Apple’s Steve Jobs Directing the New Tablet

Since returning to Apple in late June, Steve Jobs has been spending a great deal of time and energy on a new tablet device, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Those working on the project have been tight-lipped beyond this point, other than to say that the marketing and advertising strategy for the much-anticipated touch-screen gadget is a closely guarded secret, and that all employees are under intense scrutiny by Mr. Jobs. Thus, neither information about a launch date, nor details about the device have been leaked thus far.

The article also noted that Steve was back in his element managing every detail of this project, and that "people have had to readjust," to Jobs being back at the helm, one of the Apple employees said. In his absence, certain Apple employees had enjoyed a new-found level of freedom over strategy and products, and now that level of control is gone.

In an email to the Journal, Jobs said, "much of your information is incorrect," but didn't provide specifics. A spokesman for Apple, Cupertino, Calif., declined to comment.

When Apple released the iPhone in 2007, Jobs was on top of every detail of the new product, including "the curvature of the phone's back." That he is once again as involved points to the fact that this new product is hugely important to Apple, and Mr. Jobs is committed as ever to delivering a product that is well, the iPhone/Mac of tablet devices.

One of the much gossiped about cats is now officially out of the bag—we'll have Snow Leopard on August 28th. Hopefully, we'll all know more details about the tablet soon, maybe as soon as September 9th, when Apple will host a press conference in the Bay Area. Given the short time Jobs has been back, it seems unlikely that the tablet will be released before 2010, but one thing seems certain, when Jobs is in charge of Apple, we can expect to see some well-orchestrated magic.