Huge news, Apple fans! There is finally information from a reliable source that Apple is finishing up work on its new tablet PC. This Apple-pad is the brainchild of Steve Jobs himself, and it's just now coming out of an agonizing three year development cycle. Expect to see it in stores early 2010.

Apple's new tablet will be a 10” touchscreen with 3G enabled and plenty of computing power. From what AppleInsider says, it sounds like this thing is basically going to be an iPod Touch with netbook level processing power and memory. And, since Steve Jobs is the man behind it, you know it's going to be an extremely solid product the instant it's released.

Apparently the tablet has had a very jumpy development. AppleInsider states that development was frozen and restarted six times due to various issues or perceived issues. Such a project must have been extremely costly to Apple, but it also shows the level of quality-control they've put into this product. I'm willing to wait an extra year to ensure the touchpad I spend (probably) over $1000 on is the best machine it can possibly be.

Price hasn't been announced yet, of course, but AppleInsider states that it should cost somewhere between the price of an iPhone and the price of Apple's cheapest notebook. I think somewhere in the $750-$1000 range is most likely. This is an Apple product, after all.

What carrier the pad's 3G will be on hasn't been announced yet either. One would assume AT&T, but it's quite possible that Apple will deal with someone else. AT&T hasn't been the most reliable carrier, and there are rumors that Apple has been in talks with Verizon.

AppleInsider's also put out a new artist's rendering of the device, since the prior one was apparently inaccurate. The image above should give you a good idea of what to expect from this device when it launches in Q1 2010. We should know more about this tablet closer to the end of the year, when Apple starts up their advertising campaign. Until then, we'll keep you up-to-date on the latest tablet rumors.