It has been a good few weeks since the last sighting of any credible evidence suggesting an Apple tablet from the fruit-themed toymaker hitting the market in the near future. Nevertheless, some recent talk in the dark rumor mill of overseas IT market sources suggest that Foxconn is expected to be Apple’s official manufacturing partner for the company's upcoming giant iPhone device.

Digitimes has recently reported that Apple's tablet will hit the market in Q1 2010 with initial shipments between 300,000 to 400,000 from Foxconn Electronics. Last month, we reported that initial sources suggested a 9.6-inch device size featuring a capacitive multi-touch screen developed by Wintek. Our latest rumors suggest that the device will have a 10.6-inch display and that Foxconn may secure multi-touch panels from Innolux Display.

As predicted, Apple’s tablet will obligate a central focus around e-book functionality, similar to Microsoft's Courier, with a naturally readable display and the natural interfacing experience found exclusively on the iPhone’s capacitive multi-touch panel. The overseas sources also suggest that HP and other heavy hitting media-centric consumer manufacturers are in the process of developing similar devices and are expected to follow suit in Q2 2010.