Apple tablet to be unveiled in January, claim reports

The jungle drums really are beating now about Apple's new device.

January 26th has been pegged as the likely unveiling of Apple's new tablet device, with the Financial Times claiming that the company has rented a stage at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco around that date.

Separately, Business Insider is reporting that a small group of developers have been asked to produce upscaled versions of their iPhone apps for the launch.

"They've told select developers that as long as they build their apps to support full screen resolution - rather than a fixed 320x480 - their apps should run just fine," says the site's source.

More rumours? You got 'em! The New York Times quotes an unnamed senior Apple employee as saying "let's just say Steve is extremely happy with the new tablet", while a recently departed staffer says "You will be very surprised how you interact with the new tablet".

And would you believe it, analysts are fuelling the fire too. Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster claims there's a 75% chance of an Apple event in January, and expects the actual tablet to ship by the end of March.