Rico wants one, no matter what they call it

Rico says that it matters not (having sent the last of his Apple stock to the ex-wife), but Apple's hit a new high, and will undoubtedly go even higher when the new tablet comes out. Ryan Kim of the San Francisco Chronicle, has the story:

The Financial Times reported Wednesday that Apple has reserved the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco for a big announcement on 26 January, according to people familiar with the plans.
The New York Times on Wednesday confirmed the existence of an upcoming tablet, quoting a senior Apple employee who said, "Let's just say Steve is extremely happy with the new tablet." The news has fired up Apple watchers and has many observers expecting a January premiere of Apple's tablet.
Apple shares gained more than three percent Thursday, hitting $209.35 at one point on Thursday, topping the previous record of $208.71, set on 21 October. The stock finished at $209.04 Thursday, up $6.94 a share or 3.43 percent.
Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said Wednesday in a research note that it's 75 percent likely that Apple will hold an event in January and 50 percent likely that it will feature a new tablet. He said the tablet device will likely be similar to an iPod Touch but with a 10-inch screen. He said he expects the tablet will run a version of the iPhone OS software made to handle larger apps. "We believe Apple's tablet would compete well in the netbook category even though it would not be a netbook," Munster said. "Rather, it would focus more on apps, entertainment content (from the iTunes Store) and web surfing." Munster said it's also possible Apple will launch a new iPod Touch with video recording capabilities or a revamped Apple TV set top box capable of handling a streaming TV subscription service.
Silicon Alley Insider reported that Apple is telling some developers to prepare for a January demonstration of their apps on a larger device. Meanwhile, gadget blog the Boy Genius Report said it's "100 percent" likely that Apple will launch a seven-inch tablet, perhaps alongside or in place of the ten-inch tablet most people have predicted.
The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts was the site of Jobs' return to public speaking in September, when he unveiled new iPods following an almost six-month medical leave.
Analyst Tim Bajarin of Creative Strategies said other technology rivals are preparing tablet devices, many of which will be unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show next month in Las Vegas. But he said Apple could set the pace in the market with its hardware integration with iTunes. "Apple has an incredible ecosystem of hardware, software, and services," Bajarin said. "If they did something in this space, they could be the leader overnight."

And Robin Wauters has a TechCrunch.com article in The Washington Post about what Apple might call it:

