Premium App Store is for Apple's Tablet?

Cleve Nettles
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July 28, 2009
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Remember that "Premium App Store" Rumor we had from two different sources in May?  It never hasn't yet materialized but we were thinking that a higher resolution iPod Touch tablet-y thing would need its own games and wares.  While we're pretty sure it will run iPod and iPhone games at reduced resolutuion, you'll want some native games on there too.  That's where the premium apps will come in...perhaps.  Just a thought. (image from wired.com)

 

Comments (18)

owen-b (not verified) | July 28, 2009 - 12:34pm

I've been thinking that since it got mentioned and then disappeared in the first place. So there. :)

macsoda.com (not verified) | July 28, 2009 - 4:10pm

Ya, well you never posted it on your blog. Seth did. So there. :)

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | July 28, 2009 - 12:34pm

I want for them my Iphone?

JohnnyK | July 28, 2009 - 12:46pm

I really hope the rumors of the tablet running Mobile/Tablet OS X is incorrect. It would only be of any value to me if it runs full OS X. I'd just assume keep using my iPhone if it is essentially a 10" iPod Touch. Honestly, until I see the 'killer features' of this tablet, I only really would want one because, as they call us sheep, I like to play with all new Apple products. 

Luke Bornheimer (not verified) | July 28, 2009 - 1:23pm

If this product is going to fall in the $600-900 range, how on earth could you expect it to run full Mac OS X? Can you say canabalization?! This thing at VERY MOST is going to run a hybrid of iPhone OS and full Mac OS, but most likely an OS that is heavily weighted in iPhone OS.

Tim Cook called the software netbooks run "old," and I'm sure he's not just bashing on Windows. He was saying that the "old" operating systems of folders and windows are the past, where iPhone OS (or something very similar) is the "new"/future.

With that said, that's my opinion, so obviously I could be wrong.

Gorilla (not verified) | July 28, 2009 - 2:26pm

Yes, very true.

Luke Bornheimer (not verified) | July 28, 2009 - 1:08pm

As I have been discussing in a MR forum (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=754080), I think Apple will have a seperate section (within the App Store) dedicated to the "Tablet".

Some of my rational is as follows:

"just as the App Store has iPhone only apps that iPod touches can't use/download, the App Store will have i_(insert name of "Tablet" device)_ apps that only that device can download.

Furthermore, I believe Apple will not create a different app store for the "Tablet". Rather, they will have a "Tablet" section of the "redesigned" (see [Tim] Cook's comments) App Store. This will allow Apple to claim a higher number of apps sold and keep everything under one roof.

Why create a new store just for this one product? If they did that, iPod touch owners could argue that they deserve their own store as well."

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | July 28, 2009 - 1:27pm

(under the assumption it's not FULL OSX, but some mobile variant...) Now as part of this premium store, wouldnt it be great if Adobe could release CS for the Tablet, Apple made iWork and iLife for the tablet, and any other number of companies currently developing apps for OSX just had to make a slight variation of their OSX app (so things like Transmission, Evernote, Pulsar, Adium, etc etc) could be brought to the tablet OS.. of course it's be even greater if it just ran the same OSX apps I have on my desktop (within reason, I dont expect to be running logic on this tablet).

Daniel (not verified) | July 28, 2009 - 1:45pm

If this thing won't support regular OS X apps, will there be a whole new SDK or will it's software be limited to using only the iPhone/iPod widget set...? A whole new 'middle-sized' SDK seems to me like too much to swallow... for apple and for the devs...

I'm really curious. But one thing is sure (IMHO): Apple can't expect people to pay $800 for a device with a software ecosystem as heavily restricted and regulated as the iPhone/iPod Touch have...

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | July 28, 2009 - 1:55pm

There wont be a tablet, just like there wasnt last year, or the year before you (and) others keep regurgitating this and its just a crap idea for a product that wont sell.

