One Day for Apple's Grand Tablet Unveiling

Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press via NYTDots|Rising high off the most profitable quarter in history, Apple will unveil its much-anticipated ‘tablet’ tomorrow. Steve Jobs calls the tablet the most important ‘invention’ of his career, as media wonders whether the Apple will give them a new lease on life, with a viable strategy for selling Internet content to a public expecting content to be free.

Based on the success of iTunes, Apple has the best shot of selling a product people don’t know they need.

A picture emerges of a 10-inch multitouch device that works like a big iPhone or iPod Touch. The device - potentially called an iSlate, iPad or iTablet - would connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi and most likely through 3G cellular data networks as well, enabling a full browser and many of the more than 125,00 software applications found in the Apple App Store. The tablet may include a Wi-Fi Web cam for video conferencing.

The tablet - running on the iPhone OS or possibly a hybrid with the Mac operating system - would presumably display iTunes content such as music and videos. Media companies like the NYTimes are expected to have a content deal distribution deal with Apple. via NYTimes