Wow. New York. And I am in SF. We had a hunch.
Also the unverified source that gave us that earlier info also told us:
VZiPhone: Release window: Feb 9-16. The vacation blackout :Feb 1-16 give or take.
iPad2 will be announced on the 1st week of March, released within 30 days.
Update: The Wall Street Journal says it’s the Verizon iPhone.
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COMPUTERWORLD: This is not the year the iPad meets its match. Analyst Michael Gartenberg doesn’t see anything to threaten Apple, even as AAPL moves beyond dominance of the tablet market — as its mind-share grows, iPad is making like the iPod and defining the tablet market.
Apple isn’t at CES once again this year and as per usual Cupertino’s shadow looms above the giant US trade show, where it seems competitors, including Microsoft, intend introducing their own iPad competitors, even as we learn that existing Android tablets may never get a software upgrade. Some highlights:
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZNxjBKI0fI&w=640&h=385]
Clear discontinued the iSpot personal 4G hotspot for iOS devices yesterday. The iSpot was easily hacked to work like its more expensive counterpart with all computers and even had trouble with some iPads without hacking.
Clear recently dropped the price of the iSpot by 80% and will continue selling them until they sell out of retail inventory.
Sprint (who own 54% of Clear) is also about to announce a new Mifi device which may also account for the iSpot discontinuation (below). One major drawback of the iSpot is that it only works in the few spots that have Clear 4G, it doesn’t drop down to 3G if you leave a 4G area. The new device, which also uses Sprint’s 3G network, does.
If the leaked Skype mobile video help pages weren’t enough, Skype now has a full blown teaser page demonstrating a bunch of mobile video examples. Enough! Give us the goods already.
Tran says that [Android] phones made from the BCM2157 chipset will retail for under $100 and may dip as low as $75. Those devices should debut in just 3-6 months (and we might hear about them next month at CES).
That means that popular pre-paid Android devices that currently can be found as low as $180 will drop by half in the next half year.
Apple’s low-end strategy so far has been to offer the last year’s model for $99 with a two year contract. That contract is at least worth $350 (AT&T’s ETF) which puts old retail iPhones at $450. Buying an iPhone 4 off contract costs $650.
What’s more important is that with Apple’s AT&T agreement, you have exactly one data plan option in the US (soon to grow). Even with Verizon and maybe even Sprint and T-Mobile, there isn’t going to be a $25/month data plan for the iPhone anytime soon. For the budget conscious, Android is the only smartphone game in town.
So how does Apple respond?
Ever get the feeling that these companies like to mess with us? After the reported Skype iPhone video conferencing ‘leaked help document’ Skype took the document offline. Today however, it is back up with some new company joining in the fun:
Verizon.
So there you have it: Skype, Verizon, iPhone. CES. Join us for coverage on Jan 6th.
Also, Skype is hyping an iPad only version of their software as well.
Even though the iPhone application is fully compatible with the iPad, we’re still always striving to bring the best to our Skype users, which is why we’re developing a Skype application designed specifically for the iPad. Watch the website for further updates.
Well, they have to be doing something over at HP with that $1B acquisition. According to FoxNews, they are going to announce a (gasp) tablet…
HP will introduce three models of the PalmPad at CES, with minor hardware differences distinguishing them. All three will run a new iteration of the WebOS operating system, version 2.5.1; they’re collectively a spin-off of the never-released HP Slate. A fourth version won’t be shown off at CES, I’m told, but it will be custom made for university students to prove how versatile the machines can be.The consumer version of the PalmPad will run on Sprint’s fast 4G network, but otherwise it has hardware specs nearly identical to Apple’s iPad. There are minor differences, of course: It has a mini HDMI port, for example, while the iPad requires a special dongle for video output. And there are front- and rear-facing cameras (1.3 megapixel and 3 megapixel, respectively), both with LED flashes.The PalmPad is slightly thinner than the iPad with rounded edges closer to the Amazon Kindle. At 1.25 lbs, the PalmPad also sports a USB 3.0 port and a “multi-switch” just like the one on the Palm Pre.
I can’t wait to take advantage of the front facing flash camera.
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En7cdBhlrGU&w=640&h=385]
(I checked the date. It says today.) The NYTimes says that Microsoft is going to announce some iPad competin’ Slates at CES:
Next month, at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Microsoft will present a slew of new slates that it hopes will offer some competition to the Apple iPad, which has quickly become the leader in this market.
According to people familiar with Microsoft’s plans, Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive, is expected to announce a number of these devices when he takes the stage at C.E.S., showcasing devices built by Samsung and Dell, among a number of other manufacturing partners.
This apparently has been an anual event since 2000.
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