Apple Tablet PC: Rumours keep on coming

Opinion is divided about whether or not e-books are going to revolutionise our reading habits.  On the one hand, there are those who think that the current generation of products leave too much to be desired, while others are more prepared to speculate that more progress is on its on its way--with many backing Apple to lead the charge.

And one of Apple's tactics is to never announce its future products, which leaves the door wide open to rumours, most of which eventually turn out to be false.  But some of them are true, of course, as was the case with the new unibody MacBook, the change in form factor for the iPod nano or even the iPhone.

The most persistent rumour currently doing the rounds concerns the imminent launch of a tablet Mac, which bloggers have already named the iTablet or iSlate.  There are already hundreds of pages speculating about this new product, and even we've got involved.  What's surprising at the moment though, it's the persistent nature of the rumours, not just from bloggers, but from professionals who claim to be about to use the device and who speak off the record.  An illustrator has said that one of Apple's European directors tried the tablet out already, while a traditional publisher of paper-based books has also suggested that it will lead to something of a revolution.

The rumours speak of a device that's twice as long as the iPhone, one-and-a-half times wider, and in two versions: a basic option with just WiFi, and another with 3G.  But all of this could just be reports of the various mock-ups that have appeared online in recent weeks, like the one on the right ...

The New York Times is already backing the iTablet for 2010, and goes on to reproduce diagrams provided by Apple in patent applications.  It also quotes a 'senior' source within the company as saying "Steve is extremely happy with the new tablet."  Well if Steve's happy ...


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