Revealed: iPad prototype from 2002 that Steve Jobs denied existed

The iPad 2, photographed against Apple's 2002 iPad prototype, known as '035'. Photograph: Buzzfeed

Apple's court battle against Korea's Samsung in the US has yieldedpictures of a prototype iPad, and testimony from chief designer Jonathan Ive which indicates that the American company was working on a tabletdesign called "035" as far back as 2002 - even though Steve Jobsdenied exactly that a year later.

Jobs told an audience at the AllThingsD conference in April 2003 that tablets were a "niche market": "a bunch or rich guys who can afford their third computers." He told Walt Mossberg: ""If you do email of any volume you've gotta have a keyboard. We looked at the [Microsoft] tablet and we think it's gonna fail." The audience would be too small, limited to the very wealthy: "You know, they've got their desktop, they got a portable, and now they got one of these to read with, that's your market."

But testimony from Ive, given in one of the many court battles betweenSamsung and Apple in the US, says that he had seen the prototype - in effect a mockup of a working product - as early as 2002. "My recollection of first seeing it is very hazy, but it was, I'm guessing, some time between 2002 and 2004… I remember seeing this and perhaps models similar to this when we were first exploring tablet designs that ultimately became the iPad."

The '035' prototype (on left) was much thicker than the final iPad 2 (on right) Photograph: Buzzfeed

The prototype - pictures of which are shown here (some from the original court documents, and some courtesy of Buzzfeed) show that Ive's original designs for the iPad were a bulky device almost as large as the Macbook laptop that the company then made.

It has no home button, although it does have an Apple logo on the back. Compared to the iPad launched in 2010, the "035" looks enormously thick. It has the same rounded corners used on the existing iPad.

Samsung is using the evidence of the prototype - which was referenced in a patent filed by Apple - to say that there should be no restriction on sales of its Galaxy Tab in the US.

Apple '035' iPad prototype shown against Samsung Galaxy Tab. Source: court documents.

In line with the way that the cases between Samsung and Apple have thrown both companies into contorted legal positions - with Apple now facing the prospect of advertising its rival's product, while Samsung saw a complaint from Apple dismissed on the basis that the Korean's product was "not cool" - in a docket filed on 6 July, Samsung insists that Apple should not be able to injunct its sales in the US because they are so small: "Even when the entire family of Galaxy Tab tablets is considered collectively, Samsung only has a 15.4% share of Android tablets," it says in its deposition. "This new evidence demonstrates that Samsung is not only not 'flooding the market;' it is actually losing market share to Apple and other manufacturers."

Samsung also says that Apple invalidated one of its own patents on the iPad-style design with an earlier product, the "Brain Box" display which it showed off in 1997, which had a flat surface from edge to edge.

iPad '035' prototype from 2002 v Samsung Galaxy Tab. Source: court documents

The difference in size is emphasised by the photos from the court case, where Samsung is comparing the 035 prototype with its own Samsung Galaxy Tab, and with the existing Apple iPad, to show that the device on which the patent is based is too different from its own for the latter to be considered an infringement.

The '035' prototype featured a headphone jack. Photograph: Buzzfeed

That Apple had been working on the iPad and a tablet - after Jobs saw Bill Gates launch the idea at Comdex 2000 - before the iPhone had been known; Ive and his team shelved the idea because of cost issues, because touchscreens were still very expensive early in the decade. Instead they focussed on the iPhone because of the far larger potential in the phone market and the fact that the smaller screens would bring down costs.

But the existence of the "035" prototype had remained secret beyond Apple and the courtroom until this week.

The fact that Jobs in effect lied about Apple's work on a tablet only indicates how such large organisations are very good at keeping secrets. John-Henry Barac, a former designer with The Guardian, recalls visiting Apple in October 2004 as part of a personal visit.

His first day was spent meeting people at the Graphic design studio - where, he says, "where many things were covered with white paper so I couldn't see them, but due to someone's carelessness or some kind of bizarre test - I'll never know - there was a poster for a device which didn't yet exist; it turned out to be the iPod shuffle which was announced a short time later."

The next day he met Ive, and the conversation veered towards personal organisers: "I talked to him about my Palm Pilot, and how I liked it, but it felt a little clunky (I have a note to myself which says 'PDA-other directions?') - I said - 'you have this Inkwell (handwriting) technology, and this notion of the digital hub. Why not build a device that is not a PDA, but relies on the computer for doing much of the work but you have some limited input abilities, and perhaps video viewing ability, and easy sync email and addresses via Wi-Fi?' Jony gave me a look which was, I though slightly playful and just said 'iiiinteresting' in a way that you just know there is something going on, but you know not to ask anything more.

