4 ms·

Apple iPad: Photos Show iPad Has Slot for Forward Facing Video Camera

10 points by insomniamg 17y ago

mixmax 17y ago
Now all they need is support for flash.
- FluidDjango 17y ago
  Suggested correction: "Now all they need is better substitutes for flash."
  - mixmax 17y ago
    That would be great, but it most probably won't happen. Without flash, unfortunately, a large part of the web doesn't really work. Yes there are alternatives for video, and no everybody won't start using them within the next year or two. The Ipad is rather flawed without flash.
NZ_Matt 17y ago
It really stinks how apple leave out features on purpose in an attempt to take your money again the following year. Another reason not to be an early adopter.
- swombat 17y ago
  I think you're making rash assumptions there. There might be a whole lot of reasons why they left it out. One of the most obvious ones would be that they had to make trade-offs to meet the release date, and there was something fundamentally not quite right about the way the camera interacted with the user experience, and so they had to cut that feature out until they could get things sorted.
  - maurycy 17y ago
    +1 iPad camera might be tricky because of many different angles you can interact with it.
    - samlittlewood 17y ago
      Given the pixel densities of cameras, I was wondering if it would make sense to capture a very wide field of view, and then extract head and shoulder shots (possibly multiple). The distortion could be untangled with the GPU. Face tracking is getting pretty damn good now. For bonus points call out to web service for recognition and tag each stream appropriately.
  - ashleyw 17y ago
    If I had to guess, I'd say in the early days of development the iPad had a camera, but later on they realised it didn't fit in with the ideology of the device, scrapped it, but didn't bother creating a new mould for something a user would never see.
  - mechanical_fish 17y ago
    An analogous point: It's very important to meet the price target. The iPad really would be a much less exciting device if it had debuted at $699 or $799 or even higher, as many pundits were predicting before the fact. The initial production ramp is full of stress and unpredictability. So in hardware, as in software, you release the minimum possible feature set at first, iterate on that, then add features as you learn how to deliver the basic features reliably and at ever-lower cost.
  - xcombinator 17y ago
    Spot on. Also when you design something, it is much cheaper to include future extensions on it so all the molds, CNC programs...are the same and you don't have to redesign your product and your production process. This redesign is not only a cost in money, it is a cost of time too. Is not a good idea to focus in too much things at one time too, making a custom processor is too much change for Apple engineers with hardware rotation and multitouch acceleration. As far as I know, nobody has integrated them in hardware before.
- DrJokepu 17y ago
  The cynic inside me is really looking forward to see Steve Jobs announcing a future version of iPads equipped with cameras and selling it as a "major breakthrough". (He's a great guy but the reality distortion field http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality_distortion_field http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality_distortion_field definitely exists.)
- rbanffy 17y ago
  Or, perhaps, they will have a "one more thing" moment at launch and announce it now has a camera.
swombat 17y ago
Not to be overly skeptical or anything, but I don't see any evidence that these photos are of a disassembled iPad. Where would they get one anyway?
- rbanffy 17y ago
  Parts, They ordered replacement parts.
  - DougBTX 17y ago
    I'm surprised that Apple is distributing replacement parts before there is anything on the market to have broken parts.
    - rbanffy 17y ago
      I would be surprised if they distributed any before the announcement, but now that the cat is out of the bag, I am not surprised. It's useful to have fully stocked repair centers by the time you launch.
insomniamg 17y ago
Yeh im not a fan how Jobs is always thinking Version 2 first.
joezydeco 17y ago
The leaked photo from Engadget (the one with a prototype iPad bolted to a table) also has space on the security bezel for a camera. http://www.cultofmac.com/engadgets-clearest-tablet-picture-so-far-shows-camera/27880 http://www.cultofmac.com/engadgets-clearest-tablet-picture-s...

10 points by insomniamg 17y ago

mixmax 17y ago

Now all they need is support for flash.

FluidDjango 17y ago
Suggested correction: "Now all they need is better substitutes for flash."
- mixmax 17y ago
  That would be great, but it most probably won't happen. Without flash, unfortunately, a large part of the web doesn't really work. Yes there are alternatives for video, and no everybody won't start using them within the next year or two. The Ipad is rather flawed without flash.

NZ_Matt 17y ago

It really stinks how apple leave out features on purpose in an attempt to take your money again the following year. Another reason not to be an early adopter.

swombat 17y ago
I think you're making rash assumptions there. There might be a whole lot of reasons why they left it out. One of the most obvious ones would be that they had to make trade-offs to meet the release date, and there was something fundamentally not quite right about the way the camera interacted with the user experience, and so they had to cut that feature out until they could get things sorted.
- maurycy 17y ago
  +1 iPad camera might be tricky because of many different angles you can interact with it.
  - samlittlewood 17y ago
    Given the pixel densities of cameras, I was wondering if it would make sense to capture a very wide field of view, and then extract head and shoulder shots (possibly multiple). The distortion could be untangled with the GPU. Face tracking is getting pretty damn good now. For bonus points call out to web service for recognition and tag each stream appropriately.
- ashleyw 17y ago
  If I had to guess, I'd say in the early days of development the iPad had a camera, but later on they realised it didn't fit in with the ideology of the device, scrapped it, but didn't bother creating a new mould for something a user would never see.
- mechanical_fish 17y ago
  An analogous point: It's very important to meet the price target. The iPad really would be a much less exciting device if it had debuted at $699 or $799 or even higher, as many pundits were predicting before the fact. The initial production ramp is full of stress and unpredictability. So in hardware, as in software, you release the minimum possible feature set at first, iterate on that, then add features as you learn how to deliver the basic features reliably and at ever-lower cost.
- xcombinator 17y ago
  Spot on. Also when you design something, it is much cheaper to include future extensions on it so all the molds, CNC programs...are the same and you don't have to redesign your product and your production process. This redesign is not only a cost in money, it is a cost of time too. Is not a good idea to focus in too much things at one time too, making a custom processor is too much change for Apple engineers with hardware rotation and multitouch acceleration. As far as I know, nobody has integrated them in hardware before.
DrJokepu 17y ago
The cynic inside me is really looking forward to see Steve Jobs announcing a future version of iPads equipped with cameras and selling it as a "major breakthrough". (He's a great guy but the reality distortion field http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality_distortion_field http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality_distortion_field definitely exists.)
rbanffy 17y ago
Or, perhaps, they will have a "one more thing" moment at launch and announce it now has a camera.

swombat 17y ago

Not to be overly skeptical or anything, but I don't see any evidence that these photos are of a disassembled iPad. Where would they get one anyway?

rbanffy 17y ago
Parts, They ordered replacement parts.
- DougBTX 17y ago
  I'm surprised that Apple is distributing replacement parts before there is anything on the market to have broken parts.
  - rbanffy 17y ago
    I would be surprised if they distributed any before the announcement, but now that the cat is out of the bag, I am not surprised. It's useful to have fully stocked repair centers by the time you launch.

insomniamg 17y ago

Yeh im not a fan how Jobs is always thinking Version 2 first.

joezydeco 17y ago

The leaked photo from Engadget (the one with a prototype iPad bolted to a table) also has space on the security bezel for a camera. http://www.cultofmac.com/engadgets-clearest-tablet-picture-so-far-shows-camera/27880 http://www.cultofmac.com/engadgets-clearest-tablet-picture-s...