Wacom introduces widescreen tablet

Well, the actual dimension given on Wacom's European site is 27.1cm x 15.9cm, giving it an aspect ratio about halfway between 16:10 and 16:9. Trying to please both sizes, I suppose.

Well, on the higher end, they've made a 12"x18" tablet for years which has an aspect ratio of 3:2--same as the 15" PB. Besides, Calcaultor.app (and common sense) tells me that 11"x6" is not 16:10. 11:6 = 1.83:1, versus a 16:10 display's aspect ratio of 1.6:1. So if you're planning to calibrate it so the corners of the tablet match the corners of your screen, then trace something, the image will be stretched about 15%. Oops.

It's a tardis-pad.

I'm sorry; how can it have 6"x11" active area and be 8"x6" in size?

All the links you posted point to the current Intuos3 A5, not the announced A5 Wide. The A5 is the same model as the Intuos3 6x8 in America. This product is actually a wider version of that, and the physical footprint will be more like 16.5x10.5, not 6x8.