If insider reports are to be believed, we can expect to see an Apple tablet in our hands by 2010.

Aiming to fill the gap between iPhone and Macbook, the device should be ideal for surfing the web and reading ebooks but intentionally not powerful enough to replace the Macbook.

Business Week’s Peter Burrows recently received word of Apple’s plans to build a tablet-based device, to be released in 2010. Now Gene Munster,of reputable investment bank and securities firm Piper Jaffray, has published a note reinforcing the plans.

“We expect Apple to fill the gap between the iPod touch and the MacBook with a new tablet device (not a netbook) priced at about $500-$700. Apple will likely leverage its multi-touch patents to differentiate its product from the typical netbook. We are anticipating a new category of Apple products with an operating system more robust than the iPhone’s but optimized for multi-touch, unlike Mac OS X. The device’s OS could bear a close resemblance to Apple’s mobile OS and run App Store apps, or it could be a modified version of Mac OS X.

Apple are reportedly in no rush to release a device, with a new iPhone release on the way and record profits from the App Store, Apple are likely to take their time and make sure they get the product right before pushing anything out prematurely.

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