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Secret source gives iLounge some Apple tablet rumor love

Those of us in the Mac rumor and news business (is there a difference?) love it when we get a good tip, especially when that tip is from someone who has given us good, solid info in the past. iLounge featured a post last night called "Ten New Details on the Apple Tablet" that passed along some rumors that they've received from one of those solid sources.

While I won't parrot back the bullet list of ten details that are in the iLounge post, here's the gist of the article: Apple has created at least three prototypes of what editor-in-chief Jeremy Horwitz calls the iPad. The prototype that is still in the running has a 10.7" diagonal display, runs iPhone OS, and looks like a large iPhone 3G.

The device will have two variations, one with 3G networking built-in (think of it as an über-iPhone 3GS) and another without it (a mongo iPod touch). The larger display is expected to have about 7 times the surface area of the iPhone, and about 6 times the resolution, allowing easy reading of books, magazines, and cropped newspapers.

With the extra screen space, the new devices are designed to bring ebook functionality to the iPhone platform as well as make a more compelling platform for games, media, app, and the web. Apple doesn't expect this device to compete with netbooks, hence their continued denial that the company will come out with a netbook killer. Instead, this will be an extension of the iPhone platform.

Horwitz finishes his list by noting that the device is still awaiting a green light from Steve Jobs, and that it has about an 80% chance of making it to market. If it's given the go-ahead, the source is stating that the device would be announced on or before January 19, 2010 and would go on sale in May or June.

While this is still a rumor, the information is from the same source that gave iLounge the scoop on the iPod nano 5G, the iPhone 3GS, and the Chinese iPhone 3G. It appears we'll still have to wait until 2010 before the fabled tablet appears in our local Apple Stores.