Nice scoop by MacRumors, which reportedly retrieved historical evidence that Apple has acquired the domain name islate.com back in 2007. Apparently, the Cupertino company registered the domain through brand protection firm Mark Monitor to conceal the fact that the domain name is theirs, as usual, but was briefly listed as the owner at some point in the past nonetheless.
If correct, that means we can add a rumor to a rumor: that the unconfirmed, unannounced but most definitely coming (maybe) Apple tablet device will be named iSlate. That would be in line with earlier connections of the 'slate' term to the illusive tablet computer, based on New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller calling it something to that effect in a speech.
Let's dig a little deeper.
There's a lot of islate-related domain names with different TLDs that Apple most definitely does not own (islate.org, islate.net, islate.be, islate.nl, islate.es, and so on) but I did find a couple of interesting things trolling whois servers.
A search for islate.co.uk lists Mark Monitor as the owner, just like islate.com. This could be meaningless, but we know for sure Apple works with Mark Monitor for other domain names and the United Kingdom is a key market for the company. Registration date: 17 November 2006.
Unfortunately, the whois server for German TLDs (whois.denic.de) is currently down, so I can't look up who secured islate.de at this point.
But look up who the owner of islate.fr (country TLD for France, a third key country for Apple in Europe) is: a Paris-based IP property attorney firm called Wilson & Berthelot. Guess who the technical contact for the domain name registration is? Mark Monitor. And doesn't Apple work with law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in the States?
Coincidence, or not?
Other related domain names that were secured through Mark Monitor: islate.info and islate.biz, both of which were registered on the same date as islate.co.uk: 17 November 2006.
The plot thickens.
On November 21, 2006 a company called Slate Computing (registered in Delaware) filed for a US word mark for 'ISLATE'. Notably, that was right around the time at least three islate-related domain names were registered. You won't find any information about any company called Slate Computing online although, according to the filing, these are the goods and services they offer: Computers; computer software, namely, database management software, electronic mail and messaging software, Internet browser software, paging software, database synchronization software, software for accessing, browsing and searching online databases, software for creating spreadsheets, tables, graphs and charts, software for organizing and analyzing data, software for word processing, software for creation and display of presentations including text and graphics, software used for image editing, image processing, image acquisition, image file management, image viewing, image sharing, and the creation of documents incorporating images, software for use in developing websites, software to help users create, edit, organize, search, transfer, publish and subscribe to weblogs, blogs, podcasts, web broadcasts and news and information feeds on global and/or local computer and telecommunications networks, software for use in authoring, downloading, transmitting, receiving, editing, extracting, encoding, decoding, playing, storing and organizing audio, video and still images, software for authoring digital content, software for personal information management, software for DVD authoring, software for the electronic storage and retrieval of electronic calendar files, software with clock and alarm clock functionality, telephony management software, character recognition software, application development tool software for personal and handheld computers, software for the redirection of messages, Internet e-mail, and/or other data to one or more electronic handheld devices from a data store on or associated with a personal computer or a server, and software for the synchronization of data between a remote station or device and a fixed or remote station or device; computer operating system software; computer utility software; computer peripherals. notebook computers; laptop computers; tablet computers; computer servers; handheld computers; mobile computers; hard drives; audio speakers; speakers for computers; radios; cameras; video cameras; telephones; mobile telephones; personal digital assistants; electronic personal organizers; electronic notepads; blank magnetic data carriers; computer gaming machines; microprocessors; memory boards; computer monitors; keyboards; computer input devices, namely, touch screens, styluses, mice, trackballs and shuttle dials; computer cables; modems; printers; computer accessories, namely, computer battery chargers, battery packs, docking stations, adaptors, computer wired and wireless remote controls, audio headphones and earphones, and replacement parts for all the aforesaid goods.
That's quite a list for a company that doesn't even have its own website, but it matches exactly what Apple's business is all about. Is Slate Computing just a shell company created by Apple, or is someone trying to play a number on them? More on that later. Either way, the USPTO record shows that an opposition was filed on June 10, 2008.
In case you're interested, the domain name slatecomputing.com is owned by a company called "Cayman Ninety Business", with an office address on the Cayman Islands which, according to Domain Tools, owns over 11,000 other domain names (all the marks of a savvy domainer and/or cybersquatter at play).
I did a search for 'islate' on OHIM, and founded out that same Slate Computing has filed for a trademark for the term in the European Union as well. It was filed in 21 November 2006, on the same day the filing for the ISLATE word mark was registered in the US.
Listed as legal representative on the form: UK-based Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge, the same law firm Apple worked with for securing the EU-wide trademark for the term 'Macbook', for one.
Then I noticed something else on the record for the European ISLATE trademark: the priority country that was registered is Trinidad & Tobago. Why that matters? Because Apple has a history of listing Trinidad & Tobago as the priority country for European trademarks; just look up 'iphone' on OHIM and you'll see I'm right.
Here's what I think happened, based on the evidence presented above: Apple decided on the name iSlate for a new product it was working on, whether it will ultimately turn out to be for their new tablet computer or not, in November 2006. That same month, they moved to file for a trademark for the name in the United States and Europe under disguise, setting up and using Slate Computing LLC as a shell company, and securing a couple of available domain names through Mark Monitor (islate.co.uk, islate.biz and islate.info).
Then, they acquired the domain name islate.com from whoever owned it at that point. MacRumors reports that the domain name was under ownership of a company called Data Docket, Inc. back in 2006, and a search for that company turns up an interesting article on that company. They're either a shell company for Google (unlikely), or professional domainers/cybersquatters.
Either way, Apple reportedly got a hold of the domain name early 2007, right about the time they also secured islate.fr, supposedly.
The evidence is overwhelming: if there's going to be a new tablet from Apple coming out next month, chances are that it'll be christened iSlate.
Feel free to start lauding or ranting on the chosen name.