Apple “Slate” Tablet Confirmed by the New York Times?

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The Apple tablet is surely coming and it has just been confirmed again. This time it’s The New York Times’ executive editor Bill Keller that mentioned the device during a speech given to the digital group at The New York Times.

And Bill Keller has also let slip a potential name of the tablet. The “Slate” is supposed to be the name of Apple’s upcoming new gadget. Isn’t that a weird name for an Apple tablet? Should we understand that this product will not carry Apple’s traditional trademark, the “i”? Will it be called the Slate instead of the iSlate for example? Here’s what Bill Keller said about it:

I’m hoping we can get the newsroom more actively involved in the challenge of delivering our best journalism in the form of Times Reader, iPhone apps, WAP, or the impending Apple slate, or whatever comes after that.

Maybe he never intended to reveal a name but rather mention a hot product to the masses and make sure they will connect the NYT to it.

The NYT definitely knows what’s happening in the gadget business, at least to some extent. And the NYT is trying to expand as much as possible. The company will not ignore the Internet and any of the hot devices out there. We will be able to read the paper in its digital version on most eBook readers and tablets out there as long as these are hot products that will attract a lot of consumers.

On the other hand Apple clearly wants to bring as much content to the “Slate” as possible. Videos and music are not enough as the tablet should also be able to offer all the news to the user. The “Slate” is said to offer us fast access to all our favorite blogs and news portals and it will definitely play nice as an eBook reader too. Apple is rumored to be working closely with various content providers but nothing is official yet. And it’s all very secret.

What do you think, will the tablet get leaked in all its glory before January 2010?

Bill Keller speaks to the digital group at The New York Times from Nieman Journalism Lab on Vimeo.