Fact and fiction about the Apple tablet

Rumors have been swirling for weeks about a new Apple product that’s scheduled to be unveiled next week. The legions of Apple rumor-mongers suspect the company is about to launch a new tablet device, which Apple fans hope will have the kind of game-changing impact of the iPhone. We try and separate fact from fiction and look at how useful such a device might be.

If it is the tablet, what will it look like? And more importantly, what will it do? Cliff Kuang, tech blogger for Fast Company Magazine and writer for Wired, has a few ideas. He shares his thoughts with us, as does Steven Levy, Wired senior writer and author of “The Perfect Thing: How the iPod Shuffles Commerce, Culture, and Coolness.”