Latest iPad News – Facial Recognition?

Just days away from what’s looking to be the biggest gadget launch since the original iPhone, the steady drip of rumors about the much-anticipated Apple tablet has turned into a flood.Our first stop is a blockbuster article from the Wall Street Journal, posted late Wednesday evening, and it’s interesting to note that the Journal article doesn’t even bother to hedge its bets by calling the tablet “rumored” or “long-awaited”; it just jumps right in, declaring with certitude that “the new table device … is debuting next week” (next Wednesday morning, to be precise), and going on to describe it as Apple’s gambit to “reshape businesses like textbooks, newspapers and television much the way his iPod revamped the music industry” (or, I might add, as the iPhone revamped the cell phone industry).

Many of the details in the Journal story have been floating around for awhile now—including chatter that Apple’s been shopping around a subscription TV service, developing an on-the-Web version of iTunes, and talking to magazine and book publishers about adapting their content for the upcoming tablet—but the article does a nice job of weaving the various bits and pieces together, painting a picture of the iTablet/iSlate/iPad as an all-purpose, 10- to 11-inch device that family members could share for surfing the Web, checking e-mail, watching TV, and reading their favorite books and magazines.

The tablet will also come with a full “virtual keypad,” and will act as both an “electronic textbook” and a gaming device, with Electronic Arts on board to demonstrate “the tablet’s game capabilities,” the Journal claims.

New to the tablet discussion is the Journal’s assertion that Apple has been toying with features that might let the tablet identify users via a built-in camera and facial recognition technology, and that tablet users might be able to “leave virtual sticky notes” for each other. Interesting … so maybe we’re talking a tablet that can be personalized for each user and/or family member, logging into their “profile” the moment they’re spied by the tablet’s camera, complete with customized interfaces and “stickies.” Pretty cool, but the Journal warns that it’s “unclear” if the facial-recognition and sticky features will actually come with the shipping tablet.

Speaking of shipping, there’s talk that we might not see the tablet in stores until this summer, not March as had been previously rumored. AppleInsider reports (based on a note from a tech analyst to his clients) that “minor” issues with “battery life and durability” may require more work, resulting in a shipping delay until June. The analyst note also repeats what we’ve heard before about pricing: somewhere in the $1,000 range. Ouch.

A separate AppleInsider post cites a new document filed with the U.S. Patent Office regarding Apple’s opposition to Fujitsu’s application for an “iPad” trademark, clearly indicating that Apple wants the “iPad” name for itself. Previous rumors had it that Apple was all set to call its tablet the “iSlate” … not my favorite name, really. I think “iPad” has a better ring to it.

So that’s pretty much the latest, although I’m sure we’ll be getting even more tablet rumors in the next few days. Still unanswered, for me: Why I’d want to cough up $1,000 for iPad/iSlate/iTablet when I already own an iPhone and a couple of MacBooks. Then again, I wasn’t too excited in the run-up to the initial iPhone announcement, either, and look what happened.