Apple 'major product' launch set for January 26

[javajolt]

Will it look like this? One concept design for the rumoured tablet

Apple has reserved space in late January at a venue in San Francisco in advance of a planned product announcement, the Financial Times reported on its blog.

The company has rented a stage at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and is expected to make a "major product announcement" on Tuesday, January 26, the report said, citing people familiar with the plans.

Apple declined to comment. The Yerba Buena Center could not immediately be reached for comment

The report comes amid mounting excitement about Apple's rumored plans to release a tablet computer. Apple has never confirmed the existence of the device - which is said to resemble a larger iPhone or iPod touch - but speculation has been rampant for months.

The FT report did not say whether Apple planned to unveil the tablet at the January event, but some analysts believe the company will launch the device in the spring, possibly in March.

Apple used the Yerba Buena Center last September when it hosted an iPod event that featured the first public appearance by chief executive Steve Jobs following his return from medical leave.

[javajolt]

The widely rumored Apple tablet, a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, has just gotten a little more interesting.

Thanks to some crack reporting, MacRumors.com discovered that Apple purchased the domain for "islate.com" back in 2007.

What we know: islate.com was registered to Apple in 2007, through an intermediary (to disguise its true owner). At the moment, that domain doesn't seem to lead anywhere--and there are a few possible explanations. First, Apple bought it as a protective measure, to stop anyone else from using that "i" prefix with that particular word. Second, Apple had or has plans for either a product or a project by that name. Third, it's the tablet. Or fourth, it's Apple's take on Slate.com.

Maybe we'll find out just what that means in January, when the tablet is rumored to be announced.