We’ve been watching (and writing) about the rumored Apple tablet netbook for a while now – essentially an iTouch with a 6-10″ touch screen, we feel like this thing is gonna be huge.

Hulu’s been working on an iPhone App (using the more Apple-friendly MP4 format rather than than Adobe Flash) for a few months now – imagine a 10″ tablet for the home that can access iTunes, YouTube and Hulu.  Imagine all this running over your fast home internet connection rather than AT&T’s under-performing 3G data network.  Imagine (the admittedly more remote) possibility of the otherwise Microsoft-centric Netflix streaming service coming to the iPhone OS as well.

In short, this could be one compelling consumer electronics internet video device.

We had speculated on a holiday 2009 release, but recenty the Financial Times reported the iTouch tablet/netbook might hit as soon as September. There’s one (as yet unsolved) problem most of the somewhat breathless coverage of this device fails to mention, though:

Battery Life.

More of a chemical/electric engineering challenge than anything else, advances in battery technology have lagged far behind those in semiconductor technology, frustrating laptop makers and auto builders alike. As it is, I can practically watch the battery meter go down before my eyes on my iPhone 3G S when using some apps – I can’t imagine how short battery life will be when there’s a comparatively huge 10″ screen to power.

Most coverage of this device speculates on new content models such as an iTunes book store (a color Kindle-killer!) and a possible resurgence of the music “album” (remember those?). However, we see this device as further evidence of Apple’s incremental march towards the television – and if the Financial Times report is correct, it could be happening more quickly than previously thought.

Next up – a sleek Apple television with embedded network access? (no battery issues there!)