Rumors are rampant that Apple (Cupertino, Calif.) will soon launch a mobile tablet computer, with many saying it will happen later this month. Meanwhile, much of the buzz out of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week is about devices that adopt the tablet form factor.

Apple has been typically mum about the anticipated product. As a result, industry speculation about its size and functionality varies widely. But Apple being Apple, many believe the product could potentially define or reshape an entire product category, similar to both the iPod and iPhone.

IC vendors—including Freescale Semiconductor Inc., Nvidia Corp. and Qualcomm Inc.— have spent much of this week touting chips and product concepts that seem designed to ride the wave of consumer enthusiasm likely to be generated by the Apple tablet media pad/e-book/netbook, which, in the Apple way, will probably be available immediately after it is announced.

In an interview late last year, Glen Burchers, director of global consumer marketing at Freescale, described a trend toward the tablet form factor in the smartbook category and speculated about what Apple's rumored product might do to the market.

"They [Apple] are clearly the market-maker of the world in this category," Burchers said. "They'll come out with an awesome product at most likely an expensive price." Burchers predicted that other companies like Hewlett-Packard Co., Dell Inc. and Lenovo Group Ltd. would then come up with products that were "almost as awesome" but cost half what the Apple product does. Freescale (Austin, Texas) earlier this week unveiled a reference design for a tablet-style smartbook, a category of products defined by Freescale and others as fitting between a smartphone and a netbook. The Freescale design uses an i.MX515 processor with an ARM A8 core, features a 7-inch touchscreen, is capable of running Android or Linux operating systems and is expected to sell for about $200, according to Freescale. The company expects end products based on the design to be released by retailers by the summer.