Apple has sent out invitations to a media event on January 27, and in so doing will surely send the tablet rumor mill spinning faster than ever.
"Come see our latest creation," says the invite to the San Francisco event. No other hints were given, but it's widely believed that Apple's rumored tablet will be introduced. (Amusingly, ReadWriteWeb's Frederic Lardinois likened the invitation to "a Rorschach test -- something to project all those tablet fantasies on.")
In the hours after those invitations arrived, some likely theories have emerged as to what the event will hold. Of course, the tablet is expected, but Fox News cites an Apple source as saying a fourth generation iPhone and an update to Apple's iLife suite, which includes iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand and iWeb, will be revealed.
Those all seem like strong possibilities, given that Apple updated its iMacs in October, its iPod line in September and its MacBook Pro line in June. Short of the iPhone, the tablet and software, there simply aren't any other options left on the table.
What we'll likely hear more about over the next nine days are rumored features -- things that the iPhone and tablet will or will not have. These reports can be hit-or-miss. Before Apple's iPod event in September, for instance, rumored features included social networking integration for iTunes (which ended up being the tame ability to tell other people what you're listening to), The Beatles' catalog coming to iTunes (didn't happen) and a camera for the iPod Touch (was reportedly supposed to happen except for technical problems).
We're only nine days from some straight answers, but until then, consider this fair warning not to believe all the Apple rumors that will be flying around.
