Apple to unveil 'a major new product' today

Workers apply the Apple logo to the exterior of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco where CEO Steve Jobs is expected to unveil a new tablet computer. Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images.

Apple Inc. is on the verge of unveiling a new tablet computer that its rabid fans hope will become as huge a cultural phenomenon as its iconic iPod and iPhone.

Anticipation for the tablet has been building since the secretive Apple reserved a stage for today at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.

Apple has yet to release any details but industry watchers and company cultists have been speculating for weeks about a sleek new device than can play music and movies, peruse books, access e-mail and surf the Internet.

Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs seems to be staking his reputation on the device, calling it in a press release this week “a major new product.” It is believed that Jobs, the visionary behind Apple’s revolutionary products, will make a rare appearance here today.

Will the latest Apple creation live up to the hype? We’ll find out when the event gets underway at 10 a.m.

Dan Fost (@sanfrandan) will report live from the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.