Exclusive: Apple's January Announcement Confirmed

Gizmodo/Thomas Palmer

One enthusiast's vision of what an Apple tablet product might look like. Apple still hasn't confirmed the existence of the device, but the company has confirmed a Jan. 26 press conference...

Following a Financial Times report that Apple has scheduled a special media event for January 26th in San Francisco, I've spoken to a source inside Apple who confirmed a "big" event for January.

While nothing official has been handed down from the notoriously tight-lipped company, my source took the Financial Times report one step further by saying this event will focus on the mobility space, meaning we'll see something related to the iPhone/Touch product line.

Could this be the announcement of the mythical Apple tablet we've been hearing so much about? I've already picked it as my favorite gadget of 2009, even though the tablet doesn't officially exist yet.

In 2010, I'm looking forward to the thing, however. It'll be the gadget that finally gets me to sit on the couch and surf the Web. It'll be the gadget that finally gets me to read e-books, thanks to its revolutionary e-ink/LCD/OLED/Smuckers Grape Jelly technology. I plan to be simply blown away by the device.

Joking aside, rumors have been swirling, flying and hovering, the latest indicating that Apple has asked a number of iPhone application developers to revise their programs for a larger screen device by sometime next month.

The upcoming event will reportedly be held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts — the site of the company's iPod-centric music events held every year in the fall.

It seems Apple doesn't need a Macworld event to make its announcements after all!