Talk about last minute. Thanks to Engadget’s source, these images, while still smelling a bit fishy, seem to show what could be the real Apple tablet. Albeit, covered with some kind of hideous security device that could only pass for descent design in the PC world. Still, the amount of effort that went into editing this image to discard any identifying information is somewhat convincing.

The Apple tablet rumored for announcement January 27th will undoubtedly offer some sort of Apple-esque transformation in the way we use tablets (assuming it even exists). One of the main ways Apple could do this is to alter the way the users input data. There are numerous ways this could be approached, and Macworld has rounded up nine possible techniques, outlining the odds of the approach Apple may take.

Chilli X, the creator of a couple iPhone applications, has blogged about some interesting abilities for software developers when given hardware such as the Apple tablet, which may be announced later this month. Basically, they’re saying that the extra screen real estate will allow for much more complex and useful applications.