Rumors have been crisscrossing the Internet about actions by Apple that point tellingly to the advent of an Apple tablet, or some kind of outsize iPod touch. VentureBeat is speculating that Apple may use chips they have developed themselves in the imminent $800 tablet computer.

Following some of the back story to the rumor helps it make a little more sense: in 2008, Apple acquired P.A. Semi for $278 million and for seemingly no reason, other than extremely valuable and talented staff (P.A. Semi's founder was a lead designer of the StrongARM processor). Nonetheless, Apple quickly put the team to work developing processors for iPods and iPhones. What no one knew at the time, VentureBeat says, is that Apple actually broke the team in half, with the other half working towards a chip for their upcoming tablet.

The tablet is speculated to have only a touch screen with no physical keyboard, and Apple is said to be aiming the tablet at high-end users to avoid the endless need to undercut competitors like Asus and Dell on the lower end. Likewise, more in-house chips could mean lower manufacturing costs for Apple.

The impending in-house Apple chips also may imply doom for Apple's chip partner of a few years, NVIDIA, with whom Apple was reported to have a tiff a few weeks ago. Because of disagreements over the way NVIDIA handled issues with faulty chips in MacBook Pros, there was speculation that Apple may drop NVIDIA from future models and return to AMD. Now Apple has added itself to the list of contenders that will vie for processor production.

Both the China Times and MacRumors have said that Apple plans to release the tablet for the holiday season, and that it has placed orders with a few companies for components of the tablet. If this web of gossip and hearsay that we're hearing through the grapevine is to be believed, there are more than a few breakthroughs to be had on Apple's end, and the longing for a tablet by some may finally (finally) be put to rest.

Computerworld's Seth Weintraub speculates that Apple will choose ARM processors for a rumored upcoming tablet or netbook, versus an Intel processor of the same caliber.

He cites several reasons, including the acquisition of PA Semi, cost, size, and power efficiency as evidence of the likelihood that Apple will use an ARM processor over an Intel one. ARM processors, he argues, are getting powerful enough to rival their Intel counterparts as Intel chips become more efficient to rival their ARM counterparts.

Weintraub spoke with Bob Morris, director of platform enablement for ARM's mobile processor group, who said that two ARM-powered netbooks will hit store shelves in 2009, both probably running the Android operating system.

Since we know OS X already works with the ARM architecture, it raises the question: What will this device be, a netbook or a tablet? Analyst Ezra Gottheil from Technology Business Research says Apple can't afford to ignore consumer clamor for dropping prices, and expects Apple to release a $600 netbook in the first half of next year. We'll see.

How about you? What would you prefer? Take our poll in the 2nd half of this post.

[Via MacDailyNews and O'Grady's PowerPage.]

Apple Senior Manager Wei-han Lien let slip that teams acquired with the purchase of PA Semi are working on an ARM-based processor for the iPhone, and possibly other devices, according to The New York Times.

While not a huge surprise, as Steve himself said that's what the former PA Semi staff was working on, the question was still "what kind of processor?"

ARM variants can be customized to meet the needs of very specific devices, including supporting the multi-touch screen, or QuickTime playback. Electronista suggests that this supports earlier hints that Apple licensed the architecture from ARM under a secretive arrangement in late June.

Lien updated a section of his LinkedIn profile to describe what he was working on. (The NYT has a screenshot.) Oops. The profile, as you might expect, has been changed.

It was just a couple weeks ago that Apple bought PA Semi, a custom PowerPC chip design firm. But now that a few details about the acquisition are leaking out, a new light has begun to shine on this subject. According to an EETimes post, Apple considered buying PA Semi back in 2005, prior to the Intel switch. Oh yeah, and one minor detail ... Apple has been an investor in the company since that time. When Apple started using Intel chips, that move sent a death threat to PA Semi.

Per the EETimes story, Apple came along to purchase a new chip from PA Semi. PA Semi didn't have enough investor funding to undertake a new project. So, what does Apple do? They pay off the investors and buy the whole company. Apple bought PA Semi for $278 million -- no pocket change, that's for sure. How important could this chip be for Apple to pay that much money? Well it might just be for a new tablet Mac (remember, you heard this rumor here first).

As we noted earlier this week Apple purchased of the chip design firm P. A. Semi and speculation has been rampant about what it all means. Well the Journal is reporting that Jobs spoke recently about Apple's relationship with Intel saying: "We have a great partnership with Intel. We expect that to continue forever." He further suggested that the acquisition was mainly to improve chips to go in portable devices and dismissed speculation about a return to the Power PC platform (the technology on which P. A. Semi's designs are based).

[via MacNN]