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Now that all the iPod madness for this round has passed, it is time to get back to the REALLY juicy and speculative blogging topic when it comes to Cupertino.

Yes folks, the Giant iPod Netbook Thingie, aka The Apple Tablet is bbbaacckkkkkk.

Steve Jobs while attempting to save face with David Pogue dropped some heavy hints that he was working on some very major projects that would blow us all away (while implying that the main problem with the new iPod Touches was that he wasn’t as involved with them as he had been previous models). Is there anyone out there who doesn’t assume the project Jobso is focusing his attentions on ISN’T the Tablet?

Philip Elmer-DeWitt in his Apple 2.0 column at Fortune came up with the following rundown of the current conventional wisdom and newest rumors concerning Apple’s much anticipated next big innovation.

• 9.6-inch Wintek touch sensitive screen. Down from 10.2-inch, 1o-inch and 9.7-inch in previous reports.
• HSPDA mobile broadband. This is the so-called high-speed downlink packet access protocol used by AT&T (T) for enhanced 3G service. No support here for rumors that Apple might give this one to Verizon (VZ).
• P.A. Semi-engineered processor. As expected. Apple acquired the fabless semiconductor company in April 2008 for just this kind of project.
• 300,000 long-lasting batteries. That’s the size of the order DynaPack International Technology is said to have won.
• December delivery for February launch. Rumors tend to push delivery four months down the road. July’s crop had the tablet coming in October.
• Price point: $799 to $999. That would give Steve Jobs a lot of latitude. And netbook makers plenty of breathing room.

That all makes a great deal of sense to me, though I am curious as to why the screen size keeps getting smaller when that rumor has supposedly been based on product that Wintek has already sold to Apple. What, they’re filing them down in the lab?

The fact that the rumors on the Tablet’s high speed net access make it clearly an AT&T device in the states also gives more bounce to reports that contrary to expectations and common sense, AT&T will be keeping their exclusive deal for the iPhone as the fanbois drive their already shaky network into the ground.

Stay tuned, this one will still be hot and vague for months yet.