"So this week images emerge of prototype iPads dating back to 2002-4. And we all know now athat by then [Apple's designers] were definitely beginning to look at touch screen, iPhone ideas etc. It puts my conversation with Jony Ive in a different perspective. There WAS stuff going on, and my desires as a consumer and designer connected with their secret works... but the story was all yet to unfold.

"While I was sitting there chatting to Jony there was also a brief interruption as a smiling Phil Schiller came to within a few feet of us and said 'Hey Jony, you now that thing that was black? I just made it green - OK?' He was beaming. Jony just said 'Uh - OK, Phil... i liked the sense of play and knowledge that they were playing with stuff that could change the world in some small ways."

Sourced: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/jul/19/ipad-prototype-ive-2002?newsfeed=true

Is the iPad getting a little brother? Apple to launch smaller and cheaper machine that could be on shelves this autumn

Smaller cheaper machine to launch 'soon' claim factory sources

Screen between 7 and 8 inches

Built to compete with cheap rivals such as Google's £159 Nexus 7

Sources in Apple's supply chain claim tablet is already in production

Earlier leaks hinted tablet would be on sale later this year

Launch will go directly against Apple founder Steve Jobs wishes

Apple is preparing to launch a smaller version of the multi-million selling iPad, it was claimed yesterday.
The little brother of the tablet device would measure fewer than eight inches across the diagonal – considerably smaller than the current 9.7-inch model – and be cheaper.
It was also suggested what has been dubbed the 'iPad Mini' could be available in the autumn – in time for Christmas.

The competition: Apple's latest iPad on offers a fantastic experience in the hand - put a painful one in the pocket

'Mid-sized' tablets such as Samsung's Galaxy Note have been big sellers - and have begun to eat into Apple's dominance of the tablet market

Apple is notoriously secretive about its technical innovations and rumours of the smaller tablet are said to have originated from the Far East, where many of the company's devices are manufactured.
They were reported by Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal, which quoted  several unnamed sources within Apple's supply chain. A UK spokesman last night said: 'Apple does not comment on rumour or speculation.'
The current iPad costs upwards of £399 and industry insiders said an 'iPad Mini' would be an obvious response to competition from rival tablets such as Google's seven-inch £159 Nexus 7.
Far Eastern technology blogs also hinted that a launch by Apple was imminent. Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu predicts that the move would be a devastating blow for Android competitors. 'It would be the competitors' worst nightmare,' he said.
The late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who died last October, was vehemently against a smaller iPad, saying in 2010: 'The reason we won't make a seven-inch tablet isn't because we don't want to hit a lower price point, it's because we think the screen is too small to express the software.'
The iPad Mini would show that Apple is prepared to break away from former chief exec Steve Jobs' deeply-held mantras.

Future: Hugo Barra, director of product management of Google, unveils the Nexus 7 tablet today         

WHY APPLE ARE WORRIED: THE 7-INCH TABLET THAT IS STEALING iPAD'S THUNDER

                          Nexus 7         iPad

Price:           $199 (8GB)          $399(16GB)                                     $249 (16GB)

Size:             7 inches              9.7 inches

Weight:       340g                    650g

Battery:        9 hours                    10 hours

The Nexus packs a high-definition screen, the latest 'quad-core' processor, runs the latest version of Android, and has a battery life which can handle nine hours of continuous video playback.
The firm hopes the tablet will take on Apple’s iPad.
It's part of a new generation of iPad rivals, including Microsoft’s Surface tablet which was revealed last week, and current Android tablets including Amazon’s Fire.
Two versions will be available, one with 8GB of storage for $199 and a second with 16GB for $249. By comparison, Apple's new iPad, which has a larger 9.7 inch screen, costs $399 for a 16GB version.

The Windows version of a tablet: The new Surface was unveiled by Microsoft last week

Amazon's Kindle Fire is likely to be hit hard by Apple's new launch - the cheap tablet is also seven inches, but built on unglamorous hardware

Earlier this year, a Samsung official appeared to confirm the existence of a smaller 'iPad Mini', due to be released this year.
The official said to a Korean newspaper, 'The amount of the current contract [between Apple and Samsung] is around $9.7billion.
'The contract is expected to rise to $11billion by the end of this year as Apple is planning to release a smaller iPad, probably with a 7.85-inch screen, and to sell more of its MacBook Air PCs using Samsung’s faster solid state drive (SSD) storage.'
Microsoft also recently unveiled its own 'Surface' tablet, a touchscreen running its new Windows 8 software.
Apple's new tablet will also be a concern to Amazon, as their Android-running tablets, such as the Kindle Fire, have been runaway successes in the U.S.
Kindle Fire is also a seven-inch tablet, built around the old BlackBerry PlayBook, but running a customised version of Android focused on selling videos, apps and music via Amazon's Marketplace.
Microsoft has previously tried and failed at bringing Windows tablets to the market.
Bill Gates spent the tail-end of the 1990s trying to convince people that tablets were the wave of the future - but Microsoft never quite got either the hardware or software working together, and their early efforts - as long ago as 2001 - never convinced anyone.

