Magic Slate

Apple tablet watchers have completely bypassed CES 2010 in anticipation of the company's special event at the end of this month. More evidence is mounting that Apple will announce the tablet and begin selling the product during the second quarter.

According to Reuters, AVY Precision Technology begins manufacturing aluminum casings for the tablet computer body in February. Two other Taiwanese companies, Wintek and TPK Solutions, are both said to be shipping 10-inch touch screens to Apple.

With descriptions of the upcoming Apple tablet's user interface featuring words like "awesome" and "surprising" it's possible some patents filed by the company have been used in the device.

Plans for a tactile feedback virtual keyboard describe buttons and frames that would pop up when keys are displayed and retract under the surface at other times. This would make typing on an on-screen tablet keyboard feel much more like typing on a standard keyboard.

Save the date because on January 26, 2010 Steve Jobs will be making the product announcement everyone has been waiting for at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. This is according to ex-Google China president Kai-Fu Lee.

Lee stated that the Apple tablet will look like a large iPhone with a 10-inch screen, 3D graphics and a price under $1000. He claims that Apple plans to manufacture 10 million of the devices in 2010.

New information has surfaced indicating that Apple will market the 10-inch tablet computer as an e-book reader in 2010. The latest buzz surrounding the device focuses on domains and trademarks registered indirectly by Apple such as iSlate.

However, if the Apple tablet indeed has its own App Store specifically for e-books, magazines and newspapers, why not revive the iBook name? With the iTunes platform Apple has already changed the face of digital music, and has recently moved into distributing film and television content.

Apple's legendary tablet device took a step closer to reality this week. Chinese component manufacturers have reported large orders from Apple for key parts of a touch-screen tablet computer.

According to DigiTimes, Innolux (a subsidiary of Foxconn) and Wintek will be producing 10-inch screens for Apple and could deliver them as early as March 2010. Wintek is currently Apple's main iPhone display manufacturer.