Job Listing Hints at 3G-Enabled Mac Tablet

The folks at Coputerworld have found quite a piece of evidence that Apple is seriously considering 3G hardware in a new portable Mac, perhaps the long-rumored tablet Apple fanatics are waiting for with their fingers crossed.

The vital clues were spotted within a job posting over at Apple's Job Opportunities page (now removed) saying that the Mac maker is looking to hire QA Engineers to test Macintosh hardware with 3G wireless WAN cards. Luckily, a copy of the job posting is also available.

According to the description, the position is in the Mac Hardware Group, Computerworld's Seth Weintraub reports, posting relevant excerpts from the job description. “The Comms Software QA team within the Mac Hardware Group is seeking a motivated QA engineer to perform quality assurance testing for new Apple CPU Products,” what can be considered an introduction to the job description reads. Then, a lengthy list of (minimum) duties for this position is posted as such.

– Testing and reporting hardware, software, and device driver bugs for Communications technologies including AirPort (802.11a/b/g/n), Bluetooth v2.0, gigabit Ethernet, and/or 3G Wireless WAN in a detailed, timely manner.
– Providing the Engineering teams with thorough analysis of new and pre-existing software, hardware, and embedded firmware defects.
– Writing test cases, test plans, and thorough documentation around well-defined functional areas, typically based upon Functional Specification Documents.
– Utilizing available tools such as wireless packet sniffers and network protocol analyzers to help determine root cause and provide debugging information to engineers.
– Developing test automation scripts and maintaining / expanding existing systems to offload mundane / routine testing to machines.

According to the copy listed at computerjobs.com, “Candidates are expected to be self motivated members of a fast-paced team; they must work well under time pressure and stress. Candidates must be inventive and focused in their approach to work and solving problems within project deadlines. The ideal candidate will be able to prioritize time and assigned projects effectively with a minimum of intervention or supervision.”

Further into the description, particularly under the requirements section, Apple goes to outline that, “[The candidate] must possess in-depth knowledge of one or more Comms technlogies, including Gigabit Ethernet for consumer and enterprise-class workstations, Bluetooth v2.0, 3G Wireless WAN, and Wi-Fi [802.11] a/b/g/n including all associated security modes, authentication types and protocols for Access Points and Clients.” (emphasis ours).

All in all, Apple is testing 3G wireless hardware for a CPU-based Mac.