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American iPhone users frustrated with AT&T’s slow data speeds and dropped calls may soon have an alternative.

Verizon yesterday sent out invitations to a Tuesday, January 11 press event in New York.

Many believe that this event will be the debut of the iPhone on Verizon.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that “a person familiar with the matter” had confirmed the Tuesday event would be the announcement of a Verizon iPhone. Earlier, the New York Times cited “people with direct knowledge of Apples plans” who said that Verizon would soon be adding the iPhone to its lineup. Both phrases typically mean that a company has delivered a controlled leak to the newspaper.

Adding credence to the codewords, Gizmodo reports that it did not receive an invitation, despite having a good relationship with Verizon — while Apple-centric blogger Jim Dalrymple, who never covers Verizon, did. Gizmodo has been excluded from every Apple press event since it published photos of the then-unreleased iPhone 4. Gizmodo’s conclusion: Apple is behind Verizon for this event.

Many iPhone users have been frustrated with AT&T, the exclusive U.S. carrier of the iPhone since its launch in 2007. The company’s network frequently drops calls (especially for iPhone users) and many users crave faster data speeds and more extensive geographic coverage. Despite adding additional infrastructure, AT&T appears to have had difficulties keeping up with the demand for the wildly popular phone. Many hope that Verizon would do a better job — or would at least offer an alternative to customers who like Apple’s phone, but don’t like AT&T.

We’ve been unable to confirm the NYT and WSJ reports independently, but the signs point strongly in one direction: Verizon is about to get the iPhone.

Maybe it will even be available in white.

An award-winning writer specializing in technology, science and business, Dylan Tweney is a senior editor at Wired.com and publisher of tinywords, the world’s smallest magazine.
Follow @dylan20 and @gadgetlab on Twitter.

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Don’t believe the recent gossip that Nokia and Microsoft are hooking up to make a Windows phone. A soon-to-be-former employee of Nokia claims it isn’t happening.

On his personal blog, Watts Martin explained that a partnership between Microsoft and Nokia isn’t even close to happening, because it’s unlikely Nokia would cede control of an OS to a third party.

“There is no guarantee of that at all, because it is stark raving loony,” Martin wrote. “A lot of the reporting on Nokia Ive seen seems to miss a fundamental fact: they are, in their fashion, just as insistent on control over their ecosystem as Apple is.”

Nokia has bee a diehard supporter of Symbian, an open-source operating system that’s a decade old. For years, Symbian has been the worldwide leader in smartphone OS marketshare, but some analysts say it could soon be dethroned by Google’s Android OS, which has a more modern user interface and several manufacturing partners.

“Market share is an existential threat to Symbian, it imperils the very existence of the platform,” said Gartner analyst Nick Jones. “And the main reason Symbian is losing share is the user experience which isnt competitive with Apple or Android.”

Eldar Murtazin, editor in chief of Mobile-Review editor, claimed last week that Microsoft had begun talks to make Nokia-branded smartphones running the Windows Phone 7 OS. The bleak outlook for Symbian got the tech press wondering if such a partnership would be likely.

Martin’s answer to that question would be a firm “No.”

“Nokia really does have their OS strategy figured out, and its a good one,” he said. “What they dont have figured out is user experience design…. The good news for them is that over the last year theyve started to take all those problem seriously. The bad news is that they needed to have been taking them seriously in 2007.”

Photo of a Samsung phone running Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7: Mike Kane/Wired.com

Brian is a Wired.com technology reporter focusing on Apple and Microsoft. He’s also writing a book about the always-connected mobile future called Always On (publishing April 2011 by Da Capo).
Follow @bxchen and @gadgetlab on Twitter.

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Artist’s rendering of rumored iPad 2 speaker grille

Today’s iPad rumor comes courtesy of Japanese blog MacOtakara. According to “sources in China”, the iPad 2 will be smaller, flatter and have a bigger, beefier speaker.

Even MacOtakara is skeptical of the rumors, but true or not they sound plausible. The new iPad will shave 3mm off the screen’s bezel, making for a smaller tablet but with the same sized display, dropping the overall dimensions from 242.8mm to 239mm (height) and 189.7mm to 186mm (width).

The back of the iPad will be flatter than the current model, leading to less wobbling when poking at the screen whilst the iPad lays on a table.

Most interesting of all is a new speaker, a bigger, louder unit which crawls around the curve at the back of the iPad. The image above is a rendering by Taiyo Fujii for MacOtakara, showing what it might look like, interior metal gauze and all.

This larger speaker fits perfectly with the leaked iPad 2 case design, which has a large cutout that wraps around the rear in just this spot. In fact, when I saw that case design earlier this month, I immediately assumed it was for a bigger speaker.

