Apple employee nods towards Q1 2010 iSlate release date and pricing details, but what is it?

We’ve heard from a mole that Apple’s iSlate is scheduled to be released within Q1 2010, but what exactly is in store for us?

Few play with hype quite like Apple. All you have to do is think back to the 1984 Super Bowl ad announcing the arrival of Macintosh and compared to where they were about 10 years ago, they have made a considerable leap forward in the market.

Apple came back from the brink of bankruptcy when Steve Jobs stepped back in and led a 360 180-degree turn, focusing the company’s attention on the consumer demand of the moment – portable music players. Enter the iPod and Apple’s entry into the big leagues, back from the proverbial dead.

Building on this success, it launched the iPhone to thunderous acclaim in 2007, and Apple immediately staked out the high ground in the smartphone market, and has remained there ever since. Software and hardware improvements have kept it on the forefront of technology and consumer appeal, but this is Apple. You have to figure the company is always up to something. Sure enough, the invitation went out last week; “Come see our newest creation.” By all accounts and rumors, the newest offering is the long-awaited Apple iTablet.

The tablet platform is by no means a new concept..… think electronic writing pad. Turn it on – write on the screen – and text appears which you can save or print out for later use.  However, the technology never really caught on. Consumers rightly asked, “Why spend money on something like that when you have a perfectly good laptop or desktop computer at home that can do everything and more for a lot less money?” Anyone remember the HP Compaq TC100 from waaay back in 2002? Didn’t think so. There was no demand for them.

Now, Apple has the  iTablet. About the size of a magazine this device will be highly portable and very sleek in design, but what does it do?

A source, allegedly from Apple says, “It will be able to handle media such as videos, internet capabilities from a built in Wi-Fi receiver, email and pictures.” This raises the question; does the iPhone not do that already?

Last year in the United States alone, there were more than 41-million smartphones sold, proving the demand for portable workstations is there but in a phone, not in a computer. There has been no indication this tablet will be able to write word documents but it would be ludicrous to think it wouldn’t have that capability.

It will also be able to download ebooks. These instantly downloadable books have become a godsend for avid readers that find themselves constantly finishing books, simply go online from the ereader itself and download a new one. Is this new iTablet going to be a glorified ebook? You can bet Kindle, Nook and SONY are watching very closely.

Does the iTablet represent new ground… a new market? The iPhone does all of the above mentioned things and more. A laptop can handle movies, games, internet, and everything else. Amazon, along with Barnes and Noble have basically cornered the ebook market with their devices and the capabilities they have.

John Gruber of daringfireball.net says, “If you’re thinking the tablet is just a big iPhone, or Apple’s take on the e-reader, or a media player, or just ­anything, I say you’re thinking too small. I think the tablet is nothing short of Apple’s reconception of ­personal computing.”

Apple’s set to announce it’s newest creation January 27th. but a mole has let slip that its projected release date is sometime in the first quarter and its retail around $700. The biggest issue with this could be since it’s neither a phone nor computer – what is it?

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