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Apple tablet likely to release in November

by on03 August 2009

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Actual announcement expected in September

Things are becoming a bit clearer on the upcoming Apple tablet product. From what our sources are telling us, you can shift this product over from the ‘maybe’ column to the ‘it is going to be released’ column.

From what our fruit-based sources tell us, you can look for the Apple tablet product to retail in the $700 to $800 price range. You can expect application and functionality-wise for it to act very similar to a large iPod Touch, but the wrinkle is, as we told you previously, Apple has been at least talking it up behind closed doors to the carriers, so we suspect that at least a model of it will offer cellular wireless 3G connectivity.

The parts have been settled upon, from what we have been told, but Apple is looking to get aggressive with the pricing; and while the prototype has been completed, it will at least at first have the involvement of a variety of OEMs that will be making parts for the product that will be assembled by an integrator. This was the only way that Apple was able to get the exact parts that they wanted for the project.

What is interesting now is that Apple appears to be looking toward entertainment and gaming as playing a big role on this product. From what we have been hearing, Apple will be making a big push to capture at least some of the gaming market with this device, which could put at least some hurt on both the PSP and possibly the upcoming mobile Xbox product.

Our sources suggest that the real sticking points are two: the first is the actual raw cost of the hardware that is being used in the product. Like all companies, Apple would like to get the price of the actual hardware down to increase its margin on the tablet. The second issue continues to be the software. Apple does not want to release it until it has enough software in the pipeline for this product that will help drive the success of the unit.

Last modified on 03 August 2009
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