Finally, and labelled as “unreliable” by MacOtakara, the new iPad will have two cameras, one front-firing and one rear-facing. The rear cam will be the same as the one in the iPhone 4. These units are, according to the source, already in production, and will ship in January.

This January date is like more likely to mean shipping to Apple, not shipping to customers. Establishing January as the launch date for new iPads would kill all iPad Christmas purchases in future.

Equipped with large speakers ‘iPad (2nd generation)’ is released in January 2011? [MacOtakara]

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Microsoft plans to introduce a special version of Windows for low-powered mobile devices like tablets at next month’s Consumer Electronics Show, according to multiple reports.

The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg claim to have both heard that Microsoft will discuss a version of Windows that supports mobile ARM chips and other low-power processors. WSJ adds that the new Windows OS isn’t expected to be available for two years.

My instant reaction to these reports: WTF?

Microsoft already has a new version of Windows designed for mobile devices: Windows Phone 7. The company hired new executives, spent million of dollars on development facilities, rethought its entire mobile strategy and took an entire year to whip up a touch-friendly mobile OS from scratch.

In terms of power and features, Windows Phone 7 hasn’t caught up with Android or iOS yet, but it’s a solid start. It’s certainly more fit for tabletization than the desktop Windows. There are many reasons why Windows 7-based tablets make no sense.

Windows Phone 7 is also light years ahead of Microsoft’s previous mobile OS, Windows Mobile, to say nothing of Windows CE, Microsoft’s first mobile OS, which lives on as an “embedded” OS powering hospital devices, manufacturing equipment, point-of-sale devices, and the like.

So why in the world would Microsoft throw more money and talent at a new mobile version of Windows when it’s already made great progress on a newer, better one?

I like the well-informed Mary Jo Foley’s skeptical interpretation of the news. She thinks that Microsoft will announce a new version of Windows Embedded Compact, a trimmed-down version of Windows CE made especially for enterprise devices. That OS, which is currently in beta, already runs on ARM, and might make a suitable platform for Windows-powered tablets, especially the kind attached to your UPS driver’s barcode scanner.

Among other points,Jo Foley notes that the timing is right, and that Microsoft announced tablet partners earlier this year who are already in the business of making Windows Embedded Compact devices.

That outcome would make a lot more sense to me, and if Jo Foley’s right, Microsoft’s “tablet” news won’t be as exciting for the average gadget geek aching for a Microsoft-powered iPad competitor (unless you have a urinary tract disorder).

Photo of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer at CES 2010: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Brian is a Wired.com technology reporter focusing on Apple and Microsoft. He’s also writing a book about the always-connected mobile future called Always On (publishing April 2011 by Da Capo).
Follow @bxchen and @gadgetlab on Twitter.

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Nokia, known for its religious-like devotion to the Symbian operating system, may be working with Microsoft to develop new phones running the Windows phone OS instead.

Nokia and Microsoft have begun talks to make Nokia-branded smartphones running the Windows Phone 7 OS, according to Eldar Murtazin, editor in chief of Mobile-Review editor. (Murtazin is known for gaining early access to the Nokia N8 phone long before its release, which led Nokia to file a report with the Russian police).

If true, adopting Windows Phone 7 could work well for Nokia, whose Symbian OS is outdated compared to more user-friendly Android-powered phones and Apple’s iPhone. Critics have called the Symbian OS “broken.”

The Windows Phone 7 strategy, as I’ve reported before, is more thought out than Google’s. Rather than simply license the OS to any manufacturer, Microsoft is requiring OEMs to adhere to a standard set of hardware features for any phone running Windows Phone 7. (Each phone must have three buttons, for example, and include a Snapdragon processor.)

What would Nokia get in return for playing by Microsoft’s rules? As part of the negotiation, manufacturers get a few default tiles on the Windows Phone 7 home screen devoted to the OEM’s proprietary applications; the rest of the space goes to Microsoft’s default apps (phone, calendar, etc).

So hypothetically, Nokia could put its own fancy GPS app on the home screen that charges a monthly rate to customers, for example. (Most of us would call this “bloatware,” but proprietary OEM apps are removable on Windows Phone 7, unlike bloatware on Android.)

From Unwired View

Image courtesy of Microsoft

Brian is a Wired.com technology reporter focusing on Apple and Microsoft. He’s also writing a book about the always-connected mobile future called Always On (publishing April 2011 by Da Capo).
Follow @bxchen and @gadgetlab on Twitter.

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With the next-generation iPad rumored for a spring 2011 release, Asian websites are posting images of purported third-party cases for the device.

The cases, spotted by Apple fan blogs MacRumors, Powerbook Medic and iLounge,sport common characteristics: a hole for a rear-facing camera and a rectangular hole that could be for an SD-card slot.

