Is You-Know-Who Designing An Apple Netbook?

According to a report published by The Wall Street Journal over the weekend, Steve Jobs was involved in the recent overhaul to the iPhone operating system that is prepared to debut later this year. The article also claims that Jobs is involved in a project that will deliver a portable device bigger than an iPod Touch or iPhone but smaller than its current laptops.

According to the Journal report, which cites its own sources, Jobs is still Apple's creative director even though he took a medical leave of absence with the company that started in January of this year. While Tim Cook, COO of Apple, maintains day-to-day control of the company, Jobs continues to be a part of the decision-making process for future projects.

Last month Reuters reported that Apple will take a third-quarter delivery of 10-inch touch screens from Taiwan-based Wintek.

If Jobs is involved in the development of an Apple netbook it would mark an about-face from comments he made in 2008. Speaking at an Apple event, Jobs called the netbook market "nascent" but said that the company would take a "wait-and-see" approach.

Less than a year later, that wait-and-see approach may be abandoned in order to capture some of the profits that the netbook market is seeing.

Assuming the Journal's report is true, in typical Apple fashion the company has let the netbook market mature and demand to be ratcheted up before making a move. While the company is known for its slick design and easy usability, Apple—as the recently released Microsoft ads would suggest—is also known for charging a premium for its product.

Netbooks are aimed at delivering ultramobility with limited hardware specs with an easy-to-swallow price tag. If Apple does ultimately bring a netbook to market, it probably wouldn't resemble a traditional netbook offering.

And as MacBook Air and MacBook Pro owners know, there is a cost associated with products from the Jobs crew. And with Jobs on the record saying that his company doesn't know how to deliver a $500 computer that's "not a piece of junk," Apple may miss the mark.

Jobs is scheduled to return to Apple in June.