At 1pm/ EST, Apple will be announcing their new tablet device, unless somehow Steve Jobs plans on using the press conference to talk about health care reform. What is “known” about the tablet is that it will resemble a larger iPod Touch, while having specs more along the lines of a MacBook. Reports speculate that the tablet will be announced in conjunction with partnership deals with major book publishing companies to help push the hardware as a next-gen Kindle-like object.
But aside from a host to newspapers, books and magazines, there’s no doubt the tablet will serve as a gaming device. The tablet will indeed help revolutionize Apple’s already thriving App Store, which has already seen 3 billion downloads between iPhone and iPod Touch devices. Entering a third Apple hardware option would only bring more consumers to visit the App Store, while giving developers a whole new market to create for.
EA Sports President Peter Moore noted the gaming potential on Apple tablet device. “If it’s got a great screen, some buttons, you can turn it on and it connects to the Internet, it’s got the ability to be a games machine.” I guess that generic statement could be said about a satellite radio, or one of those refrigerators that has a TV built in, but you get the idea. Every portable gaming device on the market has a unique feature that makes it standout from the rest. The tablet could benefit from over 100,000 apps that may be compatible at launch with the device. But having a bigger screen size may mean that home console based titles could release on a tablet. Though the theorized no buttons could limit its gaming potential to just touch and tilt based games.
But enough speculating about the device’s specifications, as within a few hours everything will be solidified. For whatever Apple announces today, it should be one small step for portable gaming, one giant leap for Apple’s expanding wallet.
