Report: Ad for new Apple gadget filmed at Calif. diner

OK, so it's a rumor. But it's an Apple rumor, and we all know how excited some folks get at the slightest mention of something new from the Cupertino company.

Truckee, California's Jax at the Tracks was the site of a closed Apple advertising shoot, proprietor Bud Haley told the Sierra Sun. "Apple found us, they're trying to show us as a hip and cool spot for the 20-something crowd," he said.

Word of the ad set off a flurry of speculation on what the unreleased product could be. Both BusinessWeek and 9to5Mac, in analyzing the choice of a diner as the location for a commercial, point to the impending arrival of the much-rumored Apple tablet computer.

"Well I don’t know about you, but when I’m in a diner, and if I’m eating alone, I tend to read a newspaper or magazine," BusinessWeek's Arik Hesseldahl writes. "It’s pretty clear the device in question is the rumored tablet."

TechCrunch's John Biggs rather bluntly calls shenanigans on the whole thing. "Oh yeah, Bud? Is that how it went down? Apple came up and said 'Hey, what’s up. Nice place. Wanna record a commercial?' and you said 'Of course!'" He argues that Apple's ads tend to be shot in studios, and that a nondisclosure agreement would have prevented any business owner from discussing any shoot for an unreleased product. "When’s the last time Apple recorded a commercial in actual meatspace?" he asks. "Probably 1984."

Evan Rappaport throws water on the notion that a diner as the location means anything, leaving this comment on the BusinessWeek article: "Well I don’t know about you, but when I go into a diner I have breakfast. It's pretty clear that Apple is on the verge of announcing their new pancake batter."

Our prediction? A revamped iPod Touch to be released after Apple's Back to School promotion ends in September.

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