14 DAY TRIAL // A senior executive at the New York Times allegedly told staff they would be working on digital material for an 'impending Apple slate,' according to the Telegraph.co.uk. The news, combined with remarks made by Bill Keller, executive editor of the New York Times, as well as imagery purporting to come from Foxconn (the company manufacturing Apple’s iPhone), has again fueled iTablet speculation.
The leaked photos (left), allegedly coming from the tablet's manufacturer, show SIM trays for the "fourth generation iPhone" and the "iTablet," according to the Telegraph. Bill Keller, executive editor of the New York Times, spoke at a meeting with the paper's digital staff, saying, "I'm hoping we can get the newsroom more actively involved in the challenge of delivering our best journalism in the form of Times Reader, iPhone apps, WAP, or the impending Apple slate, or whatever comes after that."
The report points out to a Gizmodo piece citing "someone close to the Apple tablet project" as saying that that the touch-screen tablet would have a 10-inch display and a design akin to that of the iPhone. The source allegedly told the tech-focused site that Apple’s iTablet looked "just like a giant iPhone," complete with "black resin back and [a] familiar home button."
The source added that the device would come in two versions. One model would sport a built-in webcam, whereas the other (low-end model) would be aimed at education. Priced somewhere between the iPod touch and Apple’s MacBook, the rumored tablet device would come out of Foxconn’s labs with a $700 to $900 price tag. The tipster also claimed there was talk of "making the device act as a secondary screen/touchpad for iMacs and MacBooks," the Telegraph reports.
As usual, Apple could not be reached for a comment on these rumors, but the company is expected to introduce the elusive iTablet sometime next year.