We now know that there will be something happening on Jan 27 10am (2am Jan 28 SG) at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco. The headline of the invite says “Come see our latest creation” which is not surprising since almost everyone expects an announcement for a new Tablet-like product from Apple.
From the multitude of rumors mixed among news, a few things about the new product might have leaked:
TechCrunch posted an article saying that Apple might release a large form iPod Touch for 2009.
We’ve got this from three independent sources close to Apple: expect a large screen iPod touch device to be released in the Fall of `09, with a 7 or 9 inch screen. Prototypes have been seen and handled by one of our sources, and Apple is talking to OEMs in Asia now about mass production.
Many were speculating that Apple will come up with a small size MacBook like those NetBooks available out in the market, but don’t you think the iPod Touch is just like one, sans the keyboard.
With Apple having such success with the iPhone, iPod Touch, paired with the iTunes and App Store, having a large form iPod Touch will satisfy fans’ craving for 1) a Tablet and 2) a NetBook.
If priced attractively between the MacBooks and iPod Touch, it might carve out a niche like how the iPods did back when it was launched. Schools will be a good target market for such a device.
As it is, these rumors of a tablet/netbook/big-ass-Touch almost always surface before a MacWorld, so take it with a Touch-ful of salt. I wonder whether that Tech Crunch source that held it was a friend of Big Foot.
