Electronista reports, “Several eyewitnesses, allegedly including Apple executives and Jobs’ friends, say they’ve heard Jobs state that the project is the ‘most important thing I’ve ever done.’”

“Jobs has long been rumored as having devoted full attention to the tablet, especially since his return from medical leave in June,” Electronista reports. “Most believe he last gave a similar level of care during the development of the iPhone.”

Full article here.

Source: MacDailyNews

“The tablet’s little brother, the iPhone, has already shown how an explosion in data usage can overload a network, in this case AT&T’s,” Sheth reports. “And the iPhone is hardly the kind of data guzzler the tablet is widely expected to be… ‘Clearly this is an issue that needs to be fixed,’ says Broadpoint Amtech analyst Brian Marshall. ‘It can grind the networks to a halt.’”

“Verizon, which touts its network as more dependable than AT&T’s, could prove better at handling data traffic. But ‘frankly, it hasn’t seen a device like the iPhone saturating its network,’ says Kaufman Brothers analyst Shaw Wu,” Sheth reports. “Apple is expected to unveil the yet-to-be-named tablet next Wednesday.”

Read more in the full article here.

Source: MacDailyNews

“In a new note to investors, Shaw Wu with Kaufman Bros. said checks with supply chain sources indicate the launch pattern for the tablet could follow that of the original iPhone in 2007, with a January unveiling and final product shipping to consumers six months later,” Hughes reports. “He said that the June launch could be due to ‘minor issues’ with more work needed on battery life and durability.”

Hughes reports, “However, he said, checks also indicate that a tablet-type device will be introduced next week, at a Jan. 27 event… The analyst’s claims of a June launch contradict with The Wall Street Journal, which reported earlier this month that the hardware is expected to ship in March.”

Read more in the full article here.

Source: MacDailyNews

“Talking to a component supplier, he says the parts have been in the supply chain for some time but that the finished products are now in ‘full production’ for release soon,” Electronista reports.

“The iPhone designer had supposedly planned to start assembly late in 2009 but encountered a delay that impacted some suppliers who had expected the increased business,” Electronista reports.

More details in the full article here.

Source: MacDailyNews

• The tablet’s multi-touch gestures are “out of control.”
• It’s powered by an incredibly fast ARM CPU
• It runs on the iPhone kernel.
• The tablet is basically an “iPhone on steroids.”

Full article here.

Source: MacDailyNews

Full article here.

Source: MacDailyNews

“But Apple’s tablet may not end up dominating the emerging market for tablets, as some seem to expect. One reason is price. Analysts think the Apple tablet could cost anywhere from $700 to $1,000,” Stone and Bilton report. “Conversations with several former Apple engineers who worked on the long-gestating tablet also suggest that Apple may be asking users to learn a somewhat complex new vocabulary of finger gestures to control it, making use of technology it acquired in the 2007 purchase of a company called FingerWorks.”

“‘The tablet should offer any number of unique multitouch experiences — for example, three fingers down and rotate could mean ‘open an application,’’ said one former engineer, who asked not to be named because Apple demands secrecy from all current and former employees,” Stone and Bilton report. “Another former Apple designer said a team at the company had ‘spent the past couple of years working on a multitouch version of iWork,’ Apple’s answer to Microsoft’s Office software suite. This could indicate that Apple wants the tablet to be a fully functional computer, rather than a more passive device for reading books and watching movies. That could help justify a higher price.”

Full article here.

Source: MacDailyNews

“This morning, I interviewed Ballmer and asked him about the market for tablet/slate computers,” Sydell reports. “He made the excitement sound like empty chatter. He claimed to believe that there isn’t a sizeable market for the tablet. ‘They’re interesting,’ he said. ‘But it’s not like they’re big numbers compared to the total number of smart devices in the world.’”

“As the world knows, everyone is anticipating a tablet computer from Apple later this winter. Based on the veracity of past rumors about Apple, I believe this to be true,” Sydell reports. “I asked Ballmer, ‘Why would Apple spend so much money and time on a tablet if there wasn’t a big market?’ He deftly deflected my question saying, ‘You’d have to ask Apple.’”

Full article, in which Sydell gives Ballmer far too much credit than he deserves using her “logic” that – get this – Ballmer knew Google would be huge therefore he has a tablet behind his back, here.

Source: MacDailyNews

“Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) added its voice to the clamor about an impending Apple tablet, saying that the device would be unveiled later this month but wouldn’t ship until March,” Keizer reports. “According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple has been working on two different material finishes for the tablet, which will sport a 10- or 11-in. screen.”

Keizer reports, “Most are betting that Apple will introduce the tablet the last week of this month… Already signed and sealed, Gottheil said, were deals with book, magazine and newspaper publishers; movie studios; and television networks. ‘Apple will have had to make a lot of deals with content providers by now if it is launching in March,’ he said.”

Full article here.

Source: MacDailyNews

“While the shipping time hasn’t been finalized and could change, people briefed on the matter said the new tablet device will come with a 10- to 11-inch touch screen,” Kane and Fowler report. “An Apple spokesman said the company doesn’t comment on rumors and speculation.”

“Analysts currently believe an Apple tablet will be priced at about $1,000, possibly including a subscription to a nationwide Wi-Fi wireless service,” Kane and Fowler report. “The tablet is expected to be a multimedia device that will let people watch movies and television shows, play games, surf the Internet and read electronic books and newspapers.”

Full article here.

Source: MacDailyNews