NYT: Apple Developing Multitouch iWork, Complex Gestures for iTablet (and iPhone?!)
The New York Times says Apple has been working on a multitouch version of their iWork office suite -- Pages word processor, Numbers spread sheet, and Keynote presentations -- for their rumored upcoming iTablet/iSlate, along with complex gestures based on technology they acquired from Fingerworks.
“The tablet should offer any number of unique multitouch experiences — for example, three fingers down and rotate could mean ‘open an application,’ ” said one former engineer, who asked not to be named because Apple demands secrecy from all current and former employees.
Sounds a little complex and obtuse from a company whose success to date has been primarily based on simplicity, but Apple could feel multitouch has been introduced well enough by the iPhone, trackpads, and even the Magic Mouse that users could now handle more complex gestures. We'd imagine, however, that the more complex the gesture, the more complex the function it's intended to invoke -- meaning average users could stick to the simple stuff.
Another former Apple designer said a team at the company had “spent the past couple of years working on a multitouch version of iWork,” Apple’s answer to Microsoft’s Office software suite. This could indicate that Apple wants the tablet to be a fully functional computer, rather than a more passive device for reading books and watching movies.
It also makes us think a multitouch version of iWork would be just great on the iPhone and iPod touch as well (right Apple?)
For their part, 9to5mac also points out the previous rumors about Apple seeking engineers for an online iWork WebApp. An integrated offering with local and server storage and access, perhaps?
Editor-in-Chief of iMore, Executive Producer at Mobile Nations, co-host of Iterate and ZEN and TECH, cook, grappler, photon wrangler.
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cool...iStill dont see the purpose of the iSlate... are the EXPENSIVE MacBooks NOT selling?!
I sure hope iPhone gets iWork. You know it would work better than all these third party apps.
Can an iWork document be viewed in Microsoft Office? In other words, if I save a document in iWork and email it to someone with a PC, can they view/edit document?
I would be far more interested in a reimagined multitouch FinalCut/iMovie than any iWork product. Whatever they end up releasing, I would only be massively disappointed if they bar comptitors (e.g. Premiere, Media Composer in the video realm) from the platform.
@jtz5
All the iWork apps have options to save to "std" Office formats.
I am very interested to see what they do with the whole gestures element. Having full featured wor processing and presentation design will be awsome.
It would be great if the tablet was just like a normal computer, the whole "bigger ipod touch" idea doesnt really appeal to me.
@Frog: I think of the Tablet as a next phase of development in multitouch interfaces. It's a device designed around the multitouch interface. And that kind of device is a tablet. It makes very little sense to add multitouch to a desktop monitor or a notebook monitor.
The real problem with larger screened touchscreen interfaces (whether single or multitouch) revolve around what constitutes a deliberate versus an accidental touch. When most people think of a gestural interface, they think of making a movement with their finger on the screen. But a truer interpretation of a gestural interface involves the shape of the hand and other factors which demonstrate the intentional or deliberate element of the movement. So I would guess the front-facing camera could be used to help interpret the user's gestures. Otherwise the UI has to take a lot of relative factors (like hand size and relative finger size) into consideration, which could lead to errors.
So, I think the Tablet is Apple's attempt to make a new form of interface with a computer a viable, brand new category of device. They don't need to replace any of the other form factors to succeed. However, they may not succeed in any case. I personally believe that they will succeed to an extent; I don't know if the Tablet will be as successful as the iPhone though.
iGuide ?
This tablet is going to be AMAZING! I can't for it to arrive. Having iWork on it would be a boon to business folks.
By the way, get the latest iSlate (Apple Tablet) news at http://islate.webappuniverse.com right on your iPhone for free!