Starting today and through next week, BoomTown is headed south down California’s lovely Highway 1 for as much of a vacation as I can possibly take.

Which is to say, just a week off from posting (if one does pop up, forgive me, but it was probably already baked).

In other words: iLike twins, Wenda, Owen, play nice! Yahoos, please hold onto your internal memos. And I hope Apple’s iTablet is not delivered from on high this week while I relax beachside (it won’t be).

This summer has been unusually news-laden for the digital sector–the Yahoo (YHOO) deal with Microsoft (MSFT); all the machinations at News Corp.’s (NWS) MySpace, Facebook and Time Warner (TWX) online unit AOL; various and sundry Google (GOOG) battles; some tasty Amazon (AMZN) follies; Palm (PALM) Pre-ambulations; and, of course, more Apple (AAPL) hijinks than you can count.

Oh yeah, and whatever Twitter fill-in-the-blank-you-like.

But I digress, and will now return to my annual scheduled programming–a blog-free week with some really interactive time with the kids and family in Santa Monica.

This week is a particularly good time to take time–a big birthday celebration for my Twitter-bashing mother and also a 10th wedding anniversary (an inexplicable event, except to say–given it is me we’re talking about–that I obviously married a saint).

For all that and more, see you in September. (Actually, August 31, but who’s counting?)

And, until then, here is a cool video of someone playing a 45 of that great song by the Happenings on an old turntable:

BoomTown has already gotten some very good submissions from readers for a contest to come up with a good moniker for a tablet device Apple is allegedly working on.

While no one knows when such an innovative product will be coming out–rumors are all over the place, as per usual with Apple (AAPL)–I just decided to move forward with the naming ceremony.

In a post earlier today, some of my ideas included: iTablet, iPad, iAmnotanetbook and iAmakindlekiller.

And here are some of the user-generated ideas, via Twitter mostly, and my Paula Abdul-inspired comments on each of them:

Mike Boylan: They’ll be calling the tablet simply: MacBook. That explains the pro transition a few months ago.

BoomTown: Then what will I call my old MacBook? Phyllis?

Pete Blackshaw: My bets: iScroll, Touchbook, iScript, iScribe.

BT: iScroll is good, but is a little too ancient Greekish, while iScribe is monkish and iScript Hollywoodish. Touchbook sounds unusually naughty, which rules it in!

Paul Marcum: It should be the iLive! But will be the MacBook Slate.

BT: Hmm, iLive sounds too much like iLiver–so no, for obvious reasons. I love the Slate idea, but what about iSlate? Very retro!

Wolfgang Wiedenroth: Easy and simple–just iTap.

BT: I knew a man Bojangles and he’d dance for you, in worn-out shoes….

Park Nunya: I’d call it an iNOTBOOK, as opposed to NETBOOK.

BT: I like it! More subtle than mine.

Eric Welch: iWant.

BT: iPerfect iName. iLoveit.

With the spate of recent rants about all that’s wrong with Apple–although I will admit it is mildly amusing to read all the labored recountings of the longtime devotion from ex-fanboys, followed by the scales falling off the eyes to be quickly replaced by crocodile tears–BoomTown wonders exactly when the bizarre emotional connection some have with the computer company is going to end.

Well, never, I guess, because then it wouldn’t be the cult it is, would it?

And anyway, the pendulum will swing once again, and soon, to favor Apple (AAPL) once the drumbeat gets even louder on the wildly different rumors about the new tablet device that many are predicting will be delivered from on high sometime by–in the most likely and juicily dramatic scenario–CEO Steve Jobs.

Since it is Apple, who knows what they are up to and when?

But, in the interests of relieving boredom, I suggest we move on from the dead-horse issue of the Google (GOOG) Voice app–including the breathless anticipation of a new “war” between Jobs and Google CEO Eric Schmidt, a relationship that moved from bromance to frenemies to one of those lady-fights from “Dynasty” pretty quickly–to more enjoyable late-August frivolities.

Like trying to guess the name that Jobs will ultimately bestow on the tablet.

Here are my thoughts on the various possibilities:

iTablet: This seems the most likely name since it is simple, descriptive and sounds kind of catchy.

Apple always seems to go for the most obvious names and this is certainly it.

