Apple have announced a press event for January 27th 2010, in San Francisco, for an announcement about a new development from Apple – there are a few options such as the iPhone 4 (or 3.1) but the word on the street is that its most likely the mobile internet tablet, or iSlate, that has been talked about so much over the last year.

The Wall Street Journal, in their article Publisher in Talks With Apple Over Tablet, are reporting that Apple is apparently in talks with publisher Harper Collins to make electronic versions of books available for some new “tablet device”. Certainly Apple, and probably many others, have seen the appeal of a device like the Amazon Kindle, and might be tempted to pair such a device with mobile internet access and an application store.

Both CNN Tech and Wired have been describing a cryptic invitation sent out to industry press with the phrase “Come see our latest creation” and features the apple logo in relief set against a coloured array of paint splatters.