14 DAY TRIAL // A photo shared by FastCompany’s Harry McCracken on Twitter reveals a push for accessories inside Apple retail stores, at least in the San Francisco area. The California technology mammoth seems to be planning a new foray in business/office environments, as well as gaming.
The image in question (available above) shows several iPads rigged up to serve work needs with clever stands and third-party keyboards, in what essentially makes the tablets work more like laptops.
Apple is late to this game, but the Cupertino company likes to take its time to get things right. On the other side of the table, game controllers can be seen in what appears to be Apple promoting the tablets as game consoles.
Mixing business with pleasure
By now, you’ve probably heard the rumors about Apple making a giant iPad with a display that measures 12 inches on the diagonal, has four speakers, and is geared towards Enterprise use.
Strapping a keyboard-enabled Smart Cover on it would’t be too farfetched from where we’re standing, or at least using it like the iPads shown in this picture. And that includes the gaming scenario as well.
The biggest and most profitable category in the App Store, by far, is the gaming category. iOS has been supporting third-party controllers for more than a year now, and more and more games are beginning to add support for these control schemes. Apparently, real gamers still prefer buttons. Also, the bigger the screen the better the experience.