“Your iPhone might be getting a big brother soon. From niche tech blogs to The Wall Street Journal, the media is abuzz over reports that Apple plans on launching a new, larger touch-screen device. Whether the gadget is more akin to a beefier iTouch, a netbook, a tablet, or something completely out of left field remains to be seen. However, when Apple starts fooling around with a new product, investors tend to take notice; the company has a pretty impressive track record of product launches that inevitably turn into the next big thing,” Eric Bleeker writes for The Motley Fool.

“Well, this is all speculation,” Bleeker writes. “Indeed it is, but there is some traction behind the rumors. On Monday, there was a report out of Chinese-language newspaper Commercial Times that Taiwanese firm Wintek would supply touch panels. That claim was followed up on Tuesday by a Dow Jones story that substantiated the news, but the article’s source tempered enthusiasm by reporting ‘specifications and functions are still under evaluation.’ However, there is one common theme in all the hullabaloo: No one’s saying that the device will function like a typical netbook.”

Bleeker writes, “The best part of all this is that if rumors prove true, Apple has decided to engage the netbook competitive threat under its own terms: inventing a new platform.”

Full article here.