The downside is that it also sounds a little medical, like something you might take for indigestion.

But, I am sure some cute commercials will solve that acid reflux pronto.

iPad: Maybe it’s just me, but this sounds like some sort of feminine product.

Except in a scary way.

And iPad Touch, as some have suggested, is much, much worse.

I know the idea is that it is a pad-like device, but it also calls to mind a pad of paper, which feels really old too.

iBooklet: Don’t laugh. Okay, do.

But, it is not the worst idea to take an existing successful product and extend from it.

While the iBook is aimed at the less expensive computer buyers, the new tablet device seems to be a less expensive product for those who spend a mint on other Apple offerings.

iAmnotanetbook: Too long?

iAmakindlekiller: Too obvious?

iWillcallitwhateverthe#@*&ilike: Too much Jobs-channeling?

Whatever Apple does end up calling the innovative new product–which I am already in line to buy–it’s certain to be covered more than, say, critically important national and international issues, such as the health care debate.

So, until this one more thing debuts, perhaps the best name for it will be the most obvious of all: iHype.

You can see it below, as well as the Twitter post, although it is not clear which location it is.

Frankly, those mall potted plants could be just about anywhere–I am guessing some Foot Locker is right around the corner and an Outback Steakhouse is not far either.

This does not bode well if the software giant is hoping to one-up the sleek and hip Apple (AAPL) store vibe.

In fact, that’s where BoomTown is off to now, to nab an early place in line for an iTablet.

(Click on the images to make them larger.)

(By the way, Microsoft made one failed foray into retail many years ago in San Francisco, which you can read about here.)

BoomTown is certainly going to be one of the many-so-many who immediately fork over whatever it takes to get my mitts on the upcoming tablet device from Apple.

And that’s why, according to a new report from Piper Jaffray Senior Research Analyst Gene Munster–who is monk-like in his devotion to writing down every scrap of information he can scrape up about whatever Apple HQ in Cupertino, Calif., deigns to release–it’s going to be raining money down on the company, just like manna from heaven.

That would be $1.2 billion in revenue in calendar year 2010, after he estimated that Apple (AAPL) will sell two million units at a price of $600.

“While at first glance this may appear to address a niche market, we believe the addressable market is larger than that of the Apple TV, of which Apple sold about 1.2m in its first year,” wrote Munster.

He apparently spoke to some leaky Asian component suppliers, who have received orders from Apple, to be “fulfilled by late CY09.”

Munster, who also provided the mock-up image of the Jesus Tablet seen above (it will take its place next to the Jesus Phone and Jesus Pod), wrote that the device was pretty much a larger iPod touch.

It will run all the usual apps and have some extra ones, specially designed for the big screen, he predicted.

It will also be Web-connected and, of course, is a touchscreen and play all kinds of media, like music, games and video.

But don’t call it a netbook!

“We believe an Apple tablet would be priced 30%-50% below the $999 MacBook, and would offer best in class web, email, and media software,” wrote Munster. “In other words, we believe Apple’s tablet would compete well in the netbook category even though it would not be a netbook.”

Also, there will be a 3G modem–personally, we all pray Apple picks Verizon (VZ) and not AT&T (T) to be the mobile provider–with a possible subsidy on the sale of the device.

The hype around the new and doubtlessly innovative Apple product–my vote for a name is that it will be called iTablet–is likely to grow into the fall, especially if it is introduced by the miraculously on-the-mend CEO Steve Jobs.

Apple fanboys: Can you say Hallelujah?

If you’re in a rush, the takeaway is that he’s not very impressed with Amazon’s (AMZN) device, and that all things being equal, he thinks Apple’s e-reader is at least as good. He’s not talking about the yet-to-appear iTablet, of course. Like a lot of other people, he’s fond of  Apple’s (AAPL) current iPhone/iPod touch line:

Amazon, with its listmania lists and its sometimes inspired recommendations and its innumerable fascinating reviews, is very good at selling things. It isn’t so good, to date anyway, at making things. But, fortunately, if you want to read electronic books there’s another way to go. Here’s what you do. Buy an iPod Touch (it costs seventy dollars less than the Kindle 2, even after the Kindle’s price was recently cut), or buy an iPhone, and load the free “Kindle for iPod” application onto it.