The premature-accessory game is a crapshoot. Occasionally accessory makers have sources connected to Apple in the plastics industry, who leak characteristics of new Apple hardware so they can get a head start on making cases. There have been times when leaked case designs accurately foreshadow new hardware features, but also times when they were wrong.

If the iPad cases above are based on real characteristics of the iPad, they reveal some interesting tidbits. Many have speculated the iPad 2 would gain a front-facing camera, but a rear-facing camera, as the cases suggest, was less expected. Also, the possible addition of an SD-card slot would eliminate the need for buying acamera-connection accessory made by Apple.

Brian is a Wired.com technology reporter focusing on Apple and Microsoft. He’s also writing a book about the always-connected mobile future called Always On (publishing April 2011 by Da Capo).
Follow @bxchen and @gadgetlab on Twitter.

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Apple has put in the request for its Asian partner Foxconn to produce and ship the second-generation iPad within 100 days with plans for a spring 2011 release, according to a Taiwanese publication.

Foxconn was notified of plans to ship the iPad by February 2011, with initial shipments of 400,000 to 600,000 units, according to DigiTimes. Sources expect the product to launch April 2011.

This timing is plausible because the original iPad hit stores April this year. Apple’s iPhones are refreshed once a year, and a similar one-year product cycle for the iPad is realistic.

Journalists and analysts have speculated that the next-generation iPad will come closer in line with the iPhone 4. Here are some features that we can expect:

• A 9.7-inch “retina” display similar to the iPhone 4’s
• A front-facing camera and a built-in FaceTime video phone app
• Expanded support for AirPlay streaming (as suggested by a Steve Jobs e-mail)

Meanwhile, here are some items on our wish list:

• A physical switch that locks screen orientation like it used to (Apple recently modified the functionality of the switch into a mute button, which nobody seems to enjoy).
• Tighter integration with the new Apple TV, allowing you to stream media from the Apple TV to the iPad (because currently you can only do the other way around). Streaming movie rentals on the road with an iPad would be pretty sweet.

What are some features you’d like to see in the next iPad? Add your ideas in the comments below.

Photo of a first-generation iPad: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Brian is a Wired.com technology reporter focusing on Apple and Microsoft. He’s also writing a book about the always-connected mobile future called Always On (publishing April 2011 by Da Capo).
Follow @bxchen and @gadgetlab on Twitter.

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Rumors are buzzing about an impending Windows Phone 7 software update that will bring Microsoft’s new mobile OS up to speed with the iPhone.

While we like Windows Phone 7, it seems highly unlikely that it will catch up to the iPhone quite that fast.

Tech blog WP Central quotes Chris Walsh, who worked on an early jailbreak-like hack for Windows Phone 7 called Chevron WP7, claiming that in January 2011, Windows Phone 7 will get a “massive” software update that’s worthy of being called Windows Phone 8.

“MS took 3 months to do what Apple did in 3 years,” Walsh tweeted.

Walsh claims the update will introduce Bing turn-to-turn GPS navigation, custom ringtone support, copy-and-paste and some form of multitasking.

While I believe Windows Phone 7 will soon gain these features, that hardly sounds like a massive update to me. The only major new feature would be multitasking; custom ringtones I’d file under “meh,” turn-by-turn navigation is a thumbs-up but hardly mindblowing, and copy-and-paste is yes, an important tool, but not that big: Android has only partial support for copy-and-paste, and that hasn’t stopped it from becoming the most popular smartphone operating system.

Furthermore, to say such an upgrade would “do what Apple did in 3 years” is an incredible overstatement. To catch up with the iPhone, Windows Phone 7 devices would also need front-facing cameras, something comparable to AirPlay to stream video onto a TV box, and more — not to mention 300,000 third-party apps. Windows Phone 7 is just a month old; it’s got a lot of catching up to do, and it would take a few miracles for the platform to be up to speed with the iPhone by January.

Microsoft declined to comment.

Rather than rush out new features, I think Microsoft is probably prioritizing getting Verizon to hop on board with Windows Phone 7 a move that would boost its growth to compete with its more direct rival: Google Android. I’d place a bet on CDMA Windows Phone 7 handsets arriving before we see devices up to par with the iPhone.

Photo of Windows Phone 7 devices running software tests in a server rack: Mike Kane/Wired.com

Brian is a Wired.com technology reporter focusing on Apple and Microsoft. He’s also writing a book about the always-connected mobile future called Always On (publishing April 2011 by Da Capo).
Follow @bxchen and @gadgetlab on Twitter.

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Here’s an amusing look at just how screwed up is the Apple rumor-mill. Today’s big “news” is that the iOS 4.2 update has been “delayed”. The problem? The official launch date is simply “November”, do we still have weeks to go.

