Apparently, rumors claiming that the California-based tech giant is gearing up to launch the tablet seem to be true. A current senior employee inside Apple has confirmed the imminent launch of the new Apple Tablet and said that Steve Jobs is happy with the product, according to Nick Bilton from the New York Times. “I can’t really say anything, but, let’s just say Steve is extremely happy with the new tablet.” And another another recently departed Apple employee hinted: “You will be very surprised how you interact with the new tablet.”
It is speculated that Apple will demo the tablet weeks later at an event held in January. A plugged-in source in the mobile industry has told Silicon Alley Insider that “Apple will show off the tablet in January, and have asked selected iPhone devs to prepare high-res apps for the occasion.”
Two weeks ago, a note sent by Oppenheimer analyst Yair Reiner to clients stated that the Apple Tablet will be available for sale between March and April 2010 for an average price of US$1,000. The tablet will come with a 10.1-inch LCD display using the iPhone’s LTPS LCD technology and an estimated of 1-1.5 million units will be sold.
It appears that 2010 will be the year of tablet, with Apple launching its new tablet and Microsoft working on its Courier, a tablet that will feature a multitouch dual 7-inch screens designed for writing, flicking and drawing with a stylus, in addition to fingers. The Courier is still in the “late prototype” stage of development. Will Google joins in the tablet war against Apple and Microsoft by teaming up with HTC (just like what they did for the Nexus One)? And I’m wondering–how surprising will the upcoming Apple Tablet be? Will they come up with something that is way different from what we expect it to–an enlarged version of iPhone featuring a 10.1-inch LCD display? We shall wait and see…