Is the Apple iTablet For Real? Rumors Say So

Is Apple really working on the new iTablet or is this the SIM tray of Apple's fourth generation iPhone or is it just a hoax? 

While most of us still believe that there is something nice cooking up at Cupertino, today we get two tidbits of rumor that makes the launch of the iTablet all the more plausible. 

ChinaOnTrade, an online wholesale retailer has now been stocking what it claims is an "Original Apple iTablet iPhone 4 Generation SIM Tray" acquired from the OEM and is priced at $14.05. According to the website, the fourth generation SIM tray is wider than the present iPhone 3GS SIM tray at 21.7mm. Also, it has a larger curve radius and a smaller extract hole. 

At a size larger than the existing iPhone 3GS, the iTablet is probably being designed for better readability while also housing a battery that can last longer. But are we sure this is indeed the SIM tray for an iTablet or probably that of fourth generation iPhone model? The iTablet seems possible after a recent talk by Bill Keller, executive editor at the New York Times to the in-house digital group. In his speech, Bill mentioned:

"I’m hoping we can get the newsroom more actively involved in the challenge of delivering our best journalism in the form of Times Reader, iPhone apps, WAP, or the impending Apple slate or whatever comes after that".

The statement from Bill Keller is interesting because Apple and New York Times have had a soft partnership for quite sometime with Apple using the New York Times website as the landing page on their iPhone ads to exhibit internet browsing and given the relationship between the two companies, it is possible for insider information from Apple to have made its way to the New York Times. 

While this does seem like an exaggeration to read between the lines of what the executive editor at New York Times had to say, correlating it with the earlier piece of rumor about the newer SIM tray makes the launch of the new iTablet all the more probable. 

Do you think there is any truth in these rumors? Would you buy Apple's iTablet assuming that it is a bigger version of the iPhone? Please let us know in the comments. 

[via ChinaOnTrade, Engadget]

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