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The new product to be featured as a 12-inch PowerBook replacement will utilize new technologies such as an new Finder overlay similar to Front Row, Spotlight, iTunes browsing and tagging.
Imagine a screen area that was about the width of three-fourths of the PowerBook keyboard that ran an extremely lightweight version of OS X for running critical functions and ran off of flash memory, a flash-based hard drive from the iPod, and had a new Intel processor with low energy usage. This ultraportable would be a single unit that unfolded into a notebook-PDA hybrid about one-third the size of the 12-inch PowerBook. The entire unit could be the field model for typing notes in class with a dual-function Keyboard+Trackpad, or checking email or chatting, and even doing presentations off of a bigger monitor. It could easily dock to a desktop or even a docking station that would enable more functionality.
Apple could make this machine work with Core Image and Core Audio to that most processes would run without the glut of normal computing. The appearance and aesthetics could borrow from that of the PowerBook and iPod lines for a durable yet beautiful casing and chassis. Plus, Apple could utilize higher pixel density to offer a screen that provided the same resolution as the 12-inch PowerBook currently does as an extra incentive to shed the weight and go ultra-portable. I could even imagine Steve Jobs presenting this product at a keynote with Inkwell-based input, only to surprise the world with the Keyboard+Trackpad that slides out from underneath the screen and allows laptop-like usage; but unlike this recent device it would have a hinge, enabling a laptop-style input, or even input from the rear of the machine when the pad was flipped backwards. This design makes economic sense for Apple because the main price deterrent in creating a touch-screen PDA with a high-resolution display is the cost of high-resolution touchscreens that utilize very little energy. That's why handwriting recognition would not occur through a touchscreen, but through input with a stylus onto the Keyboard+Trackpad that was identical in dimensions to the screen and acted as a handwriting slate, as well as trackpad and keyboard, depending on the desired function.
The entire unit could be the natural extension of the iPod with video, as it would offer all of the same features as a regular iPod, only be about the size of three 5g iPods side-by-side. The entire system could premiere at $1500 as the ultimate anywhere device that could dock to a more powerful machine at any time. If this product were to debut, I would certainly change my setup to feature a desktop at home and a PowerBook nano in my small messenger bag.
Think of it now. You can type, mouse, and write with the same surface. Wireless connectivity, flash-based memory and hard drive, and the perfect bridge from iPod to an Apple computer that you can carry everywhere in your bag–just like the iPod.
