Orange Executive: Apple Tablet On The Way

Jan 11 2010, 10:59am CST | by Robert Evans

Apple is keeping its lips tighter than the rivets in a battleship's hull. That hasn't stopped everyone, their mother, their father, and their entire extended family from ranting and speculating about the (possibly nonexistent) product. Despite my best attempts at scepticism, the sheer volume of rumors have turned me. Something big and new is coming from Apple.

TechCrunch reports that France Telecom/Orange executive Stephane Richard has confirmed in an interview that the Apple tablet will debut in the "next couple of days". The iSlate will be hitting soon and, according to Richard, will sport a webcam. Okay, so that's about the least surprising spec leak ever, it's still better than nothing.

Richard stated that Orange customers would be able to enjoy the product when it launches. This either means that Orange will be subsidizing the device in Europe and offering it on a contract, or it means that everyone will be able to order the tablet, regardless of carrier.

This news is exciting because of the high profile source, but there's still some reason for doubt. Here's the transcript of the interview;

Jean-Pierre Elkabbach: According to weekly Le Point, in a couple of days Apple will be launching its tablet computer …

Stéphane Richard: Yes.

Jean-Pierre Elkabbach: … equipped with a webcam.

Stéphane Richard: Yes.

Jean-Pierre Elkabbach: Are Orange customers going to be able to enjoy it?

Stéphane Richard: Of course!

It sounds to me like Elkabbach surprised Richard with a question he wasn't ready to answer. Stephane went into cover-my-ass mode and answered every question with a quick 'yes' and stated, knee-jerk, that his company would carry the product. Whatever the truth is, we'll know soon. Apple's January event approaches...

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Robert Evans
The excitement about new smartphones, tablets and anything mobile drive Robert to unearth the latest rumors and developments in this fast moving space. He adopted 4G as soon as it become available and knows where the mobile market is going.
Robert can be contacted directly at robert@i4u.com.