It is looking likely that an Apple Tablet device will appear in early 2010 and the idea behind it and the potential look intriguing to me. What are your thoughts?

From TechCrunch- “Most importantly, after months and probably even years of tweaking, the device is now said to have Steve Jobs’ seal of approval. All we all know, even now, that is perhaps the single biggest determining factor as to whether a device will see the light of day from Apple. Jobs apparently likes this new device so much, that he’s “cemented” into the company’s 2010 roadmap of products, AppleInsider says citing sources well-respected “for their striking accuracy in Apple’s internal affairs.”

And we shouldn’t have to wait a year or more for the device, the goal is Q1, according to the report. This indicated just a small slip from the Fall 2009 launch that we had initially been hearing.

So what other details are there? Well, the device will apparently have a 10-inch screen (slightly bigger than the 7 to 9 inch screen prototypes our sources had seen). It will also have built-in 3G wireless access. This is where things start to get really interesting, because there have long been rumors of Apple talking with Verizon about a device that was not the iPhone. Apple, of course, has an exclusive deal in the U.S. with AT&T for the iPhone through next year, but there have been no shortage of whispers in recent weeks that it’s not just us that is displeased with AT&T, but that Apple is as well. And Yesterday, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson made a comment indicating that the iPhone would not be AT&T exclusive forever, perhaps indicating that the end is near for the exclusivity of the partnership…”