July 22nd, 2009
Rumor: Apple to team with Verizon for tablet computer
Apple will have a tablet computer available in time for the holidays, but has not yet decided on a sales model.
According to a published rumor by Scott Moritz of The Street, the device, a larger version of the iPod touch, “will have a 9 or 10-in. screen and may have a keyboard.
The device will be subsidized by Verizon, Moritz writes, but “Apple and Verizon ‘won’t be as tightly integrated’ as Apple’s iPhone exclusivity deal with AT&T.’
I don’t know about that keyboard, but the wireless deal makes a bit more sense. As ZDNet senior editor Sam Diaz wrote earlier, “Apple can’t seriously be ‘very happy’ with AT&T.” (In my opinion, Apple isn’t happy until it strikes deals with all four major U.S. carriers.)
The other factor is attaching a data plan to the tablet. A ton of people are psyched about the possibility of an iTablet, but a lot fewer people are jazzed about computers subsidized by two-year cellular contracts.
And how subsidized are we talking here? Just how low of a price must an iTablet have to be compelling enough for someone to sign on the dotted line? $800 seems awfully expensive to me.
Andrew J. Nusca is an associate editor for ZDNet and SmartPlanet.
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