Apple might have something in the pipeline yet, even if it isn't the iTablet. There's some interesting recent development in the low-power processors, and Apple

Apple might have something in the pipeline yet, even if it isn't the iTablet. There's some interesting recent development in the low-power processors, and Apple has one advantage above all the other computer vendors: they aren't tied to x86. I think it's clear that Apple isn't going to run OS X on a device targeted for the netbook buyers. That leaves them with either the iPhone OS, or a completely new OS. The iPhone OS already uses ARM chips, a new OS would give them the choice between x86 and ARM. One obvious choice would the new Cortex A9 (http://www.arm.com/news/25922.html http://www.arm.com/news/25922.html) processors. The ultra-low power variant is already as fast as the Atom CPU's, the higher power variants are much faster, and you can basically put as many of those cores on a chip as you want. Until now such power has not been available to ARM-based devices, so it might be that Apple even has a complete device ready, but was just waiting for enough speed to put in it. Using this speedy processor and their customized OS, Apple can put something on the market others can't: an intuitive, speedy system that is designed to run on a small footprint. That might be something people are willing to pay a premium for.