My guess is its clamped down for some type of durability testing, like vibrations or something.
If You look closely to the iPad and the iPhone comparison you can see a camera on the iPhone and the attenna.
Seriously...
I'm glad he bumped it. Was this one of the earliest photos of iPhone 4?
Dude, its an iPad, not iPhone 4...
So a larger version of the iPad? Interesting.
If it is true, I don't know if I'd use it myself. An iPad/whatever this would be named can't replace a laptop in terms of utility and an iPad the size of laptop would be a less durable and useful version of a laptop to me.
Which smaller device?
A can't find today any need for a tablet except reading books/text (which there are lighter and more comfortable options). For browsing, I can use a smartphone or a laptop. I'll buy a tablet at the time it will be cabable of running desktop apps. Then I could plug it in a monitor, pair bluetooth input devices and use that as a workstation when I need. Perhaps it will happen at the launch of Windows 8 or 9 / and iOS 6 or 7.