It's been a while since we heard anything of Apple's reported plans for a tablet. And just when you thought everyone had lost all interest, here it is again.

Recent reports say Apple is in talks with Australian media agencies about an ereader device. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the tablet, tipped to be a sort of giant iPod touch, is small enough to carry in a handbag but too big to fit in a pocket.

The report goes on to say that Apple has sent specifications of the device to Australian media companies in an effort to sound out whether they would be interested in delivering their content to the tablet, however, no one from the companies would speak about the tablet on the record.

Now, that's not a lot to go on. Considering there's exactly zero specifics and no one is willing to go on record, we're all taking this news with a huge grain of salt. However, comments made yesterday by Executive Editor of the New York Times, Bill Keller, mention an "Apple Slate." The off-the-record speech made it online and can be found here, but the snippet below is what has everyone so worked up.

 “I’m hoping we can get the newsroom more actively involved in the challenge of delivering our best journalism in the form of Times Reader, iPhone apps, WAP, or the impending Apple slate, or whatever comes after that.”

As far as we're concerned, the biggest news here is that this tablet is looking more and more like an ereader. A little less exciting than a tablet in my opinion. 

Source : Tom's Hardware US