Apple Tablet Rumours

Widespread rumours this week of millions of Apple Tablets, about 4 times larger than an iPhone, being made in China.
Here are the latest blog rumours:

Apple Tablet Due For Spring Launch, Guesses Analyst

"By now, we’re pretty sure that we’ll see an Apple tablet soon, probably in the first half of the year (spring for tablets, summer for iPhones, autumn for iPods, and Macs when they are ready). We’re also sure that until it is actually announced by Apple, every week will bring further groping guesses about this tech-unicorn, in increasingly desperate attempts to drum up publicity.

Wall St. Analyst Predicts Apple Tablet for March

12.09.09
by Mark Hachman
A Wall Street analyst published a report Wednesday that claims Apple will release a tablet with an average price of about $1,000 as early as March 2010.

Oppenheimer analyst Yair Reiner said he believes that the tablet will do for Apple what the Kindle has done for Amazon: allow it to enter the digital book market.

Reiner claimed that the tablet, featuring a 10.1-inch touch screen, could be launched early next year, based on what he called "checks" with Apple's supply-chain sources. Reiner didn't actually predict that the tablet would sell for $1,000, but that would be the average price of across an unknown number of models.

"The February ramp schedule suggests a late March or April commercial release, since Apple will need to build at least 5-6 weeks of inventory before going live," he wrote in a report.

Apple has offered publishers the chance to keep 70 percent of the revenues, Reiner wrote.

Gadget Lab reports:

It’s looking more and more likely that Apple will release a 10-inch tablet computer in early 2010.

Even if you’re sick of Apple tablet rumors, we promise you’ll like this one. The latest update comes from a tipster with a solid track record, which reinforces previous reports that Apple will deliver a tablet in early 2010. The tipster also shares details on the rumored product’s specifications.

ILounge, an iPod and iPhone blog, cites a source who claims Apple plans to announce a tablet by Jan. 19, 2010. The tipster claims the tablet will measure 10.7 inches (diagonally) and will run the iPhone operating system.

The tablet will sport a higher resolution than the iPhone or iPod Touch screen: “Expect something like 5-6 times the resolution of an iPod Touch or iPhone screen (720p or thereabouts) and 7 times the touchable surface area,” writes iLounge.

Also, there will be one version equipped with 3G networking and one without. This would make the 3G model a bigger version of the iPhone, and the non-3G tablet a larger iPod Touch.

This particular report raises the likelihood of an Apple tablet landing in stores soon. ILounge says this is the same source who was spot on when leaking details on the fifth-generation iPod Nano prior to its Sept. 9 launch. That same source was also accurate with its description of the fourth-generation iPod Nano before its release.

ILounge’s source also said the tablet would specialize “as a slate-like replacement for books and magazines.” Wired.com in previous months has argued that an Apple tablet would pose a serious threat to the Amazon Kindle as well as the Amazon.com e-book store. We speculated that Apple could integrate an e-book section into the iTunes Store, giving it the potential to shake up the publishing industry.

Motion Tablet PCs

Apple shops tablet around Australia
ASHER MOSES
October 27, 2009
Will it look like this? One concept design for the rumoured tablet. Photo: www.gizmodo.com

Apple is preparing to release a groundbreaking tablet computer in Australia and around the world early next year and has been in discussions with media companies about including their content on the device.

The tablet is tipped to be a larger version of the iPhone. It is small enough to carry in a handbag but too big to fit in a pocket. It will have a touch screen and be targeted at users who mainly want to surf the web, read books and newspapers or watch movies.

Apple has sent specifications of the device to Australian media companies in an effort to sound out whether they would be interested in delivering their content to the tablet. None would speak about the device on the record.

But New York Times executive editor Bill Keller seemed to let the cat out of the bag in comments during an off-the-record meeting with New York Times digital staff this month. Footage of his talk has been published online.

"We need to figure out the right journalistic product to deliver to mobile platforms and devices," Keller said.

"I'm hoping we can get the newsroom more actively involved in the challenge of delivering our best journalism in the form of Times Reader, iPhone apps, WAP, or the impending Apple slate, or whatever comes after that."