just nine months open for business. It's bringing in a decent amount of revenue to Apple, and is drawing hordes of developers to Apple's platform. A larger screen presents even more opportunities for things like gaming apps.

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