• Flurry Blog et al., Monday, January 25, 2010 1:44 PM

With the launch of what Apple is calling its "latest creation" just days away, it's officially Tablet Week for the entire industry.

Publishers recently contacted by Apple about the launch tell 9to5Mac blog to expect a major partnership announcement, likely with "all of the major publishers."

They also say Apple has been pitching itself against Amazon's model, arguing that its own "Agency model" gives publishers more control and freedom over pricing.

Corroborating multiple accounts, the publishers describe the tablet as "a very-readable 10-inch glass screen smaller in size than the Kindle DX with a similar weight," but insist that it won't cost anywhere near the $1,000 price-point being reported elsewhere.

Meanwhile, rumor has it that Steve Jobs is telling friends and colleagues, "This will be the most important thing I've ever done" -- referring to the soon-to-be-launched Apple Tablet.

Claiming to have "detected" Tablet testing on Apple's Cupertino campus, mobile app analytics startup Flurry observed roughly 200 different applications in use. Because the vast majority of detected app are related to gaming and entertainment, Flurry is calling the tablet a "media machine."

"Historically, tablet devices have been considered substitutes for anything where workers use clipboards, note pads or day runners," Flurry adds. "However, there was a surprising dearth of applications that support these use cases ... Instead, the largest category was games ... With a larger screen, more memory, multi-touch and multi-tasking expected, games will play better than ever on Apple handheld devices."

Similarly, The New York Times sees the apps market -- already booming thanks to the iPhone and Android-supported mobile devices -- flourishing under the reign of the tablet.

Citing Flurry, The Times writes: "The tablet ... will run applications designed for the iPhone, judging from data that an app-tracking company is picking up from devices in use around Apple's headquarters."

Adds The Times: "But the larger screen -- most likely 10 inches diagonally -- and other features of the tablet could inspire developers to create new twists on apps, like games that two or more people can easily play at once on the same device."

Read the whole story at Flurry Blog et al. »