The logic works like this. Initial murmurings said that iOS 4.2, the unifying release that brings multitasking to the iPad and AirPlay to all iDevices, would be delivered tomorrow. This fits, as last week Apple released the iOS 4.2 Gold Master (GM). A GM usually goes on, unchanged, to be the official release.

Now, thanks to iPad Wi-Fi connectivity problems suffered by testers (read “people who grabbed the GM off BitTorrent), the rumors say that the release will be “delayed” until next week, either Tuesday or Friday depending on the source.

And this may all be true, but there is no delay. That’s the advantage of Apple’s secrecy. If you never announce anything until it’s ready, it can never be late ( white iPhone ).

Most consumers won’t even realize there’s an update coming until it shows up in their iTunes. And for those of us who can’t wait? Well, lets just say the iOS 4.2 GM isn’t causing any problems with my iPad 3G.

iOS 4.2 on November 16th [iPhone Hellas]

Rumor: iOS4.2 Delayed At Least a Week [TUAW]

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Rumors have been swirling around an imminent update to Panasonic’s GF-1 for the last week, but now we have a photograph of the Lumix GF-2. The word from the snitches and stool-pigeons on the street has been that the GF-2 will be tiny, and will keep the same sensor as the current GF-1.

As you can see, it is very small, with some reports claiming that it will be smaller than Sony’s NEX cameras, the current kings of the mirrorless slimming contest. This photograph was snapped by a French reader of the 43 Rumors site, outside the Salon de Photo show which opens in Paris tomorrow. This rings true: every year at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, ad billboards betray new products days before the show begins.

But you want more details, right? The GF-2 will sport a new image processor, record “Full-HD” and will come equipped with a touch-screen. Looking at the photo, it appears that the size reduction might come at the expense of utility: Apart from the shutter-release, there appear to be almost no controls on the top plate, and certainly no dials. I guess the touch screen will fold these into some slow-to-navigate menus instead. A shame, as the controls on the GF-1, which I have and love, are pretty great.

Panasonic may also be offering a new kit, with a 14mm 2.5 lens instead of the 20mm 1.7 found on the GF-1.

Hopefully Panasonic won’t mess this up. We should find out tomorrow, as the same rumor sources point to an announcement in the morning. Availability of the new model is not expected until 2011, so if this does turn out the be the LX-5 with interchangeable lenses it appears to be, you can still snap up the awesome little GF-1 before it ships.

Panasonic GF2 image spotted in Paris [43 Rumors]

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Google’s browser-based operating system, Chrome OS, will begin shipping with notebooks sometime in November, according to Asian suppliers who claim to be making parts for the devices.

Taiwanese publication DigiTimes cites “sources from component players” who claim Acer and Hewlett-Packard will soon offer Chrome OS notebooks, and Google will also be selling its own branded Chrome OS notebook made by manufacturer Inventec.

Google introduced Chrome OS in November, 2009. The operating system is built around a special version of the Google Chrome browser, modified to run web apps, and with its own underlying file and storage system. Google said that devices shipping with Chrome OS will rely on flash memory and internet storage rather than traditional hard drives. This setup will ensure extremely fast boot-up times of about 7 seconds, Google said.

“We want Google Chrome OS to be blazingly fast to boot up like a TV, said Sundar Pichai, vice president of product management for Google, during the November 2009 press conference.

A release this month would also pit Google against Apple, which recently released new MacBook Airs touting flash memory and instant-on capability.

Photo illustration by Charlie Sorrel/Wired.com

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The elusive Verizon iPhone is going to become a reality early next year, according to a chorus of mainstream publications.

Following The Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Bloomberg, now Fortune claims that a Verizon iPhone is “fait accompli” (i.e., a done deal).

Repeating past rumors, Fortune says the new iPhone will be compatible with Verizon’s CDMA network. Fortune notes that globetrotters won’t be able to use the phone outside the United States: Most international networks rely on the GSM standard, so the Verizon iPhone can’t be used as a “world phone.”

Tech observers and analysts have squabbled about a Verizon iPhone for years, and the device appears to be forthcoming. Perhaps the most telling sign was when Verizon announced earlier this month that it would sell Apple’s iPads a move that reveals that Apple and Verizon are finally partners.

Photo of an AT&T-compatible iPhone 4: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

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Apple has delayed the white model of the iPhone 4 until Spring of 2011, a release date that’s difficult to believe.

The black iPhone 4 hit stores in June, 2010, but the release of the white model was mysteriously postponed — first for a month, then to the end of the year, and now until Spring of next year.

“We’re sorry to disappoint customers waiting for the white iPhone again,” an Apple spokeswoman told Reuters, declining to explain the delay. In earlier press releases, Apple said it was facing manufacturing challenges with the white iPhone model.

