“Following reports in The Financial Times last week that Apple is preparing a multimedia computer in the shape of a tablet with a 10-inch screen, computer-industry executives are waiting with bated breath for what may be a final design from Apple in the next six weeks, say analysts,” Tiernan Ray reports for Barron’s.
“One veteran analyst who has seen first-hand a prototype slate-style computer from Apple says the device could be announced in September for release in November,” Ray reports.
“Whatever the exact dates, the computer industry is so anxious to see what Apple introduces that it has held off on competing designs until Apple CEO Steve Jobs gives the device his final blessing,” Ray reports. “‘It’s close enough now to a final design that in Asia, there’s no other product in the waiting room or in the bullpen,’ said the analyst. ‘There are dozens of ODMs [original device makers] making products for Lenovo and other PC makers that are all waiting to see what the Apple product is.’”
Ray reports, “The new device, which may retail for US$699 to $799, could fulfill a variety of multimedia functions currently taken up by a gaggle of individual consumer electronics devices… The machine impresses with its display of hi-def video content, says the veteran analyst, who asked not to be identified. ‘It’s better than the average movie experience, when you hold this thing in your hands.’”
“The ‘chatter’ about the product feels just like what people said to me in March of 2006 when I reported on the nascent iPhone,” Ray reports. “A second source confirmed to me that news of the new device ‘is all over the supply chain in Asia.’”
Full article here.
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