Everyone is wondering about it, and some folks are frothing at the mouth about it. The rumored Apple tablet overshadowed real products at CES 2010. It’s been the hot topic on blogs and fan sites. It spilled over into the tech press. And it’s even hitting mainstream news outlets who swear they have the inside word. Who knows. Maybe they do.

The buzz has gone from “does it exist” to “what it will be.” Again, who knows. Until Steve Jobs walks off the stage, it’s all a big guess.

So here’s my guess: The tablet will be announced. Whether it’s called the iSlate, iTablet, (gawd-forbid) iPad, or something else, the name will be instantly cool after it leaves the Apple CEO’s lips. I think the tablet device will be an mix of existing ideas innovatively packaged. If anyone can do this, Apple can. It’ll be expensive. And it will be popular.

Frankly, what I’m more interested in is any announcement regarding iPhone 4.0. My wireless service contract is about up, and I’m interested in learning if I need to wait for better hardware. And if iPhone goes to Verizon, I predict AT&T’s data network woes will significantly decrease.

We’ll all see on Wednesday (Jan 27, 2010).