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With no official encouragement from Apple, speculation continues to flourish about the touchscreen tablet computer the company is expected to release next year. The hype has been great for business, sending Apple’s stock price to an all-time high of $213.95 on Monday. <\/p>\n
\nLong referred to in rumors as the iTablet, it’s now possible the device will be called the iSlate, similar to the Newton MessageSlate prototype Apple experimented with, but never released, in the 1990s.<\/p>\n
\nA Delaware-based company called Slate Computing LLC, possibly an Apple-owned firm, trademarked the name iSlate in August. The name on the trademark application, Regina Porter, may be the same person who is Apple’s senior trademark specialist. The domain iSlate.com has been registered with the company since early 2007, according to a blog that closely follows Apple products.<\/p>\n
\nSlate Computing has also trademarked the term Magic Slate, which reminds many Apple watchers of the Magic Mouse. <\/p>\n
\nGeared Toward Personal Users<\/p>\n
\nSome reports cited Innolux, a division of FoxConn, which makes the iPhone and iPod, as a provider of the glass panels for the tablet, which may have a seven- or 10-inch screen.<\/p>\n
\nA key concern for the new device is the strength of the glass, and Taiwan-based G-Tech Optoelectronics is said to have developed a process to reinforce the glass. The company specializes in glass for scanners, copy machines, and LCDs.<\/p>\n
\nThe price estimate for the tablet is in the $500-$700 range, slightly higher than the limited-feature netbooks now offered by such companies as Dell and Samsung.<\/p>\n
\nBut whether it’s called the iTablet or iSlate, the tablet, like the iPod and iPhone, is expected to appeal more to single purchasers for personal use, rather than large companies.<\/p>\n
\n“Corporate America uses the PC more than Macs,” said Stephen Slamowitz, an architect of IT governance at Computer Associates. “[The tablet] will be great for graphic… <\/p>\n
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