14 DAY TRIAL // The tech-focused Digitimes has discovered that Taiwan-based manufacturer Wintek "is currently working with Apple to develop some new products." Apparently, the new devices are Apple netbooks / Mac tablets with touch-sensitive screens.
“Taiwan-based Wintek will supply touch panels for Apple's new netbook, and shipments will start in the third quarter this year,” says the Chinese-language Commercial Times report, according to Digitimes. “Wintek revealed that it is currently working with Apple to develop some new products, but it said it does not know what applications the new products are for. Wintek added that no shipment schedule has been worked out yet, but shipments are likely to begin in the second half of the year,” the rumor goes. The Commercial Times also claims Quanta Computer will be making Apple netbooks.
It has long been speculated that Apple would, at one point, introduce a touchscreen system using its Mac OS. Even though every Apple fan is holding his / her breath for such an announcement, Apple has done everything in its power to deny its developing of a Mac tablet, or a cheap netbook.
However, if Axiotron's business is any indication, Apple has every reason in the world to roll out one of the two rumored devices.
Axiotron, the only maker of Mac tablets on the market, has recently announced that orders for the newly-unveiled ModBook Pro have exceeded the $3.2 million mark. Currently, the ModBook Pro is scheduled for worldwide release in June 2009.
Axiotron's business is to take Apple MacBooks apart and turn them into Mac tablets that are controlled solely via a touchscreen interface. As a high-tech hardware provider, the company also includes software with the mods in order to make the solution a useful one. The systems seem to be highly appreciated.
According to Axiotron, the ModBook Pro “reimagines the tablet computing experience.” The 15.4-inch Modbook Pro is the world’s fastest and largest-screen tablet computer. Showcased at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco in January, the new ModBook sports a sleek black enclosure, flush-bezel mounted screen, powerhouse graphics processing capabilities and revolutionary Synergy Touch technology.
Do you think Apple is prepping to roll out a new (hardware) product at WWDC '09?