Euro Design Application Suggests Apple Tablet

by , 5:00 PM EDT, August 13th, 2004

Tony Smith of The Register (UK) has found a design trademark application from Apple that suggests the company has at least thought about a tablet computer. The application was made in Europe, and includes images of what looks like an iBook without a keyboard. From The Register:

Apple has filed for a European design trademark which may provide a tantalising glimpse of the company's long-awaited tablet computer.

The filing, made in May this year but only published this week, covers a "handheld computer" and contains sketches of what look like an iBook screen minus the body of the computer.

The filing lists Apple CEO Steve Jobs and the company's industrial design chief, Jonathan Ive. It also refers to Daniele De Iuliis, Richard Howarth, Eugene Whang, Matthew Rohrbach, Bart Andre, Calvin Seid and Christopher Stringer all of key members of Apple's industrial design team, with the Power Mac G5, iPod, 17in and 12in PowerBook G4, and others under their belt.

Tony Smith's article has a lot of background information, and we recommend it as a very interesting read.

The Mac Observer Spin:

One of the things Mr. Smith points out is that Apple has repeatedly said that it has no plans for either a PDA or a tablet. This isn't the first time that such a filing has indicated otherwise, but it's important to remember that the executives at Apple may well have decided against these products after its designers had already come up with a way to do the product in the first place.

In other words, it is very likely that many of these filings, both US patent applications and design trademarks in Europe, are simply Apple covering its Intellectual Property rear-end even though it has rejected pursuing the ideas presented in the applications.

Still, it's always interesting to us to see what's cooking in Apple's idea kitchen.

The Register Article