Apple set to launch $800 tablet netbook this October?

Seems that today is a big rumor day, as on top of the Amazon-Netflix acquisition, we also hear rumblings of an $800 Apple tablet netbook that will finally be released this October. Don’t get me wrong, we all knew that Apple would have a touchscreen tablet coming soon enough, just look at all the optimizations in Snow Leopard and you’ll soon realize that the OS is definitely a lot more finger-friendly than any other on the market. The China Times is saying, however, that this Apple tablet is almost hear, and that it should drop sometime in October. Hey - what better time for Apple to release a long-awaited, hotly-anticipated product than right before the holiday shopping season kicks off?

Over on the MacRumors forums, user Divine Comedy posted an English translation of the China Times article (originally written in Mandarin,) which highlights a bunch of the information:

Taiwan’s high-tech supply chain companies said Apple will debut its first netbook in October; Apple will pose itself to tackle the Christmas shopping season. Three corporations – Foxconn, Wintek, Dynapack have received direct orders from Apple…

...Because Apple will adopt touch screen technology on its netbooks, Apple will not target low-end consumers, avoiding direct competition with Acer, Asus, as well as their less-than-500-dollars netbooks. Apple’s netbook (or a “tablet” as many call it,) will probably be sold at around $800 USD each.

Now, I know this gets a bunch of people excited enough to require a change of underwear, but we’ve got to consider this a rumor that needs to be taken with a huge grain of salt. Don’t get me wrong, an Apple tablet is coming but whether we see it this October, or next June, is anyone’s guess. So what do I think? Well, a post-Back to School, pre-holiday Apple tablet would look feel mighty fine in these hands. Based on the sources being cited, I’m leaning towards “it’s likely.”