Apple tablet rumor round-up

With Apple (AAPL) set to reveal its “latest creation” Wednesday, new rumors surface almost hourly. We’ll try to stay on top of them. [UPDATED Tuesday. See below.]

• The rendering at right created by Flickr user Fotoboer.nl last August is “strikingly close” to the real thing, people “familiar with the device” tell AppleInsider’s Kasper Jade.
• Apple is building two versions, one that would run on AT&T’s (T) GSM network, the other on Verizon’s (VZ) CDMA network, sources tell Fox News’ Clayton Morris.
• According to iLounge’s Jeremy Horowitz, the device has an extra-large antenna — “a long rear stripe” — and dual dock connectors, one on the bottom and one on the side, so it can be viewed in either portrait or landscape mode.

• The tablet will run a chip designed by PA Semi and manufactured by Samsung, according to UBS Investment Research’s Maynard Um (Source: AppleInsider’s Sam Oliver.) Um also says that LG Display (LPL) and AU Optronics (AUO) will supply the screens, Samsung the NAND flash memory, Simplo and Dynapac the batteries and Broadcom (BRCM) the “combo” chip for connectivity.
• Apple has been talking to a long list of publishers, including McGraw-Hill (MHP), Hachette, Wiley (JW-A), the New York Times (NYT), Conde Naste and News Corp.’s (NWS) HarperCollins, but until the past few weeks not, according to Media Memo’s Peter Kafka, Time Inc. (TWX), the publisher of this blog.

THE LATEST:

• 9to5 Mac‘s Seth Weintraub, talking to publishers not previously interviewed, says Apple is pitching itself as the anti-Amazon, offering better terms, a richer platform (like color TV vs. B/W) and a price that is not “anywhere near $1000 as has been reported elsewhere.”
• MacRumors on Tuesday reposted a German electronics retailer tweet, since deleted, claiming that the “iPad” would go on sale March 1 for 499 euros (subsidized by T-Mobile) and 899 euros unsubsidized. That translates, according to MacRumors, to $500-$600 U.S. with a contract and $999 without.
• The French blog NoWhereElse.fr (via VentureBeat) has posted what it claims is a video ad for the new device. It’s a pretty clumsy fake (the ports on the back give it away), but to give you a feel for the lengths to which some people will go, we’ve posted it below:

See also:

• Apple Tablet: New details leaked
• Apple tablet: The video previews
• Apple tablet may not ship until June
• Tablet: Big iPhone or thin MacBook?
• 5 reasons iSlate will succeed/fail
• Jobs “extremely happy” with tablet

[Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]