US Mac supplier Other World Computing (OWC) has had enough of waiting for Apple to ship a tablet form-factor Mac and plans to launch one of its own next week. Dubbed the ModBook, the unit's appears to be a standard MacBook disassembled and put back together again as a pen-computing platform.

The ModBook is a joint project between OWC and US hardware customisation specialist Axiotron. Neither company's saying much about the machine until its formal unveiling at Macworld Expo next week, but they did reveal the ModBook will be offered with an optional integrated GPS receiver.

Mac OS X already has support for pen input, thanks to its Inkwell writing- and gesture-recognition system.

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ModBook isn't the first portable Mac remodelled in tablet form. Only a year ago, in January 2006, an enterprising Mac fan offered a reconstructed iBook on eBay as the iTabs. The machines were customised for successful bidders on a one-by-one basis.

The ModBook incorporates the MacBook's iSight webcam and is DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive. ®