IPhone game developer redesigns app for Apple tablet with no assurance of its existence

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The maker of Crosswords for the iPhone dropped a news release in our inbox this afternoon touting an in-development version of its popular game for the Apple tablet.

Apple’s touch-screen tablet computer, which the Cupertino, Calif., company has yet to admit exists, has been the hottest subject of speculation in the tech world. Whispers of its existence have surfaced leading up to Apple events in the past. But numerous signs point to its release being closer than ever.

In addition to our own anonymous sources close to Apple (c’mon, everybody has ‘em) who say it’s nearing release, we have McGraw Hill Chief Executive Terry McGraw spilling the beans about the Apple tablet to CNBC today.

There have been rumblings that Apple has been telling some developers to prep their apps for a gadget with a larger screen.

Crosswords is not one of those cases.

‘Apple has not asked us to do this,’ wrote Brian Akaka, a spokesman for Crosswords developer Stand Alone Inc. ‘The developer is acting based on the general consensus that the device will be arriving soon.’

The Crosswords app contains daily puzzles from newspapers including the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.

‘The main constraint in developing a Crossword app for mobile devices has been the distinct lack of screen real estate,’ wrote Stand Alone President Ben Gottlieb in a statement. “We have been anticipating the Apple tablet as the greatest piece of hardware for app developers since iPhone itself, and Crosswords will be even better on the new device.”

The hypothetical new device.

How do you build software for a gadget you know nothing about?

‘The developer is designing around a screen size of about 10 inches,’ Akaka wrote.

But what if it’s 12 inches? Or eight? Or six? Or not real?

‘We’re fairly confident that the device will be 10 inches,’ Akaka wrote in a follow-up e-mail. ‘If we need to make adjustments later due to the device being in other sizes, we will go through other redesigns as well.’

-- Mark Milian
twitter.com/markmilian