The white iPhone’s long delay is strange for a company that prides meeting most of its ship dates; Apple often releases products the day Steve Jobs announces them. Also, Apple has released an iPhone upgrade each summer, so a Spring release for the iPhone 4 would be odd, since a fifth-generation iPhone would likely be due out three months later. Who would buy one then?

Apple may indeed be planning to cut its losses. Boy Genius Report, who has a solid track record with reporting scoops on cellphone news, claims receiving a tip that Apple is canceling the white iPhone altogether, and that another “delay” will be announced around March leading into the release of the iPhone 5 in June or July.

Though Apple has been mum about details explaining the delay, the departure of Mark Papermaster, Apple’s executive in charge of iPhone hardware, was a telling incident. Apple hired Papermaster in 2008 a move that his previous employer, IBM, attempted to block to prevent him from divulging secrets about its microchips. (Papermaster was a key player in developing the PowerPC chips used in previous-generation Macs.) Only two years later, in August 2010, Papermaster was gone.

Though Apple has not officially commented on whether Papermaster’s exit was a firing or a resignation, multiple anonymous sources claim he was ousted because of issues with the iPhone 4, including the antenna flaw that led to a media flurry earlier this year and the white iPhone 4’s delay.

What might the problem be with manufacturing? One lucky owner of a white iPhone 4 told blog Pocket Lint that Asian suppliers had shipped white iPhones with a white home button that didn’t match the color of the face plate one of those details that would drive Jobs crazy.

Long story short, if you’re been holding off on buying an iPhone 4 because you want a white model, don’t bother. Even if it does ship Spring, it’d probably be a bad idea to buy one because the fifth-gen iPhone would come out soon after, and you’d inevitably have buyers’ remorse. We’re pretty sure it’s delayed forever, though. For-e-ver. (See the video below for clarification.)

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

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Rumors are swirling that Barnes & Noble’s next device after the first-generation Nook will be an Android-based, full-color, touchscreen e-reader. The company will reportedly announce the e-reader/tablet hybrid, called the Nook Color, at its October 26 media event in New York.

“It’s a big step ahead, instead of chasing Amazon,” a source told CNET editor David Canroy. Canroy identifies the source as an anonymous tipster “who has proven reliable in the past.”

Reportedly, the Nook Color will have be Android-based like the current Nook, have a 7-inch screen and retail for $249. It won’t have quite as much functionality as the iPad or a full Android tablet, but it will also cost much less.

Currently, the Nook has a custom Android-based OS, a 6″ black-and-white E Ink screen, a 3.5″ color touchscreen LCD for navigation, and costs $149 ($199 for a model with 3G). Barnes & Noble will reportedly continue to sell the current Nook along with the Nook Color.

Barnes & Noble has definitely long been interested in combining e-books with color. Earlier this year, Pandigital offered a 7″ color reader with access to Barnes & Noble’s e-bookstore. The Pandigital Novel was available at many retail outlets, but was panned for poor hardware and interface design and went back to E Ink in its second iteration.

It’s possible that a color-capable Nook could use a Mirasol screen. Developed by Qualcomm, the Mirasol is low-power, is readable in direct sunlight, switches back and forth between color and black-and-white, and can play video. In August, we reported that Qualcomm was shipping 5.7″ screens at the end of 2010 for devices — including one from “a major client” — slated to appear in early 2011.

That doesn’t match the specs suggested by CNET’s source, which instead point to a 7″ LCD touchscreen. It would also mean that the new Nook wouldn’t appear until sometime next year at the earliest.

Barnes & Noble could also stick with the Nook’s two-screen approach, using a 5.7″ Mirasol screen for display and a 3.5″ LCD touchscreen for navigation. It may not run a full range of applications like a hybrid, but would be a solid media player, offering color books, photos, the web and some video on a single screen. Barnes & Noble could announce the device now, do preorders later this year, and begin shipping it in late winter or spring 2011.

That’s not quite as good as being able to sell it right away, but might slow the Kindle 3’s momentum. And with a firmware upgrade for existing Nooks on the way, they can continue to sell the discounted older device and plenty of e-books until the Nook Color arrives.

Image: Mirasol prototype e-reader.

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The iPad and iPhone have hogged the media’s attention for months, but Apple is preparing to turn the spotlight onto its Macintosh computers in a press conference Wednesday.

Just what can we expect? Apple observers are exchanging whispers about new notebooks and a preview of the next Mac operating system. Here’s a quick rundown of what Apple is likely to unveil at the presser.

New MacBooks

Multiple independent publications received tips about major upgrades for Apple’s ultra-thin notebook, the MacBook Air. Rumor has it that the Air will come in two different sizes 13.3 inches and 11.6 inches and come with an even thinner unibody enclosure.

The internals could be even more interesting. AppleInsider claims the Air will include flash storage, which would theoretically enable extremely fast boot times and “instant-on” capabilities. Cult of Mac adds that the Air will have a bigger battery providing eight to 10 hours of battery life.

