When we want cutting edge technology with an emphasis on beautiful design and cutting edge looks then, of course, we look to Apple to deliver. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas the talk was less about what was on show than on something that has yet to enter the public domain - yes the latest thing to get the techies talking is the much vaunted, yet still enigmatic, I-Slate!
Rumours of the I-Slate have been growing over the last year but the latest word on the super highway is that the official launch of the I-Slate is only days away with the product about to splash down into the stores in Spring 2010.
The domain name islate.com has already been registered by Steve Jobs and his gang at Cupertino, CA and speculators have already set up sites such as islate.org ready for the anticapted frenzy that the official launch will raise.
So what exactly is the i-slate and why are Apple being so coy about it? Well the official answer, of course, has to be that nobody knows yet but for those of us who make a living out of keeping our ears close to the Silicon Valley ground we have enough information to make a more than educated guess.
The i-slate will be, as you would expect, a beautiful piece of equipment but with functionality and performance that would not be expected from such an unobtrusive piece of kit. Think how it would look if French maestro Philip Stark re-designed the personal computer and that’s pretty much how the i-slate will look.
A rectangular tablet with a 10-inch screen size set in a matt black casing, rather than the ubiquitous white, the i-slate will look like an oversized i-phone or a netbook without a keyboard. Cutting edge touch screen technology provided by Fingertouch, the company bought by Apple in 2005, will provide a seamless interface that will be particularly appealing to the generation that has already fallen in love with the i-phone. The i-slate will be more powerful than existing netbooks without the disadvantage of a fiddly keyboard and will be ideal for reading e-books. Credible rumours, some people might call them leaks, state that it will also be able to run apps just like its little brother the i-phone.
Microsoft tried to jump the gun by announcing Windows 7 powered ’slate’ computers at the CES but were met with a general apathy but from what I have seen and heard the Apple I-Slate will blow people away, it is going to be everything that people are hoping for and more! Just keep your eyes peeled and your ears open for a big announcement on January 27th - and remember: you heard it hear first!
Some exhilarating news before I run, I was talking to my friend last night and he has just got a amazing new position at an hr software company. Well done Thomas