Apple confirms tablet-in a roundabout way?

First, let's clear the air. Apple did NOT say outright, "Hey, a tablet is coming." What would be the fun in that? Actually, it all starts with web site Gawker. The site had a scavenger hunt competition, offering as much as $100,000 for real info that would prove that the Apple tablet is for real. Announced on its Valleywag.com site, Gawker offered $50,000 for a picture of Steve Jobs holding the tablet and $100,000 if the Gawker staff could play with it for an hour. "We believe you and your company have crossed the line by offering abounty for the theft of Apple's trade secrets," Michael Spillner, an Apple attorney, said in a letter Wednesday to Gabriel Snyder,editor-in-chief of the Gawker Web site. Snyder says he started the scavenger hunt because even with all of the talk about the tablet, there was no proof that such an item existed. He says that the letter from Apple is the most "concrete proof" that the tablet is for real, and he continues to offer the prizes for the scavenger hunt. So far, all they have received has been a lot of Photoshopped entries. Apple gave Gawker until 9pm Thursday night to stop the contest. As for the question of the tablet being real, Apple refused to comment and as of Friday morning, the contest remains on the Gawker site.

source: Gawker via SeattleTimes