More Tablet Glass Photos: Scale Backs Up 10” Speculation
January 19th, 2010 at 5:13 PM - Rumor by Bryan Chaffin
We have received more photographs from a source claiming that they are of the glass that will be used for Apple's as-yet unannounced tablet. This time, however, we get a little scale in the image, and that scale shows the glass to be large enough for a 10" device.
We considered this relevant because the shape of the glass if very suggestive of an iPhone, and several readers commented that the lack of scale in the image made it difficult to understood how large the glass is in the photo we first published January 11th.
We received two new photos today, the first of which shows the glass sitting on top of a MacBook Pro's keyboard. The trackpad is the rectangle below the glass at the bottom of the image.
The caveat is that we still have not been able to double source the photos, but we trust our source.
Apple is holding a media event on January 27th, and the company is expected to announce the long-rumored tablet device at that time, though the company itself has not said what it will be announcing that day.
[UPDATE: We believe we've found where this glass is being used.]
46 Observer Comments
I dunno man. Simply enlarging the iPhone’s design for a 10” device seems shady. Why is a speaker on one side of the device? Who’s going to hold a 10-inch-anything up to their ear to make a phone call? Even if a telecommunications-capable 10” Apple tablet is in our future, something like a bluetooth headset and iPhone headset input make a lot more sense than a speaker on one side.
See, I’m looking at it quite differently. I don’t see this as a telecommunications device at ALL. That’s reserved for the iPhone.
This I see as a Kindle competitor (except the service would be geared more towards periodicals and less towards books, at least at first), more portrait than landscape, and of course multitouch for all input.
I think the single speaker is simply for audible feedback and perhaps audiobooks, but certainly not for phone features.
That’s how I’m looking at this one.
Looks like a big serving platter from Target…
Seriously, I question the big button. One would figure that it would be placed on the side of the unit. I am calling this pic a prototype at best.
I dunno; I’m thinking created by Photoshop. Looks just TOO much like an iPhone.
why dont we just wait lol…this is driving me crazy
what a lovely tablecloth that is!
A couple of points: I believe the alignment of this device is vertical (button at bottom, speaker slit at top), as opposed to horizontal.
Also, we trust our source, who has been right in the past. He or she may have been lied to, and that’s the only way this will end up not being the real deal.
That’s my opinion, FWIW. 
Ha a giant iPhone no way, that’s such a lame attempt.
Sheesh. The tablet will NOT look like a giant iPhone.
Trusted source? Seriously?
Loan me $20. You can trust me, I promise.
We don’t pay our sources, but thanks for the offer, anterim. 
To be clear: the pictures are real and not Photoshopped (other than the watermark we added, of course). That I can guarantee. What I can’t guarantee is if this glass will ever see the light of day on a shipping product from Apple. In fact, no one can guarantee that until Apple introduces it.
I think the chances of that happening are pretty good, though, based on what we’ve seen and what we know.
Hmmm… There isn’t enough of a bezel on either of the long sides to hold this well as a reader of portrait-page content. So, it’d have to be as someone said upthread for more landscape-mode media, web browsing, etc. I’m not sure I want that…
But, we’ll see. Only about a week to go now.
It’s the all new jumbiPhone. Why would Apple ever do this? It’s ridiculous to think they would simply enlarge the iPhone glass. Just think of the fabulous sound coming out of the speaker slit. Maybe this is the 4G iphone. I know people with big heads and hands would love to make phone calls on this baby.
Really to pass this off as informed source information is a joke.
Well, I don’t believe it for several reasons:
1. As someone mentioned, a big button and a slit is silly
2. While there can be good reasons for the tablet to look like an iPhone or iPod Touch, there are stronger reasons for it not to. The biggest being real estate. Why reduce the working screen size or make the device bigger than it needs to be?
3. This is part of Apple’s new ploy to to confuse instead of hide info on upcoming gadgets. Leaks will happen. Instead of tightening lid Apple is loosening it, just a bit. What we may be looking at is an early prototype glass that was rejected by His Steveness. It makes excellent FOC (Foil, Obfuscate, and Confuse).
4. Come on! A big iPhone?
5. If that screen measures 10” diagonally then it’s about 7” horizontally. Add 4 ” for the end caps and you got an 11” device you have to lug around. That’s silly.
6. I’m partial to marinated olives and a really good ruben sandwich, with fries and a strawberry milkshake.
For all of those reasons and more, I believe the image is not of the glass belonging to the tablet that Apple will announce.
(Is it me or is anyone else hungry?)
Vern
Would have been nice and showed the original photo in relation to another object for scale, but I’m glad they got something more convincing this time.
On one hand, I’m saying “Dag yo, look at them corner radii”, and on the other I’m thinking that Apple has a bad habit of making products that people just want - so if this is the real deal, it’ll make a lot more sense once it’s been demoed.
I’m reserving judgement on where this fits within development - whether it’s part of a prototype, an actual part from a soon-to-be-released Apple Tablet whatever, or simply something a competitor’s design.
really good ruben sandwich
Hahaha, yes a reuben sammich does sound good right about now. I haven’t had one in a long time.
Do you think Jony Ive would really just jumbosize the iPhone for a product they’ve supposedly been working on for 7 years?! I have a little more faith in Jony than that.
No, no , no, it’s not an enlarged iPhone front plate, it’s a really, really small keyboard.
This I see as a Kindle competitor
That’s a big negatory, Dave. Look at the ratio - 16:9, maybe 16:10. That is a video device, not a book reader.
Honestly?
I think it’s probably an oversized iPhone mockup for use in window displays, a bit like the giant ones but for smaller windows/less space.
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So assuming this is real (and, personally, I *am* making that assumption), this is going to be a very interesting device. Apple has no reason to *have* to release something right now, and they’re smart people. Add that together and clearly Apple believes that they’ve got a winner product—or perhaps more correctly a winner *platform*—on their hands. Should be interesting!