Apple Gets Fat as Tablet Rumors Continue to Fly

With each new day comes a new Apple Tablet rumor. All the while, Steve Jobs is sitting mum somewhere in a dark room smiling at all the free press.

Just this week the supposedly secret name of the yet to be confirmed tablet was leaked (the iSlate), an unveiling event was announced by everyone but Apple (end of January) and on the last day of the year a former Google exec wrote on his blog that Apple will ship 10 million tablets in 2010 and they will sell for under $1,000.

But the rumors did not stop there. Lee Kai-fu said the tablet is essentially an over sized iPhone with a 10.1-inch screen with three-dimensional graphics.

Now Lee is not your average rumormonger or "industry insider." The man's six degrees of seperation from Jobs and co. lends credibility to his claims.

The former president of Google China left the company three months ago to start his own operation that received funding from the Foxconn Technology Group, the world's largest electronics manufacturer and the developer of the iPhone and the iPod.

But Lee says no one at Foxcoon tipped him off about the inner workings of the notoriously secretive company. And as always, Apple can't even bother to offer a no comment.

But if Lee's comments turn out to be true, why does it matter?

If Apple is indeed planning to release an over sized, overpriced iPhone next month -- and even if it does contain all the bells and whistles that bloggers claim to know about -- is it worth all the salivation and press coverage?

There are tablets that already exist that do many of the things that Apple's mythical device is rumored to do. Even Lee's old company is rumored to have a tablet device of its own in the works.

Then what is it about Apple and Steve Jobs and why should he talk? The man proves his marketing genius time and again, while the world conveniently forget that not all Apple products hit the mark.

Jobs's silence is brilliant. Why mess with a recipe that fattens you up and costs nothing more than a silent smile?

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