Rumor: Apple Tablet in 2010 for $500 to $700

With all the talk about iPhones lately, we haven’t heard much about that Apple tablet we heard about a few weeks back.

Today rounds of new rumors say the Apple tablet is coming in 2010, it will cost between $500 – $700 and will “shake up the netbook market.” Last month people familiar with the matter said that Verizon would offer a media tablet from Apple, alongside an iPhone Lite. The tablet was said to be somewhere between the iPod Touch and a MacBook. Basically, a large touch screen media device for watching videos and playing music. At the time, sources told BusinessWeek that the tablet would also have 3G browsing.

Today those rumors were freshened up and thrown back on the wire with Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster predicting that Apple will launch the device next year, as opposed to the previously rumored June launch at WWDC. Munster said in a note that Apple is endeavoring to fill the gap between the iTouch and the MacBook.

“Specifically, we expect this to result in a larger (7″-10″) touchscreen tablet that will launch in 1H CY10,” ZDNet cites Munster as saying in a research note. “Additionally, Apple’s consistent message that it refuses to launch a 'cheap' portable netbook, and its desire to differentiate itself in a maturing market before it’s too late (similar to the timing of iPod and iPhone), plus its gradual addition of multi-touch technology to all of its core products (iPhones, iPods and Macs) leads us to conclude this product will be a touchscreen tablet (not a netbook),” he added.

According to Munster, the OS on this thing will be neither the iPhone OS or OS X, rather an adaptation that would bring an OS more robust than what’s running on the iPhone and optimized for multitouch.

We like the idea of a giant iPod touch for browsing and listening to music or watching videos -- but at $700? No thanks.