Apple tablet confirmed running iPhone OS

The new Apple tablet may be sold with a mobile network contract

Comments by the chief executive of textbook publisher McGraw Hill have confirmed that the new Apple tablet to be announced tomorrow will run the iPhone operating system rather than a version of OS X.

Terry McGraw confirmed in an interview with CNBC that his company, one of the leading textbook providers in the US, had worked closely with Apple on the new tablet, and let slip a number of details.

"We have worked with Apple for quite a while, and the tablet is going to be based on the iPhone operating system so it will be transferable," he said.

"So you are going to have a consortium of e-books. And we have 95 per cent of all our material in e-book format on that one. So the tablet is going to open up the higher education market, the professional market. The tablet is going to be really terrific."

Apple still refuses to confirm that a tablet will be launched tomorrow, but McGraw was quite clear that it would be, and on the applications it will run.

The use of the iPhone operating system is also interesting, as it suggests that the device will be sold with a mobile network contract, which would help to discount the expected high price.