Subscribe RSSApple's latest creation, widely expected to be a multitouch tablet PC, will make its debut in San Francisco on Jan. 27. Apple has never confirmed that such a device is in the works, despite months of rumors and analyst speculation. But multiple sources seem to agree that, no matter what form it finally takes, an Apple tablet is likely to have a drastic impact on the media world.
There have long been whispers of ties between Apple's vaporware and publishers. In late October 2009, Bill Keller, the executive editor at The New York Times, made an allusion in a closed-door speech to "the impending Apple slate." But did he mean "Slate," the proper noun, or "slate," as in an upcoming slate of products? The blogosphere saw fit to debate that particular grammatical point for a number of days, even as other reports emerged that Apple was in talks with publishing companies to port their content onto an Apple device.
Around that time, reports emerged from Australia that Apple had approached publishing houses there to discuss porting their content onto a device as well. In a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, executives hinted that they had been in some sort of talks with Apple officials.
