Is Apple prepping the Mac Tablet?

Is the world finally ready for the mobile mini-tablet?

Over the last several months, it's become quite clear that Apple is ready to bridge the mobile computing gap, with plans to develop a device that fits somewhere between the iPhone and the MacBook. A recent Wall Street Journal article said that during his medical leave, CEO Steve Jobs has been working on that midsized mobile device, bigger than an iPhone but smaller than a MacBook.

And this week, BusinessWeek reported Apple is developing a "media pad" that would let users watch videos on a larger screen than an iPod Touch or Amazon Kindle, but on a device that's more portable than laptops and lacks a keyboard.

The personal computer industry has long tried to make such a device a reality, but apart from some early success for the Kindle, no one has managed to convince the public that the attempts released to date - such as the Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC) - are worth buying. Instead, PC companies looking for increased mobility are finding ways to shrink the laptop PC as opposed to finding a new way to use computers.

As far back as 2000, Microsoft founder Bill Gates was evangelising Tablet PCs, but a combination of price and uninspired software doomed that category to niche status. Intel and Microsoft then turned the hype machine to the UMPC (later rebranded MID, or Mobile Internet Device), which several years later aren't exactly flying off store shelves.

More recently, PC companies have embraced netbooks, small inexpensive mini-notebook computers that are designed for basic web surfing and email. Netbooks, however, are further depressing the PC industry's gross margins and attempt to cram a full-fledged notebook user interface into a small package, and it doesn't seem that Apple is all that crazy about this category.

But Apple has developed a few unique ideas for mobile computing over the past two years that have resonated with designers, developers and users; namely, the iPhone OS and the App Store. So, is the timing finally right for the teeny computer?

BusinessWeek reported that the Apple tablet would be about the size of the Amazon Kindle, but with a screen that covers a greater portion of the surface. The Kindle is 7.5-inches long, but the screen is just six inches; by comparison, the iPhone sports a 3.5-inch display, while the smallest MacBook uses a 13.3-inch display.

Previous attempts at making keyboardless devices with seven-inch or eight-inch screens - such as UMPCs and MIDs - haven't...

Click here for page 2...