The idea of an Apple tablet computer has been floating around for quite a while now and we still haven't see much tangible proofs its existence. Of course, there has been a
lot of smaller and
bigger clues that point at its existence, nonetheless, some believe that we're building what could be one of the biggest speculative hoax bubble of tech history.
In an attempt to obtain new evidence, Gawker's media
Valley Wag, has launched yesterday
the Tablet Scavenger hunt. The idea is to offer a financial incentive to whoever would provide them with proofs of the tablet's existence.
The prices, which would be paid only after Apple's official announcement to avoid scams, vary from $10,000 for pictures to a $100,000 for letting them to play with it.
After this announcement yesterday, many started to wonder about the legality of this undertaking, isn't Gawker media pushing people under NDA to break the law? It's discussable.
Well, the first noticeable information this idea has brought is Apple's reaction, or more precisely, it's lawyer's. They got in touch with Gawker today and their answer is of the outmost interesting ones. Here is an excerpt :
While Apple values and appreciates vibrant public commentary about its products, we believe you and your company have crossed the line by offering a bounty for the theft of Apple's trade secrets. Such an offer is illegal and Apple insists that you immediately discontinue the Scavenger Hunt.
[...]
The information you are willing to pay for, such as photos of a yet-to-be released product, constitutes Apple trade secrets.
[...]
Apple has maintained the types of information and things you are soliciting—"how it'll work, its size, the name, the software," as well as any possible details about the product's appearance, features, and physical samples—in strict confidence."
You can read
Apple's Lawyers full answer here.
While the wording stays very vague, many believe that this would be the first official evidence of the iSlate's existence.
