Apple connects drop new tablet info, site claims

Jan 14, 2010 11:16 GMT  ·  By
A person holding a fake Apple tablet designed to look like a big iPhone / iPod touch (cropped)
   A person holding a fake Apple tablet designed to look like a big iPhone / iPod touch (cropped)

“There hasn’t been an updated iPhone OS build because there’s too much tablet-code/references in the OS,” according to sources talking to The Boy Genius Report. Citing “close Apple connects who haven’t steered us wrong,” the site dishes out everything they’ve learned about the tablet so far. There is good reason to believe most of these claims are true, Softpedia thinks.

The Boy Genius Report (BGR), often the reliable source of Apple-related rumors, now claims that it's gotten hold of some valuable tablet information. “One of our close Apple connects who hasn’t steered us wrong dropped a little bit of information on us,” the report reads. Here’s what the site allegedly knows so far:

- The tablet’s multi-touch gestures are “out of control.” - It’s powered by an incredibly fast ARM CPU. - It runs on the iPhone kernel. - The internal model number is K48AP. - There hasn’t been an updated iPhone OS build because there’s too much tablet-related code/references in the OS and Apple obviously didn’t want that to leak. - The tablet is basically an “iPhone on steroids.”

Softpedia note

We always thought Apple would not just craft the tablet to be a bigger iPhone / iPod touch. Seemingly, this new information proves us wrong, but it is Apple the one that will have the final say in this. However, the PA Semi thing resonates with the thinking of many. Apple is known to have acquired the chip experts to develop its own chip architecture, a move that falls in line well with Apple’s business model.

It is also reasonable to assume that iPhone OS 4.0 betas haven’t been handed to developers indeed because the software holds too many new references. Apple isn’t usually caught off guard, and a tablet’s launch would certainly prompt the company to up the ante even more, regarding this policy.

Lastly, Multi-Touch gestures are certainly going to make the basis of interaction with the tablet, so there isn’t any reason to believe this tidbit isn’t true.