Newton Tablet Developer Rehired at Apple: Can a Tablet Be Far Behind?

Don't call it a comeback. The Newton and iPhone @http://www.mediabistro.com/mobilecontenttoday

After a 15-year hiatus, Apple has taken Newton Tablet developer Michael Tchao back into the fold.

Tchao, once part of the original Newton team,  will now be a vice president of product marketing.

Steve Dowling, the Apple spokesman who confirmed the hire did not say exactly what the man who helped create the grandfather of PDAs will be doing in Cupertino.

The NYT speculates that he’ll be helping define the market  for an Apple tablet; though they can’t resist calling the Newton a “groundbreaking but failed personal digital assistant. ” (Most other takes, including ours, say the product was axed when Steve Jobs returned.)

It’s not such a big jump from the Apple tablet to Tchao’s most recent gig, serving as general manager of Nike Techlab,  which designed armbands and running shoes to integrate with  iPods.
It’s just as easy, for now at least, to speculate he’ll be doing more in-house integration with these devices.

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Via Mediabistro

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