We never tire of trying to work out what Apple has in store for us do we, and some web sites, for instance iLounge, do nothing else, but they’re quite good at it. The latest leak from that source is the full revelation of the new Apple tablet device.
It lists ten new facts previously not known (but mostly guessed at) for the Apple device, which it is calling the iPad. Steve Jobs is apparently still not sure of some of the launch details, and has just ripped out a 7 inch screen in favour of a 10.7 inch one.
The operating system is the iPhone OS and the physical description is an oversized iPhone 3G, with a curved back to fit in all the electronics, but the biggest scoop is that instead of this just being an oversized iPod Touch, it will also come in a version that is a phone. This means that it can carry out functions such as that of an always in contact ebook reader, like the Kindle, not to mention an always in touch video player and media player. Quite clearly AT&T and other exclusive iPhone resellers will not be plugging video delivery over cellular into this device, because the data delivery will be five to six times that of the iPhone because of the number of pixels it’s going to have, up to low end HD, but books and newspapers is another matter.
So expect video it to be sideloaded from the iTunes store, or driven only by wi-fi. There is no mention in this report of it also being a miniature TV, and tuning existing digital TV signals, but it would have enough battery to power that. It is of course a touch screen.
Apple is thinking of this as a touch media player replacing books and magazines, games, apps, and most importantly, a portable web browser and while Apple says it won’t compete with a Netbook, when it comes down to it, a device like this can do everything that a Netbook can.
Launch is sometime in January says iLounge and delivery probably in June. No prices yet, we would expect the same price as a Kindle plus $50 to $100 for the Apple brand, which would make it close to $600 for the phone version, so way more expensive than most Netbooks and it will probably need to be bundled with a cellular subscription. Perhaps all the current holders of iPhone exclusives will get the phone version of this first for another exclusive.