As reported in Fortune and the Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital, analyst Yair Reiner has sent a note to his clients advising them that "the manufacturing cogs for the tablet are creaking into action."

Reiner said that his supply chain sources indicate that Apple plans to build as many as a million of the devices per month, which points to a March or April 2010 launch. The tablet is expected to have a 10.1-inch color multitouch display.

He also wrote that Apple has offered book publishers a 30/70 split (the publishers get the bigger share) of content revenue with no exclusivity requirement, a sweeter deal than Amazon's choice of a 50/50 split or a 30/70 exclusive deal.

Reiner refers to an average selling price for the tablet of US$1,000, a good deal higher than the price point that has been rumored up till now. In a world of $260 Nooks and $490 Kindle DXes, $400 netbooks, and $600 iPhones, $1K seems a little steep for what has been described as an overgrown iPod Touch. But it's always a mistake to bet against Apple's ability to command a premium price for its products.

In possibly related news, five of the largest U.S. magazine and newspaper publishers have announced a joint venture to develop a new publishing standard that would enable the kind of color layouts that magazine readers are used to -- features beyond the capabilities of the Kindle and Nook but potentially well suited to a color tablet. The venture is backed by Condé Nast, Hearst, Meredith, News Corporation and Time Inc.

Also, the Wall Street Journal reports that two major book publishers plan to delay the e-book editions of some of their titles scheduled for release in early 2010. The decision is a sort of protest against the low price of e-book best-sellers.

The e-editions will be delayed for four months -- until around the the projected debut of the Apple tablet, in other words.