Going by a report published in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on Wednesday, the much-rumored and long-anticipated Apple tablet computer will essentially be a ‘shared’ media device, boasting newspapers, magazines, books, text books, music, video and games!

The various service providers that Apple is ‘in talks with’ for the delivery of content to the tablet include The New York Times, HarperCollins Publishers, Conde Nast Publications and News Corp for magazine content; and CBS and Walt Disney for providing monthly TV subscription services. Even Apple’s December acquisition of streaming music provider Lala. com is apparently linked to the tablet device.

The WSJ report also said that, according to the information forwarded by unnamed ‘inside’ sources, Apple is working with video-game publisher Electronic Arts, with the intention of projecting its forthcoming tablet as a gaming device.

Noting that the tablet can be categorized as part-laptop and part-smartphone, the WSJ report said that Apple has “put significant resources into designing and programming the device so that it is intuitive to share.”

The buzz about the Apple tablet has it that the device will be bigger than the iPhone and will feature a 10-inch screen and a virtual keyboard. Rumors also speculate that Apple will try to deviate from the “conventional payment structures,” for content on the less than $1000-priced device.