These rumors seem plausible given that a bigger battery would follow the trend of Apple integrating built-in batteries into its other MacBooks, which get about 10 hours of battery life. Flash storage and instant-on capability on a notebook would be a logical next step following the iPad.

Publications haven’t been tipped off about new MacBook Pros, but it’s likely we’ll see incremental upgrades for these notebooks as well: They were last upgraded about six months ago, and on average the MacBook Pro gets refreshed every seven months.

Mac OS X Lion

Apple’s press invite includes an image of a lion, so it’s fairly obvious part of the event will provide a sneak peek on the next-gen Mac OS codenamed Lion. Our friends at MacStories received a tip that OS X will abandon the current Aqua-based scroll bars in favor of iOS’s translucent black scroll bar, which disappears whenever you’re not scrolling.

Also, a “Quick Look” feature will enable you to get a pop-up view with some details about a file that you select with the Spotlight search tool, according to MacStories.

That can’t be all there is to it. We’re guessing that OS Lion will introduce features such as instant-on capability, and some significant performance boosts for the entire Mac family.

Wired.com will be reporting live from Apple headquarters Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. PT. Stay tuned for the news.

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More rumored details of a new 11-inch MacBook Air are trickling in. This time, the rather comprehensive list of new features comes from ex-Wired.com editor and Cult of Mac boss Leander Kahney, and even includes some guesses at the price.

According to Kahney’s “well-placed source”, there will be two versions of the new MBA announced this coming Wednesday, a redesigned 13.3-inch model and an all-new 11.6-inch model. Both will be faster and less under-powered than the current sleek-but-slow MacBook Air.

Here’s the list: A bigger battery will give 8-10 hours of use, which is
similar to what is already claimed for the MacBook Pro. The case will be thinner, and will replace the current curves with a “boxier” unibody, looking more like the iPhone 4 than the old MBA.

The lone USB-port will be joined by another, on the other side of the machine, and I’m guessing that this means that the drop-down door will be ditched – it always seemed a little awkward anyway. These ports will be joined by a Mini DisplayPort port.

Inside, RAM is now upgradeable, and the models will ship with 2GB and 4GB depending on size. The SSD, too, will be upgradeable, and storage can be supplemented with an SD card in a new slot on the right-side of the machine.

Kahney is more skeptical of his sources reports of pricing, which puts this hot machine into direct competition with the MacBook. The numbers are $1000 for the 11-inch and $1,100 for the 13-incher. This does seem too low.

But what of form factor? The Cult of Mac post features the mockup above, but I’m guessing that it may be more similar to an iPad with a keyboard attached. The current, full-sized Bluetooth aluminum keyboard from Apple is around an inch and a half wider than the iPad, which has a 9.7-inch screen. Something this size, without the keyboard “bezel” around Apple’s other notebook keyboards, would marry well with a larger iPad-style screen.

Another guess would be that there won’t be an SSD, but instead the storage will be similar to that found in the iPad, which currently maxes out at 64GB. Add an SD-card and that’s not a bad idea. True or false? We only have to wait until Wednesday and all will be revealed.

New MacBook Air: Bigger Battery, Sharper Case [Cult of Mac]

Illustration: Cult of Mac/ Dan Draper

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The next MacBook Air will be smaller, faster and cheaper than its predecessor, and we could hear about it as soon as next week, according to a rumor posted by AppleInsider.

Sources told blog AppleInsider that Apple is preparing to launch a redesigned MacBook Air with an 11.6-inch display down from the current 13.3-inch model equipped with a miniature solid state drive “card” that resembles a stick of RAM rather than a traditional hard drive.

AppleInsider speculates that the usage of flash storage will enable extremely fast boot times and “instant-on” capabilities while driving down production costs.

Apple introduced the MacBook Air in January 2008 during a Macworld Expo event. The ultrathin subnotebook cost $1,800 at launch; Apple in 2009 dropped the price to $1,500.

AppleInsider’s report comes in line with claims previously made by DigiTimes, which said Apple was manufacturing 11.6-inch MacBooks in late September.

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Now that Apple has shut everybody up about the iPhone 4 antenna with free cases, it faces another potential problem: Those cases could potentially cause damage to the handset’s glass body, according to Ryan Block of GDGT.

Block, a well-sourced tech journalist who was formerly chief of Engadget, claims sources both inside and outside Apple told him that Apple retail stores have stopped selling third-party iPhone cases that slide on to the iPhone 4. These cases are prone to particulate matter getting stuck between the case and the rear of the phone, causing unexpected scratching that can lead to cracking of the glass, Block said.

