"Shock and Awe" Needed from Apple Device
The buzz is at a fever pitch. It's been blogged about for months, if not years. Speculation on it abounds.
And today's the day when Apple will finally unveil its highly-anticipated, ultra-secret "next big thing."
So what, exactly, will it be?
CBS News Correspondent Science and Technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg points out that no one can even officially confirm it exists, but that hasn't stopped the rumor mill frenzy. It may even have fueled it.
Is Apple about to unveil a tablet computer? If so, what will it look like and do?
Those and other vexing questions are the ultimate parlor game for techies as Apple readies the launch.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs loves to build suspense, Sieberg observes, and there's plenty to go around about his company's new offering.
It has, he says, put Apple in a position where it has to deliver "shock and awe with this one."
Complete coverage of the Apple announcement from CBSNews.com partner CNET
Leander Kahney, editor of CultOfMac.com -- he also authored a book by that name -- says it's "going to be multi-touch software, designed for your finger and for your voice. And it's going to be a whole new computer experience."
He notes that the Web's been loaded for months with patent searches, fake photos of the device, even phony ads.
Here's what's likely, according to Sieberg:
• A thin, 10-inch touch-screen
• A Kindle-like e-book reader along with some of the touch-screen capabilities of the iPhone, delivering movies, TV and music, among other things
• A price tag between $600-900
• Web service, possibly from Verizon or AT&T
Despite the sky-high expectations, new technologies, such as Skype, almost always come with bugs -- something an Apple tablet might not be able to afford. "It's becoming this all-encompassing, god-like, Jesus pad," Kanney remarked, "and people are undoubtedly going to be a little bit disappointed."
Beyond the gee-whiz, Sieberg says, there's the business perspective. Apple already did wonders for downloading entertainment to a device like the iPhone. Now, the newspaper and book industries hope an Apple tablet will do the same for them.
Still, not everyone is convinced. "This is really kind of the old model, where you pay a subscription and you'll get the content on a device," says TwitTV tech host Leo LaPorte. "It'll be sexier, it'll be snazzier. It'll have audio and video and probably be dancing and moving. But it's still that same model."
And tablets are nothing new, either, Sieberg says -- several Windows-based models have never really caught on.
LaPorte says Apple "could have a huge dud here. This could be the flop of the century. But Steve's (Jobs') history is pretty good, so we expect big things."