Nick Bilton/The New York Times A 10.1-inch display on a 2006 H.P. tablet.
Comparison between a 10.1-inch display and an iPhone.Yes, that’s right, ladies and gentlemen, it’s Apple iTablet time — oops, I mean iSlate time!
Over the last week, we’ve heard more rumors, some facts and a lot of excitement about the impending Apple tablet.
Matt Buchanan of Gizmodo recently pulled together an “Exhaustive Guide to Apple Tablet Rumors,” leaving no slate unturned. In brief, Gizmodo believes the device is likely to be called the iSlate, will cost around $800, and will be announced in January, but won’t hit store shelves until March or possibly April.
Many predictions point to either a 7- or 10-inch display for the tablet. Seven inches would be a manageable size, almost like carrying a paperback book. But what about a 10-inch device? I rummaged under my desk and pulled out an old 2006 model of the Hewlett-Packard Compaq Tablet PC TC1100, pictured above, to try to understand what a 10-inch screen might feel like.
Although the H.P. device is 12 inches in size diagonally, the screen measures exactly 10.1 inches. If the final Apple tablet screen is in fact this size, it will need to be extremely thin and come very close to the edge of the device. The Apple version will also need to weigh a lot less than the H.P. tablet, which is a hefty 3.1 pounds. If you’re holding this device with one hand, it can become tiring very quickly.
Another interesting tidbit that helps back up the idea of a 10-inch screen comes from the Taiwanese publication Digitimes, which reported on Monday that Apple was trying to strengthen the glass of such a screen and was forced to delay the product’s introduction until the first quarter of next year. The report cited unnamed sources “from Apple’s component suppliers.”