This item is totally biased. The author is besotted by his iPod and his iPhone. But he needs something bigger so that he can keep his whole library on a single tablet computer with a screen large enough for easy reading.
The China Times has claimed that Apple will be debuting a tablet computer later this year.
Based on a translation of the original article into English, it does appear the new product will be a tablet-style computer and that it will go on sale in October. What gives this story some, but only some, veracity is three manufacturers in China — Foxconn, Dynapack and eWintek — are said already to have received orders from Apple. And Wintek is specifically said to be producing the touchscreens.
The report says the product reportedly will retail around US$800. The is well above the usual $300 to $500 range of netbooks currently on the market. On the other hand, mad keen users — mentioning no names — would pay that sort of money without batting an eyelid.
IDC analyst Bob O’Donnell said, "There has been talk of Apple developing a touchscreen netbook, a large iPod with an 8.9-inch screen, a standard netbook and a tablet-style netbook." True. And the whisperings often turn out to be true.
The iPod and then the iPhone were whispered about long before they were officially announced.
TechNews World quoted Bob O’Donnell again, saying, "Apple has a huge gap in its pricing in this respect. One thing I am sure about: This new product —- whatever it will be — will not be bridging that gap."
So an argument could be that Apple needs to continue leading the market-making trend it began with the launch of the iPod. And this tablet would be it. If this is true and it makes an appearance this writer will be the first in the queue.
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