How can the Apple Tablet benefit you?

Is this the Apple Tablet?

Wednesday morning will see Apple releasing the widely anticipated Apple Tablet (name yet to be confirmed) - the chance for Apple to make a new mark for themselves in 2010.

People who have seen the tablet say Apple will market it not just as a way to read news, books and other material, but also a way for companies to charge for such content. By marrying its famously slick software and slender designs with the iTunes payment system, Apple could help create a way for media companies to alter the economics and consumer attitudes of the digital era.

It will run all the applications of the iPhone and iPod Touch, have a persistent wireless connection over 3G cellphone networks and Wi-Fi, and will be built with a 10-inch color display, allowing newspapers, magazines and book publishers to deliver their products with an eye to the design that had grabbed readers in print.

Technology on the move is currently a big market. Consumers have willing spent money on mobile devices - paying to download music whereas previously they would have downloaded it illegally to their computers.

The iPhone has provided further proof that the economics of mobile devices are unique: the Apple App Store is expected to generate an estimated US$1.4 billion this year, according to an analysis by Piper Jaffray, The New York Times states.

Company movement

If rumours are to be believed, then companies are already making their content ready for the big unveiling of the tablet. The New York Times Company has already developed a version of its newspaper for the tablet according to one source.

Two magazine publishers, Condé Nast and Time Inc., have also created mockups of their magazines for tablets, even before such devices have hit the market.

"Apple upended the smartphone market with the introduction of the iPhone, and it's likely that they will, if they enter the tablet market, lead the pace there," said Thomas J. Wallace, editorial director of Condé Nast. He said that "2010 is going to be the year of the tablet, and we feel we are in a very good position for it."

So will the Apple Tablet live up to the hype and speculation? We'll have to wait until tomorrow to see.

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