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Apple Tablet, part one: the rumors

By Mark Lucas

According to Fox News, Apple is holding a super-secret news conference today. As of press time, no details have been announced as to what their announcement is or what the "fruits" of Apple's labor will be. Apple has a way of keeping announcements enigmatic, but the buzz is that they are going to announce the Apple Tablet (or whatever they choose to call it, if that's what it is.) The Apple Tablet is rumored to be a hybrid between the iPhone and an iBook - essentially, a giant iPhone - with a touch screen that runs the regular Mac OS. Do we know, at this point? No, but the rumors are worth looking at, if only for speculation's sake, so why the hell not, eh? (granted, these are all rumors.)

So far, the most telling piece of information, according to The Mac Observer, is centered around the fact that a company named Valleywag has offered tens of thousands of dollars for photos of the device in action. This might not seem like much, but Apple's legal team sent out a cease and desist letter to the company, alluding to the fact that Apple has a highly confidential announcement to make concerning a product. Now, speculations about Apple's inner workings are posted all the time, but none so lucrative, and Apple doesn't send out its team to just anyone claiming they have some info on their Charlie-and-the-Chocolate-Factory-like operations. Hmmm ...

The Internet has several photos of devices that look like a giant iPhone, but those could have been easily manufactured in Photoshop. One of the most circulated rumors is that the device will have two docking ports, so that it can be implemented in both landscape and portrait. There are several names that are flying around the blog-o-sphere, as well: iPad, iTablet, "iPhone on Steroids" (certainly not what they'll name it) and the Apple Tablet. There's also rumor that the thing will run with Verizon carriers as well - finally, AT&T will not dominate the market. This is reinforced by other rumors of Apple's dealings with several tech companies under different names, etc.

Other rumors are flying around that there will be another iPhone announced, or at least OS 4.0 software. Who knows? I sure don't, nor do I presume to. With all likelihood, something will be announced today and everything will become clear, if an announcement isn't postponed. Hell, with Apple, anything could be possible, but it's important to record what people thought at the time. I just hope that if the Apple Tablet is real, then it can run more than one program at a time.

Originally Published: January 27, 2010

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