Apple Issues Invitations for iPad 3 Event on March 7

On Tuesday, Apple issued invites for the long awaited iPad 3. The invite showed the iPad in use and has the following line across the bottom, “We have something you really have to see. And touch.” The event will be held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco and is scheduled to begin at 10:00 AM Pacific / 1:00 PM Eastern. Rumors prior to this invitation suggested that Apple was planning to hold the event on March 7th, in line with other reports from top sources, including The Wall Street Journal. Apple is expected to introduce the new iPad 3 with a higher resolution display (likely Retina), a new A6 chip, possibly a more tapered (albeit thicker, 0.81 mm to be exact) design, and a better camera (likely in line with the iPhone 4S).

The Debut of the Verizon iPhone on Tuesday (Fact or Fiction?)

So it began, shortly after the release of the iPhone 3G, talks of a 4G iPhone on Verizon. At this point, AT&T customers had already experienced 3G firsthand and were becoming aware of lagging download and upload speeds, overall slow data performance, and an endless number of dropped calls. Now, let’s fast forward to 2011 and talk about where the Verizon iPhone stands today.

The Verizon iPhone now, as of January, 9th, 2011 stands on the cusp of release. It’s peaking right over the horizon, waiting for the sun to rise on a cold Tuesday morning so it can show itself onstage. What can we expect from this special Verizon event planned? Well, I let you in on my theories, but remember that they’re only theories, based on numerous gadget sites, Gruber statistics and my imagination.

1) iPhone 5 release, but not now..

My first theory began after reading a rather short, unsupported post by TechCrunch, based on nothing but WSJ articles claiming “someone who is familiar with the matter”. Basically, Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam comes on stage and announces that Verizon is very happy to be working with Apple and they are currently working on their LTE network so iPhone will be up and running as soon as that’s ready. Steve Jobs makes a surprise appearance and talks about working with Verizon and what’s going to happen with AT&T as well as contracts. No iPhone will be announced or revealed, Apple and Verizon will simply put out there that iPhone will definitely be on Verizon. At this point, they will not specify as to what iPhone it will be, the iPhone 5 or the current iPhone 4.

2) The Death of iPhone Exclusitivity on AT&T (Almost..)

This theory would be the most interesting one yet. Ready? Okay. Verizon announces that they are recieving the current iPhone 4 and everything goes along smoothly and as planned (blogs go crazy, the people rejoice for lack of better knowledge of what lies ahead). At this point, with the iPhone 4 on Verizon, AT&T is left in the dust, or so it seems. Simply put, since Verizon recieved the iPhone 4 and AT&T still has another year left on their Exclusitivity contract, they get iPhone 5. Apple continues to sell iPhone 4′s on Verizon and AT&T but AT&T gets the latest phone. Both networks or possible just Verizon (AT&T would be gone in 2012) get the iPhone 6 in 2012. Possible? Just maybe.

3) Location, Location, Location

My craziest theory but one that makes sense, kind of.. At this point of the Verizon iPhone saga, we have no hard evidence that next Tuesday’s event is an Apple related one. So, since everybody else is drinking the Apple-Verizon Kool-Aid, I’ll go along with it. Apple’s events always have some secret underlying message. Well, where’s the message in this one? The Location. It is in Frederick P. Rose Hall, located in New York City’s Lincoln Center on 60th street. This is blocks from Apple’s latest retail creation and very close to Apple’s main flagship store in NYC, locatedon 5th Ave. Coincedence? I think not! Verizon clearly waited until after CES 2011 to announce something and of all places, they chose Lincoln Center. Something’s definitely up. Something Apple like.

There you have it folks, my crazy or not so crazy theories, it’s out on the web for you to interpret to your liking. So, to really find out what’s afoot, I guess we’ll have to wait until next Tuesday, but until then, it doesn’t hurt to dream!

Apple’s New iLineup : New iPod Shuffle, Redesigned Nano, Marvelous Touch

image from Engadget

Apple updated their iPod lineup last Wednesday and we have to agree that it was a much better event than Apple’s iPod event last September which turned out to be a much predicted dud. Apple updated the iPod Shuffle to bring the buttons back from the second gen, made it even smaller and according to Steve Jobs , combined the best of both VoiceOver and Buttons. The iPod Nano got the biggest redesign of the iPod family. The nano lost it’s click wheel and it’s rear-facing camera but gained a multitouch user interface, a redesigned body, and a clip similiar to the Shuffle. Users also pointed out that the Nano no longer plays video, which many predicted that Apple took out in order turn attention to it’s 4th generation iPod touch. The iPod Touch got a redesigned flontplate, sports a front facing camera for FaceTime, a rear camera for 720p HD Video (with Mic; also for VOIP through FaceTime) and .7MP stills (which isn’t great but satisfies the need for a Rearfacing Camera). The iPod Touch also got the Retina Display (326 PPI), the A4 chip, 3 axis Gyroscope and dedicated speaker port (as opposed to when sound would just leak out of the dock and earphone port). The iPod Touch now features FaceTime which has it’s own dedicated app, run through email. Users can use their Apple ID or create a new email to make calls with. FaceTime now works between new 4th gen iPod Touch users and existing iPhone 4 users. Prices for these devices are listed below.

iPod Shuffle

Only offered in 2GB – $49

iPod Nano

8GB – $149

16GB – $179

iPod Touch

8GB – $229

32GB – $299

64GB – $399

Apple to Stream Live Media Event

Apple announced yesterday evening that they would be streaming live video of their upcoming Media Event through Apple.com. This is the first time in recent memory and Apple history that Apple has streamed an event live. Apple has limited the viewing only to owners of a Mac running Snow Leopard 10.6, and iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad are only allowed to stream the live event. Apple is basing this streaming on their newly introduced HTTP Streaming which is based on open standards. HTTP was introuduced to iOS devices through iOS 3.0 and through Snow Leopard in August of last year. The event starts 10AM PDT and 1PM EST.

(Via Macrumors)