Apple already had a kick-*** PDA/tablet. It was called the Newton MessagePad 2100. Jobs killed it. What makes you think for a second he wishes to be publicly ridiculed by the press who WILL be drawing comparisons between the MP2100 and any tablet Apple produces? If you EVER see a new tablet device from Apple it will be a touchscreen convertible option on their Macbook Pro line FIRST if they can get around the patent trolls from the Tablet PC and UMPC manufacturers. Their current iPhone is much, much more lucrative from a financial standpoint than any Apple-produced tablet could be and THAT'S where they will be concentrating their efforts in the near future. Apple is just doing what any other company <cough>IBM<cough> does and patenting anything they can think up as a pre-emptive "just in case" ***-covering maneuver to keep the patent trolls at bay.