Asus confirms Apple slate tablet on the way?

Apple_touch_screen_tablet_smallWhile debate rages on in regards to the death of the slate UMPC, the rumors of an Apple slate Tablet continue on as well. Only this time, there’s actually a source that’s credible: Asus. That’s what Crave is suggesting based on conversations with Asus, who is a large manufacturer for Apple.

“We checked back with our source at Asus on a different day and they confirmed that the Apple Tablet will not be based on existing Asus designs such as the R1. It will come from a completely new blueprint, possibly based on the patent Apple filed back in May 2005. We’re guessing it’ll be based on Intel Core architecture, a tweaked version of Leopard, and have all the multi-touch, CoverFlow goodness we’ve seen in the iPhone and iPod touch.”

It certainly wouldn’t surprise me when a large portion of the hardware and software components are out there; not to mention the various patents waiting to see light of day. The unanswered questions then are: will it have a virtual, on-screen keyboard like the iPhone? Maybe, but what works on a handheld device doesn’t always equate perfectly on a larger device. Will Inkwell rise again or is there some new handwriting recognition project going on in Cupertino. For that matter, will there even be handwriting recognition on such a device?

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