With Apple announcing a January 27th 2010 date for a special media event advertising “Come see our latest creation”, I wanted to get the rumor mill started and really have some fun speculating about what we could see at the event, and what I would like to see.

As a simple precursor, I was not anticipating the iPhone to be as successful, or simply revolutionary in my personal workflow, as it was. As the rumors of a possible Apple designed and manufactured phone surfaced leading up to WWDC 2007, I was skeptical and actually annoyed that Apple would be spreading resources even thinner around the company and take focus of the Mac lineup. Looking back on the decision, I think everyone can agree it was a great one.  Because of this, I’m much more excited about a possible Apple tablet or netbook.

“The Tablet”

John Gruber from Daring Fireball has dubbed the unannounced and very fictional Apple tablet as “The Tablet”, with a lack of anything better or more information to the contrary.  Without further ado, I have compiled a wishlist for this mystic Apple computer.

Form-Factor

I’m hoping for a 10″ clamshell design.  The 11″ iBook and Powerbook back in the day were already small, but I think 10″ for a netbook would be just right.  I’m stuck on a clamshell versus a “giant iPhone” design for durability and flexibility.  If the tablet is one solid peace, it would be awkward to use with both hands, because you would have to lie it down flat to use it, and then focus all your attention on your hands.  There is a reason laptops have evolved into their current form.  Ideally I’m hoping for a even smaller Macbook Air.

Make sure to continue reading after the break.

User Interaction

This is of course what will define the user experience and make the tablet a quality Apple product.  I envision no keyboard or trackpad – both the bottom portion and the traditional screen portion would be essentially an iPhone screen, providing me with touchscreen goodness and all the pinching and flicking I could want.  I imagine the Apple provided software would be a mesh between the traditional keyboard/trackpad based navigation (with a mouse pointer and cursor) and the iPhone’s direct finger manipulation technique.  The “keyboard” would ideally be a software keyboard that appears on the lower portion of the tablet when needed, that utilities the size of the tablet well.  A simplistic “outline” keyboard, which would very much resemble the MacBook Pro keyboards with backlighting, would be an attractive and functional keyboard.  And because the keyboard is software based, is much larger than the iPhone and requires both hands, I would hope the tablet would feature haptic feedback so you can “feel” what you are typing.  Without this feature, the computer will be completely un-usable in my opinion as it would require too much focus to keep you hands on the “keys”.

Cocoa Touch Software

I think with the success of the iPhone platform and the App Store, there is no doubt in my mind that the tablet will be based upon the Cocoa Touch OS.  The work that has already went into the platform, stable APIs and third party developer familiarity from iPhone development are too much to ignore for a “mobile” platform of larger size.  I can easily see Apple locking down software distribution to channel software through the App Store just as with the iPhone.

Removable Battery

Don’t think we’ll see one because of the small size of the tablet, but it better offer 5 hours or more of battery life.

Wireless Everywhere

Ideally the tablet will ship with either a few configurations, allowing you to pick a wireless carrier and be on the cellular network at all times, giving you that freedom of internet everywhere.  If not, I can see the tablet coming with no wireless and requiring WiFi to operate.  This would be a great time for AT&T to finally roll out tethering for the iPhone.  Using the iPhone wireless network through your Apple tablet would be somewhat sufficient, although not ideal.

Pricing

I’d love to see a sub $500USD tablet, but I’m not going to get hung up on this one.  I think a $799USD and $999USD tablet would sell perfectly fine.  I just won’t be getting one.

Wrapping Up

I’ve listed what I would love to see in an Apple tablet, but ultimately, I want to be surprised.  Apple has a wonderful way of innovating to produce a product with features I didn’t know I wanted.  Call it marketing genius, or an engineering marvel, but Apple has a way of selling us on the “one more thing”.