Gorilla (not verified) | July 28, 2009 - 2:28pm

You must be another ignorant microsoft idiot who has a cauliflower in place of his brain that doesn't understand the meaning of Apple ordering 9.7" touch screen displays in millions for an upcoming product. Do you ever even read the news you goat ?

Gorilla (not verified) | July 28, 2009 - 2:24pm

Is the title even grammatically correct ??

andrew (not verified) | July 29, 2009 - 1:08am

that's exactly what i was thinking. good one.

iStevo (not verified) | July 28, 2009 - 4:22pm

The iTablet will run Mac OS X, but for the ARM. It will support the iPhone SDK APIs and the Mac OS X Cocoa APIs.

So all the Mac Apps that have been fully converted to Cocoa should be easily ported to the Tablet, by recompiling them and targeting the ARM Tablet OS. No universal binary (ARM+Intel) in this case, because the code produced has to be lean.

But all those developers that did not listen to Apple (Microsoft, Adobe anyone?) and still produce Carbon Apps, will be out of luck.

But Apple will port iWork to the Tablet (the new office standard) and will probably produce a Cocoa-based Photoshop equivalent as well, that could be ported to the Mac as well.

With the expected popularity of this new platform, 2009 will be just like 1984, when the Mac was launched, and Apple will have the opportunity to rule the personal computer market again.

The Tablet is in fact Apple´s ultimate response to Microsoft. The iPod and the iPhone were just middle steps to get there.

Mac OS X/iPhone OS/Tablet OS market share will then be on its way to surpass Windows in 5 years.

Note: Google is in fact helping Apple, by capturing those price-driven customers that Apple chooses not to serve, by means of Android OS and Chrome OS. Google and Apple share standards, unlike Microsoft, that modifies standards for its own and only good.

It´s only a guess, but just watch ...

sri (not verified) | July 28, 2009 - 4:52pm

Apple Tablet may be launched this Christmas or possibly as early as September. I hope this will be another great rally for apple earnings. I will buy one of this for sure. The iphone started to be too little to stay all the day looking things. I am a great fan of apple product so started collecting all the information (more than 200 sites) about Apple Tablet(News, Videos, Pics, Pre reviews, Rumors etc.,). If you are interested take a look at the below link
http://markthispage.blogspot.com/2009/07/apple-tablet-large-iphone-or-ip...

Erskineville (not verified) | July 29, 2009 - 1:13am

I believed that the Premium App store was for the Apple TV. It makes sense as an easy way to buy software and games and expand the functionality of product. The tablet could also use the same Apps but just be a portable version of the Apple TV (and maybe then some).

IHateTablets (not verified) | July 29, 2009 - 10:04am

I'd be amazed if this ever came out. Tablet computers don't sell because they are inherently horrible to use. Apple provides enough varieties of product without venturing into this totally ridiculous and unworkable space.

The form factor suggested by the rumour mill would be especially unwieldly - the whole beauty of the iPhone is that you can put it in your pocket. What good is a 10" screen? You can't type on it properly, because it's too big for your thumbs and not big enough to type normally on. It's a pain in the ass to carry because tablet PCs have no screen protection so they get fucked up in your bag.

We may eventually find out what those screens were for - if they even ordered them at all - but it certainly is not what y'all are suggesting.

IHateTablets (not verified) | July 29, 2009 - 10:48am

I'd be amazed if this ever came out. Tablet computers don't sell because they are inherently horrible to use. Apple provides enough varieties of product without venturing into this totally ridiculous and unworkable space.

The form factor suggested by the rumour mill would be especially unwieldly - the whole beauty of the iPhone is that you can put it in your pocket. What good is a 10" screen? You can't type on it properly, because it's too big for your thumbs and not big enough to type normally on. It's a pain in the ass to carry because tablet PCs have no screen protection so they get fucked up in your bag.

We may eventually find out what those screens were for - if they even ordered them at all - but it certainly is not what y'all are suggesting.