“To put it another way: Apple is afraid you might buy a standard slide-on iPhone case, put it on your phone, and then discover the next time you take it off that the entire back of your device has been shattered by no fault of your own,” Block wrote in a post Thursday afternoon.

Defusing conspiracy theorists, Block added that halting third-party iPhone case sales is not in Apple’s best interest: accessories that have been approved byApple’s “Made for iPhone” program give a chunk of their sales (10 to 15 percent) to Apple in exchange for shelf room at Apple stores.

Despite its hot sales and glowing reviews, the iPhone 4 has seen its share of problems. Shortly after the handset’s July release, many consumers independently reported that covering the gap in the lower-left corner of the device caused significant signal loss. The media piled on this phenomenon, and in response, Apple’s Steve Jobs held a press conference to address concerns by offering free third-party cases to alleviate the issue (an offer that has since expired). The episode has been dubbed “Antennagate.”

Separately, the white model of the iPhone 4 still has not shipped, and Apple has not provided an explanation for the delay.

Weeks after the Antennagate press conference, The New York Times reported the departure of Mark Papermaster, the Apple executive in charge of the iPhone’s hardware. Multiple publications independently heard his departure was a firing over hardware issues related to the iPhone 4, which seems plausible when you consider that the mysterious delay of the white iPhone 4, the Antennagate fiasco and the new potential problem with the iPhone 4’s glass.

Apple did not immediately return a request for comment.

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

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Good morning Gadget Lab readers. It’s time for today’s overzealous iPad speculation. In this episode we take a look at the “new” iPad case, which will apparently sport two dock-connectors, with a second port on the side to enable landscape docking.

The “evidence” comes from the Mission Repair blog, a somewhat suspect source as we shall see. Mission repair appears to have gotten its hands on spare parts for the next-gen iPad. The aluminum shell has a second slot on the long side.

I call bluff. Apple has indeed filed for a patent showing two ports of some kind, but duplication of function like this seems distinctly un-Apple. Take a second look at that slot, though, and you’ll see it is just the right size for an SD-card slot, something Apple already builds in to the iMac and MacBook Pro (I held my iPad up to the iMac for comparison and the size is just right).

Also, doesn’t it seem a little odd that a repair company would already have spares for an as-yet unreleased iPad? Apple has a history of making small revisions in the first year of a new product (a memory increase on the original iPhone, for example) but major revisions on mobile devices come one year apart, like clockwork.

We have seen Mission Repair’s work before. Back in February, before the iPad shipped, the company posted a picture of the internal frame of an iPad which turned out to be real. The site claimed that it had space for a front-facing camera, but this turned out to be the gap for the ambient light sensor. Sure, they got ahold of the parts before launch, but weeks, not months before.

Double dock iPad? Nah. I don’t see it. An SD card slot? Along with a FaceTime camera in a new, February/April iPad release, I’d put money on it.

iPad Landscape docking? You decide! [Mission Repair]

Photos: Mission Repair

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Apple will begin mass producing a Verizon-compatible iPhone that will debut in early 2011, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

The Verizon iPhone will be similar to the iPhone 4 in design and be based on the CDMA standard used by Verizon, according to WSJ, who cites “people briefed by Apple.”

Apple does not officially comment on product rumors.

WSJ’s latest article is slightly inconsistent with its March report claiming that Apple would begin mass producing a CDMA-compatible iPhone in September. The March report did not suggest a release date for a presumed Verizon iPhone.

Technology observers have learned to take Verizon iPhone rumors with a big grain of salt. Speculation about a Verizon iPhone has run wild ever since the original iPhone’s launch on AT&T. Multiple publications have published rumors claiming different release dates for the fabled device (see part of the list below).

Wired magazine’s Fred Vogelstein published a feature in July illustrating that a Verizon iPhone is stifled by complicated business negotiations, not technical limitations; Steve Jobs has actively considered splitting with AT&T for over a year.

Photo of an AT&T-compatible iPhone 4: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

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ByChris Foresman

Though rumors about the possibility of Apple launching a CDMA-compatible iPhone on Verizon have been picking up steam latelyour own sources have told us that an LTE-capable iPhone hasbeen in testing in Boston for several monthsVerizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg suggested Thursday that itmight not be coming in January as many had hoped.

Speaking at a Goldman Sachs conference in New York, Seidenberg made no mention of an iPhone model being made to work on Verizon’s current EVDO/CDMA network. Instead, he “hoped” that Apple would consider making an iPhone to work with its nascent LTE 4G network.

“We would love to carry [the iPhone] when we get there, but we have to earn it,” Seidenberg told investors. “I think 4G will accelerate the process, and any other decisions Apple makes would be fine with us. Hopefully, at some point Apple will get with the program.”

