The Apple tablet, whatever it's called, was indeed designed to help out the wheezing beasts that are print media and TV, according to the Wall Street Journal. They have some new details too.

Steve Jobs is "supportive of the old guard and [he] looks to help them by giving them new forms of distribution," says an anonymous person who's worked with him. As Apple has a track record of leaking information to the Journal, in a process outlined here, the rest of their information may prove true too:

  • It'll have a virtual keyboard
  • And a camera on the front that will recognise users
  • They've talked with The New York Times, Conde Nast, HarperCollins Publishers and News Corp. Despite the Times' claims yesterday that they are wary of the tablet, the Journal gets a quote from Sulzberger saying "stay tuned." Which is as glowing a confirmation of the NYT on the tablet as we'll get. There's also a hint that Apple and the Times have worked on a new way to pay for news.
  • Apple also want to do a "best of TV" subscription service — users would pay monthly for four to six shows from each network that they could watch on demand.