The Apple iPhone - Verizon Rumor Mill: All Wrong?

The Apple iPhone – Verizon Rumor Mill: All Wrong?

Written by Dave Courbanou 1
January 7, 2011

If you like playing connect the dots, you might like this rumor roundup. What do you get when the Verizon CEO says nothing about an iPhone in his CES 2011 keynote, but rumors abound that Apple is announcing a vacation blackout (typical during iPhone launches) for the end of January? For some, it's a confirmation iPhone is coming to Verizon. For others, like me, it causes a heavy sigh.

If you like playing connect the dots, you might like this rumor roundup. What do you get when the Verizon CEO says nothing about an iPhone in his CES 2011 keynote, but rumors abound that Apple is announcing a vacation blackout (typical during iPhone launches) for the end of January? For some, it’s a confirmation iPhone is coming to Verizon. For others, like me, it causes a heavy sigh. Here’s why I still don’t believe Apple is planning a surprise Verizon iPhone …

Tip of the hat goes to MacRumors.com for grabbing the highlights of the Verizon CEO’s speech (which was focused heavily on Android and competing with the iPad) and the rumor roundup of the Apple employee vacation blackout. That’s pretty much all you need to know. Blackouts usually happen during the summer when the iPhone launches. So naturally people are speculating like crazy.

Let me cool your heels a little bit:

In case anyone forgot, iPad 2 is set to debut some point in January 2011. If you remember correctly, availability for the first iPad was 90 days post announcement, leaving people waiting until the start of April 2010 before they could get their hands on one. But Apple has likely perfected the device, and Apple could want to get iPad 2 into the hands of consumers as soon as possible.

Remember how the new MacBook Airs were available right after their October 2010 announcement? I think Apple plans on surprising the consumer market by making the iPad 2 available right after the announcement, in some ways disrupting the afterglow of CES 2011 and the buzz of Android tablets, which may not debut until Q2 of 2011.

A fast iPad 2 deliver would be quite a coup for Apple.

But that’s just my opinion. What’s yours?

Sign up for The VAR Guy’s Weekly Newsletter, Webcasts and Resource Center. Follow The VAR Guy via RSS, Facebook and Twitter. Follow experts at VARtweet. Read The VAR Guy’s editorial disclosures here.