Those comments may be bad news to thesignificant percentage of current iPhone users locked to AT&T in the US who would likely switch to Verizon if given the chance. Our ownreader survey earlier this year also suggested that there are plenty of existing Verizon customers who would be interested in an iPhone that worked on the largest US network. Though Verizon has been very successful with a strong lineup of Android-powered smartphones from Motorola and HTC, pent-up demand for a CDMA-compatible iPhone definitely exists.

However, other evidence suggests that a CDMA-compatible iPhone is in the works, even if Seidenberg isn’t willing to work with Apple to bring it to his network. Component suppliers havehinted that Apple is prepping to build at least 3 million CDMA iPhones in December, which would track with a manufacturing ramp-up for a rumored January launch.

As mentioned above, we’ve heard through the grapevine that an LTE/CDMA iPhone has been in testing on Verizon’s network in the Boston area, and that the rumored January launch was contingent on Verizon meeting its stated goal of launching its LTE network in 30 major markets by year’s end. If Verizon isn’t on track to meet that goal, it may have resulted in Apple changing its mind. Still, a CDMA-compatible iPhone could launch on other networks, including Sprint in the US, and China Mobile and SK Telecom in Asia.

Whatever the problem is between Verizon and Apple, though, customers certainly don’t carethey just want the popular device to work on their preferred network. It would be beneficial to both Verizon and Apple to work out a deal, and work it out soon, while demand is still high.

Image credit: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

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The tablet wars is set to heat up. BlackBerry maker Research In Motion may announce its tablet next week at the company’s developer conference, which starts Monday in San Francisco, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

RIM has already trademarked ‘BlackPad’ and ‘SurfBook’ and it is likely that the new tablet from the company could carry one of these names.

Last month, Chinese language paper Apple Daily reported that RIM has chosen Taiwanese notebook manufacturer Quanta to produce at least two million tablets this year. RIM and Quanta were said to be targeting a $500 price tag for the BlackPad to make it competitive against Apples iPad.

RIM’s new tablet announcement, if it happens next week, will come just weeks after the debut of the Samsung’s 7-inch tablet called the Galaxy Tab.

Since Apple introduced the iPad in April, tablets have made a big comeback and become of the hottest consumer gadgets of the year. Apple has sold more than 3 million iPads. In June, Dell launched the Streak, a tablet with a 5-inch screen. Samsung has already said its tablet will be available on all the four major U.S. carriers — AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile–but hasn’t announced exact pricing or availability.

BlackBerry’s new tablet will be different from its peers. It will support Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 3G connectivity but through tethering the device to a Blackberry smartphone. Essentially, the tablet has been designed as a “companion” to the phone, according to earlier reports.

The BlackBerry tablet would likely have a 7-inch screen and run a new operating system designed by QNX Software, a company that RIM acquired earlier this year, says the Journal.

RIM has been trying to go beyond its core audience of business users and attract more consumers, especially with the launch of devices such as the recent touchscreen phone Torch. A BlackBerry tablet seems like yet another step in that direction.

Photo: (Sean Hobson/Flickr)

Source:wired.com

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You know those “persons familiar with the [something]” who seems to know an awful lot about corporate secrets? Well, they’ve blabbed again, this time to game site IGN’s UK colony. The secret? The internal specs of Nintendo’s 3DS.

According to the fact-spilling source, the 3DS will have a pair of 266MHz ARM11 CPUs (yes, two of them), a 133MHz GPU with 4MB of dedicated VRAM, 64MB of regular RAM and 1.5GB flash storage.

It’s those dual ARM processors that have us excited, and they kind of make sense on a machine with two screens, one of which sends images to two eyes (the screen works by using prisms to send images out in different directions, which you adjust with a sliding switch until the aim is just right).

We still don’t know when the 3DS – described by Wired.com’s Chris Kohler as “stunning technology” – will be in stores. Rumors point to a November release in Japan, so our guess is on sometime next year. 3D Mario Kart? I can’t wait.

New Nintendo 3DS Hardware Info [IGN]

Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com

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Your next iPhone’s interface could get more in your face with Apple’s acquisition of a face-recognition company, according to reports.

Apple has acquired Polar Rose, a Swedish augmented-reality firm, according to multiple independent news outlets. TechCrunch claims that Polar Rose sold for $22 million.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Wired.com earlier reported on a conceptual smartphone app co-developed by Polar Rose called Recognizr, an augmented reality application designed to identify a person just by taking a photo of them.

Demonstrated in the video below, the conceptual app Recognizr uses recognition software to create a 3-D model of a persons mug and transmits it to a server, which matches it with an image stored in a database. An online server performs facial recognition, shoots back a name of the subject and links to his or her social networking profiles.

The acquisition of Polar Rose comes in line with a recent patent application filed by Apple related to a security feature enabling the iPhone to listen to your heartbeat or scan your face to identify its rightful owner.

Source:wired.com

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