Only twenty-four hours from iTablet

With just one day to go before Apple either amazes or disappoints the world press, the web is whipping itself into a frenzy with wild speculation about what we’ll all see when the veil is lifted on Wednesday.

Unless it announces a cold-water fusion-powered roll-up quantum computer, it’s difficult to see how Apple’s new device can live up to the hype, but we’ll find out soon enough — in meantime, let’s take a look at what everyone has been writing about over the last week.

iLounge.com kicks off with some specifics about the device itself. In a post claimed to be based on information from two sources, Jeremy Horwitz writes that the iTablet/iPad/iSlate will have two dock connectors for both portrait and landscape docking and a metal case with a plastic strip on the back for wireless reception (like the original iPhone).

Horwitz also goes on to speculate about pricing and carrier subsidies, and a Twitter message earlier this week from German electronics retailer Media Markt stated that the Apple iTablet will be on sale on 1st March for €499 with a mobile contract and €899 without. The tweet was soon deleted and the prices don’t seem too unbelievable, but it’s hard to see how a European retailer could leak this information when Apple hasn’t announced US availability yet.

‘Unbelievable’ is certainly the best way to describe this purported TV add for the Apple iTablet that appeared on YouTube. It shows a credible tablet design, billed as the “iPad”, and has a typically Apple-esque delivery, but there’s something about the clip that just doesn’t feel right. More importantly, that Apple could let something as incriminating as this leak out simply defies comprehension, so we’re not buying it.

Almost equally questionable is TechCrunch’s report of Apple CEO Steve Jobs being overheard as saying “This will be the most important thing I’ve ever done”, but the comment is given some credence by something he said in a company press release about its financial state:

If you annualize our quarterly revenue, it’s surprising that Apple is now a $50+ billion company,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “The new products we are planning to release this year are very strong, starting this week with a major new product that we’re really excited about.

The flow of fake iTablet designs seems to be slowing as the big day approaches, but one impressive mock-up has popped up. It’s the work of Polish freelance designer Patrycjusz Brzezinski and shows a tablet with a smaller slide-out screen that can be used as a secondary display or a touch-screen keyboard.

Practicalities aside, it looks great and his most-recent update that shows how the design slots into a stand for desktop use presents an intriguing possibility.

We suspect that’s all the iSlate speculation of any substance we’ll see for now, but you can still join in the fun. David Weiss has knocked up a scorecard for tomorrow’s Apple event, listing just about every rumour we’ve seen so far and two columns — one for your opinion on the veracity of each, and one for the reality.

Score +1 for each correct guess and -1 for each incorrect one, then tot up your total tomorrow night and then, um, throw the piece of paper away. Or, you can save paper by using Weiss’ £1.79 iPhone app that Apple has just approved. Nice try, Weiss.

Finally, we’ll leave with Walt Mossberg’s review of the iTablet — or rather Walt Mosspuppet’s take. It’s five minutes long and not that funny, but it’ll give you something to do until we see the real thing.

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