Oddly, Baker doesn’t make a reference to Kindlegate, even though the story broke a couple of weeks ago. If you’re looking for a summary of where things stand on that one and have five minutes to spare, you can listen in to the chat I had with NPR’s “On the Media,” which aired over the weekend. You can hear the full show here.

One last note: I’m stepping out for a couple weeks and going semi-off the grid, so if all goes well you won’t be hearing from me till the second week of August. If all goes really well, I may even read an ink-and-paper book. Meantime there will be plenty of fresh new stuff from Walt, Kara, John and Katie over at the mothership. See you soonish.

According to the FT, the “full-featured” tablet is being prepped to launch alongside a next-generation digital album format Apple (AAPL) is cooking up with the four largest recording companies, one designed to gin up sales of CD-length music.

“Cocktail,” as the project is known, is a new music format that will gather songs, photos, lyrics sheets, video clips and liner notes into a sort of interactive booklet. Said one executive familiar with the effort: “It’s all about re-creating the heyday of the album when you would sit around with your friends looking at the artwork, while you listened to the music.”

…skipping through nine middling-to-lousy songs to reach that one that inspired you to shell out for the album.

Which begs the question: Can that heyday ever be recreated? Now that we’re accustomed to purchasing only the music we want via the thin-margin, 99-cent-song-by-song downloads that iTunes pioneered, can we ever be convinced to pay a premium for bundled music, cluttered up with a bunch of liner notes, wacky band photos and throw away filler songs?

[Image Credit: Apple Insider]

According to the FT, the “full-featured” tablet is being prepped to launch alongside a next-generation digital album format Apple (AAPL) is cooking up with the four largest recording companies, one designed to gin up sales of CD-length music.

“Cocktail,” as the project is known, is a new music format that will gather songs, photos, lyrics sheets, video clips and liner notes into a sort of interactive booklet. Said one executive familiar with the effort: “It’s all about re-creating the heyday of the album when you would sit around with your friends looking at the artwork, while you listened to the music.”

…skipping through nine middling-to-lousy songs to reach that one that inspired you to shell out for the album.

Which begs the question: Can that heyday ever be recreated? Now that we’re accustomed to purchasing only the music we want via the thin-margin, 99-cent-song-by-song downloads that iTunes pioneered, can we ever be convinced to pay a premium for bundled music, cluttered up with a bunch of liner notes, wacky band photos and throw away filler songs?

[Image Credit: Apple Insider]

“According to reliable information, Apple will not follow the current market trend (by producing netbooks with screens about 10.2 or 10.1 inches in diagonal length.) Instead, Apple will produce screens with about 9.7 inches in diagonal length. Touch screen will be installed. Wintek will be the main manufacturer of the touch screen.”

Beyond screen size, there are no other specifications mentioned in the report. But it does include a price: $800. Which is $300 more than the $500-piece-of-junk price point Apple CEO Steve Jobs cited when he dismissed netbooks last October. “There are some customers which we chose not to serve,” Jobs said at the time. “We don’t know how to make a $500 computer that’s not a piece of junk, and our DNA will not let us ship that.”

But will it allow Apple to ship an $800 one? Perhaps something with a P.A. Semi chip? Something that runs App Store apps and offers a sort of middle ground between the iPod touch and the MacBook?

UPDATE: Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster just weighed on these rumors in a research note. His thoughts, below:

On 7/13 Asian media reports suggested Apple is planning a tablet/netbook in Oct-09. Last week we spoke with a Taiwanese component supplier and continue to believe that Apple will launch a tablet, not a netbook, by early CY10. … We expect [it] to be a touchscreen device in the $500-$700 range (between the iPod Touch and MacBook).

[Image Credit: Adam Benton]

A fair point, and one that’s been made here and elsewhere a number of times already. Worth noting here as well, is Munster’s claim that a MacBook Touch, iTablet, iPad, or whatever you want to call it, is unlikely this year. While the analyst believes such a device exists, he thinks it’s more likely to debut in 2010. “… Ultimately, we expect Apple to develop a full touchscreen MacBook, although not until the technology has fully matured over the next two-to-three years,” he said. “We believe multi-touch is a core differentiator of Apple products, and Apple has adequately protected its innovations in order to maintain a leading edge.”