As per the media reports, Michael Tchao, one of the original developers of Apple's Newton personal digital assistant, has been hired again by Apple. 

Tchao joined back Apple as the vice president of product marketing on Monday, prior to which he worked as general manager for Nike Techlab, where he oversaw the creation of new digital products and services for fitness enthusiasts.

During his stay at Apple for 10 years, Tchao looked after product marketing for the Newton. He was the one who convinced former Apple CEO John Scully for including the company's handwriting-recognition technology into what would become Apple's first consumer device.

“Introduced in 1993 as the brainchild of Sculley, the handheld was plagued by poor reviews that pointed to the difficulty in its handwriting recognition capabilities,” said a source. 

After the initial snags, the Newton and other Apple handheld technologies were never able to be a hit, due to which Apple specified in 1998 that it will not continue the development of the Newton operating system and Newton-related products.

“Rumors of an Apple tablet have been swirling for a couple of years, but speculation has ramped up in recent months, including reports that Apple CEO Steve Jobs has been focusing intensely on a tablet device since returning to work in June after a liver transplant,” continued the source. 

There are evidences that Apple has apparently been laying the groundwork for a tablet PC for years. It was in 2005 that the company was permitted a patent for tablet PC design, and the company was granted a patent last year for a tablet-like device that incorporated a touchscreen.