Apple will officially launch its new iSlate tablet PC on 27 Jan after invitations were sent out yesterday. Steve Jobs is tipped to make a rare appearence at the event. SmartHouse has also been told that Apple Australia already has a production version of the new tablet PC.Spashed across the front page of the invitation it said “Come see our latest creation.”

According to BusinessWeek, analysts have speculated for at least a year that Jobs is building on the iPod Touch to create a larger-screen, multimedia player. While computers without a physical keyboard haven’t sold well, Apple’s ability to reinvent products through cutting-edge design and easy-to-use software may persuade users to look at such devices again, said Toni Sacconaghi, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.

“Apple’s all about trying to create new markets and paradigm shifts, much like they did with the iPhone,” said Sacconaghi, who is based in New York. “This will be optimized for reading books, for viewing video, for listening to music, for Web browsing. It will be less about computing.”

The event may also mark the first time Jobs appears in public since September, when he went on stage to introduce new iPods. That was his only appearance at an Apple event in 2009 after he took a five-and-a-half month medical leave.