zander106

@TechHead2 Comfortable media consumption on a high quality display is the primary reason I would be getting one. I have been wanting a well-supported and well-implemented tablet form factor for years now. I'll primarily be using it as an e-reader, since I take public transportation regularly and can spend significant portions of time sitting/standing around. I've never liked e-ink displays because of that horrible flickering refresh, and reading off a backlit screen has never been a problem for me, since that's what I do at work all day and never have problems with it.

In addition to reading on my morning commute, I will also be using it as a coffee table computer and a kitchen computer. And definitely as a travel computer for vacations. There's certainly enough functionality to make it useful with the apps that have been announced.

It's kinda funny you happen to ask about articulating a need for this product, because that was actually always my problem with netbooks. I never found a need for an underpowered smaller laptop, and for me form factor was a large part of it. Laptops require a certain mode shift in your daily activities -- find coffee shop or bench, sit down, open it up, start doing whatever. Not really feasible for using on a crowded subway, waiting in line at the local lunch place, waiting around outside a restaurant for friends to show up...these are situations I run into in the city all the time. This device and others like it are much better suited for these scenarios.

Could I accomplish some of that with my phone? To a degree, yes. But the size of the screen ultimately does limit the comfort level, particularly for reading or video. There's a reason that mass market paperbacks are the smallest size they got books down to, and screen size on phones are significantly smaller than that.

Jesus, can't believe Engadget started up another shitstorm in the comments with this poll. Going through these comments feels like watching health care town hall meetings from last summer. Does not seem like any good can come from this, just a lot of comparisons between significantly different types of products.

Non-Apple products provide greater power and a broader feature set at lower cost? Wow, welcome to the last 30 years! Nothing new to see here folks.

This device is a paradigm shift in the mobile computing space akin to the iPhone in the mobile phone space. I guess I understand if everyone who's freaking out is doing so because of the high cost of entry into a new product class compared to an old product class (netbooks), but isn't that typical until the maturation of the new product class takes place (e.g., touchscreen app-driven phones without physical keyboards)?

Anyway, looking forward to this new form factor for computing. I'll probably pick up one of these, but I'm more excited that Apple is putting real weight behind trying to move the industry to consider new input methods. Microsoft missed their chance years ago, but to be fair the technology has only recently gotten to the point where this is actually do-able. Can't wait to see what happens next.

Don't forget US Open men's and women's finals this weekend! Tennis is one of the best looking sports in HD in my opinion.

I don't believe that's the case for stand-alone games that make use of an emulator. The Sega games in the App Store (Sonic, Golden Axe) have been described as basically running via Genesis emulation. So if that's the precedent, then Lucasarts will be fine.

Seems to me that the problem with, say, the C64 emulator from a couple weeks ago was that it was being released specifically as an emulator, with purchase of ROM packs an additional step. I don't believe Lucasarts is releasing their own ScummVM standalone.

Of course, Frotz is still in the app store last I checked, so who knows...

No, not all crap. Stoked for Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Would love to see all of Fever To Tell released someday, since it's such a great album.

But yeah, the rest of it...not so much.

Argh argh argh DRM low-quality rip-off iTunes sucks argh argh argh....

Look, the iTunes store is what it is. I don't know why people need to complain about it over and over again every time something like this is announced. It is a one-stop solution that is meant to encourage use of Apple products while at the same time providing a variety of content. For many people it is a fine solution, and for many Engadget readers it is an abomination due to the restrictions of DRM. That's fine, but I feel like the righteous indignation gets a bit old. Save it for Boing Boing.

Anyway, I do have to argue strongly with the pricing, particularly when I can walk into a Best Buy and often get a catalog title on DVD on sale for $10 without the restrictions of iTunes DRM. Digital content needs to be cheaper for it to gain greater traction. Songs for $1? No problem when CDs cost over $10 and CD singles are at least $5 (do they even still make those?). But whole movies at the exact same price as the physical counterpart? I'll stick to the rentals, thanks.

Not sure why this is marked as rumor. They say in the scans that they've played at least a few of these modes (enjoying Cops and Robbers in particular). And other magazines are supposedly coming out with their GTAIV multiplayer details in the next few weeks. Print gaming journalists have already played the multiplayer.

Uh, welcome to a couple of months ago? Ausiello has been updating this list on a mostly daily basis since November or December. It's the first Google hit when you search for "how many episodes left."

Still, good to bring it to people's attention. Lots of zeroes on that list. Thank god for DVRs, TV box sets on DVD, History Channel, and movies...

"For only a little more you can buy a 360 or PS3 which offer far more functionality."

Only a little more? I grant that those products have more functionality, but to get an XBox 360 with hard drive you have to spend at least $349, while the PS3 starts at $399. A 50% premium over the AppleTV is not inconsequential, particularly when you're talking about a $120 difference.

My main beef with the AppleTV is that they require a widescreen TV with component inputs. No wonder sales have been slow on the product -- they're probably cutting out a solid majority of consumers out there with that hardware decision.

Software to hardware guys. Not hardware to software. If it were hardware to software the ratios would be the inverse.