CNet’s Crave blog has re-ignited rumours that Apple is working on a new tablet form-factor Mac.

Citing sources from a recent dinner party the blog claims that Taiwanese manufacturer Asustek is helping Apple build its new OS X based tablet computer.

“We checked back with our source at Asus on a different day and they confirmed that the Apple Tablet will not be based on existing Asus designs such as the R1,” the report states. “It will come from a completely new blueprint, possibly based on the patent Apple filed back in May 2005.”

In September, AppleInsider highlighted rumours that Apple could be reinventing the Newton.

The rumour site claims that Apple has a PDA device that operates using the same multi-touch OS X base that the iPhone uses. The device is said to be around 1.5x times the size of an iPhone and feature a high-resolution (720×480) screen which consumes almost the entire surface.

The last rumours of a tablet Mac form-factor were in November of 2006 when Smarthouse.com.au reported that Apple was working feverishly to release a tablet Mac in 2007.