Apple Books Stage for Major Tablet Announcement, Tipsters Say

People familiar with Apple’s plans have confirmed that the company developing the Mac operating system has booked a stage at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco for late January in what looks like a move dedicated to announcing the much-hyped tablet computer. Apple has historically used the respective venue for major announcements. Analysts trust Apple will finally release an oversized iPod touch specifically tailored for multimedia playback, and other purposes.

A Financial Times report cites unnamed sources as saying that, “The company has rented a stage at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco for several days in late January.” According to these people, “Apple is expected to use the venue to make a major product announcement on Tuesday, January 26th.” Apple has declined to comment on these claims, as did the people at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

For years, Apple has been experimenting with different technologies to achieve a satisfying input method for a tablet device. Some have recently dug out a document asserting that Apple has owned the iSlate.com domain since 2007, suggesting a move to secure the name (trademark) of the forthcoming device.

Just as relevant is the prognosis of one of the most vocal analysts on Apple matters, Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray. Recently, the researcher speculated that an Apple event was imminent (in January), according to the Financial Times report. His words were, “We believe there is a 75 per cent likelihood that Apple will have an event in January and a 50 per cent chance that it will be held to launch the Apple Tablet.” “If Apple announced the Tablet in January, it would likely ship later in the March quarter,” he wrote in a new research note.

This is not the first time we hear this forecast, with Munster being just one of the analysts foreseeing an Apple tablet being designed in Cupertino. Apple is yet to confirm the rumored event. If this information is proven accurate, the Mac maker will most likely issue one of its typical press releases announcing the event schedule one to two weeks ahead.