I like having something exciting to look forward to even though I do not want/need an iSlate!

Apple has something big up its sleeve for next month.

The company has rented a stage at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco for several days in late January, according to people familiar with the plans.

Apple is expected to use the venue to make a major product announcement on Tuesday, January 26th. Both YBCA and Apple declined to comment.

The company most recently used the YBCA stage in September, when chief executive Steve Jobs made his first public appearance after a medical leave and showed off new iPods.

Speculation that Apple is preparing to introduce a new tablet style computer has been building all year, and other reports now suggest the tablet will make its debut in January.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster today speculated that an event was imminent. “We believe there is a 75 per cent likelihood that Apple will have an event in January and a 50 per cent chance that it will be held to launch the Apple Tablet,” he wrote in a new research note. “If Apple announced the Tablet in January, it would likely ship later in the March quarter.”

It is still unclear exactly what an Apple tablet would include, but most observers expect a sort of large-scale iPhone that has additional features for viewing video and reading books and magazines.

Yesterday we reported that Apple is working to solidify a new round of content deals with TV studios. Meanwhile, publishers have been working on new versions of digital magazines that would be viewed on touch screen computers.

Apple has explored making tablet style devices for years, only to back off. The company also has a history of scrapping products very close to their scheduled launch dates.

But momentum around the tablet has been building solidly. And Apple has refreshed its iPhone, iPod and computer lines within the last year, another indication that the January announcement will be for a new product.


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Man, if this is just an announcement that Steve is going to switch from black to paisley turtlenecks, Apple's stock is gonna tank for sure ;-)

I'd say be there or be square.

You HAD to bring THAT up!



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How the heck do they come up with those numbers?

iSlate/Tablet/whatever

Under $1,000? --Please: make it under $600!!

Check this near perfect image of Steve Jobs with the new tablet.

Steve Jobs really is the man!

I believe! I BELIEVE!!

LOL! So, the tablet has a 20" cinema screen!

Whoever did that image has it right don't they? Best one of Steve Jobs I've seen yet. Hey, maybe they can make the 20" tablet lightweight. I don't know.

Thats funny .

Funnier if there is no tablet announcement , just speed bumps and updates

Then at the very end Job says (Just one more thing)

Jobs whips out the new (super iPod) its really a transformer , one press of the start button it turns into a full size laptop

Man, that's a HUGE tablet! I thought it was supposed to be around 10 inches?

Thou shalt not complain about the size of thou iTablet.

Oh, I'm not complaining!

BTW: Please forgive me for making a minor correction, Master!
"Thou shalt no complain about thine iTablet.

Also: Isn't it about time someone changes the date of this glorious day to 'January 27th'?

From MacObserver [and this time a price is mentioned]:

WSJ: Apple to Release Tablet in March for $1,000 (Maybe Including WiFi)

January 4th, 2010 at 5:21 PM - News by Bryan Chaffin

Apple is planning to announce its long-rumored tablet in January, but will not be releasing it until March, according to The Wall Street Journal. Citing sources who claim to have been briefed on the device by Apple, the newspaper reported that it will be priced at $1,000, come with a 10 - to - 11 inch screen, and that the price might include a nationwide WiFi subscription.

The Journal's sources also said that Apple was testing two different finishes, but it is unclear if this means Apple is working on multiple versions or trying to pick between the two.

Rumors of an Apple tablet device have swirled hot and heavy for more than a year now, with the latest reports saying that Apple will announce the device during a media event in late January of this year. Apple has yet to announce that media event, nor has it acknowledged that it is working on a tablet device.

Today's report from The Journal bring together several recurring themes in tablet leaks, speculation, and rumors, including the 10 inch (plus) screen, the price tag of $1,000, and the January time frame for an announcement. This is one of the first reports we've seen that said the purchase price might include a WiFi subscription, and it's among the first to pinpoint March as the release date.

http://fwd4.me/AEV

Kate sez:
For $1,000? I guess I'd have to have a specific need for this device, and I don't know what it would be. Easier to drag around the house? Easier to read than my iPhone at the coffee shop? Guess I'll have to wait and see what it looks like, what it does, etc. $1,000 is a pretty steep price when for a couple hundred more I can have an iMac or MacBook.

I am not very excited at the prospect of this upcoming announcement, whatever it may be.

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I agree.
$1,000 for a souped up 'Touch'? -Thanks, but 'No, thanks!'.
If this were to come true, someone is headed for a major 'flop', IMHO.

I'm wondering if it will price out like the iPhone did. High at first then come down 6 months later on version number 2.

Well, Apple Insider thinks 'different'....

"Analysts expect Apple to charge less than $1,000 for the device when it does surface. In a report released last week, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said he expects the average cost of the product to fall in the $600 range. He sees the company selling 1.4 million of the devices in its first 9 months on the market. Munster also predicted the device will debut by March."

That is depending if someone would subsidize the tablet , like AT&T did with the iPhone .

For 999 bucks Apple have better come out with features not fond on a PC net book - like teleportation to another state or country , depending on data plan for sure Otherwise this will be a bigger bomb then the Cube .

999 is a chunk of change for a larger iPhone

Well the Mac Mini starts at 599 - this thing has to be a full fledge computer from the get go .

I'm thinking that it will have to be $599 at the most, be a full-fledged, full featured computer, and make the netbooks look like the cheap, underpowered ripoffs that they are.