Rumors are swirling all over again about Apple bringing a tablet device to market. Apple Insider is confident “that the company is still actively developing the device and intends to bring it to market only when it meets the stringent demands of chief executive Steve Jobs.”

Sources from Tech Crunch say that the device will debut in the Fall of 2009 with a 7 or 9 inch screen, making it larger than the iPod Touch and iPhone:

We’ve got this from three independent sources close to Apple: expect a large screen iPod touch device to be released in the Fall of ‘09, with a 7 or 9 inch screen. Prototypes have been seen and handled by one of our sources, and Apple is talking to OEMs in Asia now about mass production.

While the Cupertino firm has been toying with a touch-tablet device for a few years, it was concerned that consumers may not respond favorably to such a device. Microsoft’s Tablet PC was met with a lukewarm reception, and is primarily used in vertical markets such as sales, healthcare, and education. The difference now, according to Tech Crunch, is that the App Store is highly successful, which makes a larger device with touch input seem plausible.