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As Apple Confab Nears iGossip Heats Up - A Lot!

22.05.2009
We're a little over two weeks away from this year's , and the rumor mill is starting to go into overdrive. Forget Snow Leopard or iPhone OS 3.0, the chattering classes are all in a tizzy over the possibility of new iPhones, that and some have even dredged up the --doesn't that make you feel all sentimental inside?

Here's the latest iGossip:

Apple Tablet: Despite any conclusive evidence, every tech jockey from China to California (going the long way) believes the Apple Tablet is definitely, absolutely, probably being designed at 1 Infinite Loop right now. The came out yesterday from Gene Munster, analyst with investment bank Piper Jaffray. Throwing together some circumstantial evidence Munster believes Apple will in early 2010 pull the wraps off a multi-touch tablet with a 7- to 10-inch screen retailing between $500 and $700. Munster said the OS for the new tablet will be more robust than the iPhone's, and possibly a less-stripped down version of OS X than the iPhone OS.

Not willing to let a good rumor pass them by, Business Week says it has confirmed through a " " that, just as Munster said, Apple will introduce a tablet in early 2010. That sounds nice, but these days who doesn't have a source that's allegedly "familiar with Apple's product plans?" Please. Also, let's remember Munster recently said Apple would definitely not be introducing a new iPhone at WWDC. When heard that prediction he only had one word for Munster: Ha!

OLED iPhone: This was a hot one from just a few days ago . Who are they? Who cares? They've got a plausible Apple rumor, and that's what counts right? The Apps blog says the new iPhone will hit the street July 17 and sport an OLED screen, 3.2 MP camera with geolocation functionality, 256 MB RAM (double the memory of the current iPhone), a beefier processor, better battery life, rubber-tread backing ( ), FM transmitter ( ), an Apple logo that lights up on the back (battery drain), built-in compass and turn-by-turn directions ( next month). The OLED iPhone would come in 16 GB and 32 GB sizes and remain at the $199 and $299 price points. That's a nice phone, but short of the OLED screen, we've heard a lot of this before. I give them ten points for believability though.

Daring iPhone: Daring Fireball's John Gruber has got and something of a track record with Apple predictions. Gruber's iPhone would rock a zippy 600 MHz processor (1.5 times faster than current iPhone models), 256 MB RAM, a compass and auto-focus lens for improved video capability. The Fireball Phone would come in 16 GB and 32 GB models, stay at the $199 and $299 price points and be released in July (the 17th perhaps?). Gruber is also willing to "wager a sandwich" the beefier iPhone will come with improved battery life. But the faster processor is the big thing in Gruber's world; he says the new iPhone's processor will be a next-generation jump akin to the switch from 486 to Pentium processors in the 1990s.