The runaway success of 'mid-sized' devices such as Samsung's Galaxy Note, which has a five-inch screen, has helped Samsung gain ground in the tablet market

On the other hand, the risk to Apple is that a different-sized tablet might lead to fragmentation - where apps and games need re-configuring by their developers to ensure they are compatible on both versions.
This has been Android's biggest issue in the last few years.
Different screen sizes, different manufacturers, different versions of the operating system and different price-points all lead to choice for the consumer - but at the cost of development headaches and an inconsistent experience.

Sourced: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2169079/iPad-Mini-Apple-launch-smaller-cheaper-machine-shelves-autumn.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Apple turns its back on Google

On the surface, this year’s Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in California marks the launch of major changes to the tech giant’s iOS operating system.

On Monday, amid whoops and yells from more than 1,000 Apple acolytes, the firm’s chief executive, Tim Cook, announced that the iPad and iPhone maker will now integrate Facebook for the first time. Users will be able to post photos, links and map locations directly to the social network from their Apple devices.

Meanwhile, iOS6 will jettison Google Maps, the navigation app that has been installed on the iPhone and iPad devices since their inception, and instead push users towards its own, new Maps app.

But the changes, which will have an impact on hundreds of millions of users around the world, represent more than just another gear shift in technological development. They mark a seismic shift in loyalties.

In “friending” Facebook, Apple has set aside its long-running feud with what is one of the few other technology firms big enough to take it on. The two businesses spent years locked in a tit-for-tat battle, where each one repeatedly failed to include the other into their latest product launches. It had been the corporate equivalent of two alpha males blanking each other.

Facebook refused to integrate Apple’s music-based networking app, Ping, into its website, prompting a public dressing down from Apple’s former chief executive and co-founder, Steve Jobs. Not long after, Facebook integrated Spotify, one of Ping’s biggest rivals, into its website instead.

Apple responded by integrating Twitter into its operating system, at a time when it was still studiously ignoring Facebook.

Mr Cook’s decision a year later to cosy up to the social network marks a major shift. It highlights Apple’s “pragmatic approach to alliances”, said analysts at CCS Insight. It is also a “tacit admission of failure” for Ping.

Either way, it has also helped to push aside some investors’ concerns about Facebook to $27.30 in early trading in New York yesterday, even as evidence emerged of an acute slowdown in its growth in the US.

The number of unique visitors rose just 5pc in April – the slowest rate since Comscore started collecting the data in 2008. One of the persistent doubts dogging the social network is about its longevity. Even the cynics who have been forecasting the end of the Facebook “fad” for years admit that its integration into what are arguably the world’s most successful handsets will give it another few years.

But, if an Apple alliance can give a leg up to a business the size of Facebook, it can also put a severe dent in one such as Google and, for many analysts, this was the real motivation driving Apple’s redrawing of alliances.

There was a time when the web search giant used to feel like Apple’s natural ally. Its cleanly designed homepage was almost the website equivalent of a sleek Apple device. But as Google got bigger it began encroaching on Apple’s turf. Its free Android operating system has overtaken Apple’s iOS. It has launched a music service to rival iTunes. Both firms are battling for valuable consumer data.

While Apple’s shift in allegiance was perhaps inevitable, it could not come at a worse time for Google.

In Europe, Google has been given until early July to come up with proposals to address its dominance of the web search or face intervention and potentially heavy fines from Brussels.

Meanwhile, mobile companies, including Vodafone and France Telecom, have been lobbying the European Commission to impose new taxes on the company, so that they can share the burden of investing in the broadband and telecoms infrastructures they rely on.

Closer to home, there is increasing concern about Google’s approach to privacy. The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office this week wrote to the company’s senior vice president, Alan Eustace, demanding information about how much personal information it has collected, and why it has not been more open about it.

The business’s emerging hostility with Apple is being echoed with Microsoft, Oracle and across the music, telecoms and publishing industries. It already has a lot of enemies at its door.

By cosying up to Facebook and unfriending Google, Apple has made its own position clear.

Source:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/9327851/Apple-turns-its-back-on-Google.html