Apple Event Invitation Fuels Tablet Rumours

Apple has sent out an invitation to an event at the end of this month which the web rumour-mill is tipping to be the long-awaited launch of a tablet device to compete in the growing netbook market.

According to reports in the Financial Times, and other publications including Fox News, Apple has sent out invitations for the event which ask journalists to “come see our latest creation”. The invitations are apparently decorated with bright colours, which some commentators are assuming could mean the tablet devices will allow e-books for example could be read in colour.

News of the Apple event emerged late last year when a blog post from the FT pointed to reports that the computer maker had apparently rented a stage at Yerba Buena Centre for the Arts in San Francisco. The report quoted unnamed inside sources who said Apple rented the stage for several days toward the end of January, in preparation for “a major product announcement” on 26 January.

The website of controversial, right-wing US news channel Fox has gone one step further than any other site tracking the Apple Tablet launch by stating that the rumoured Apple tablet will definitely launch on 27 January.

The Fox reporter responsible for the article, Clayton Morris, claimed to have been told by a contact that the event will feature a variety of new products including the tablet.

“I spoke to a source at Apple this morning, before the invite hit my inbox, who said the event would likely focus on three projects: The tablet device, iPhone 4, and a new round of iLife 2010 software. While we won’t see new iPhone hardware just yet, we will see the next-generation software,” the Fox article states.

But while Apple has said that it welcomes publicity around new product launches – some sites have gone too far according to the computer maker. Late last week, Apple sent out a legal warning to tech blog Valleywag which is offering a $10,000 (£6125) reward for “bona fide” pictures of the device, and even a top prize of $100,000 for an actual tablet to review.

Other recent rumours concerning the tablet include the reports on tech blog TG Daily that an employee of a design firm suggested Apple has been hoarding all the 10.1-inch touch-screen displays from Asian manufacturers, including pricey organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screens.