Speculation over whether Verizon Wireless (VZ) would get iPhone 4 from Apple (AAPL) finally has ended.
Let the speculation begin.
Now the focus is on which carrier will land iPhone 5 and which new features iPhone 5 will have.
Maybe it’s just human nature, or maybe it’s the nature of tech pundits and fans, but there seems to an incessant drive to speculate. It drives the analysts, rumor mills and the markets.
iPhone5 News Blog said: “Verizon iPhone announcement clears path for future iPhone 5 release.” Michael Nace there forecasts that both AT&T (T), which has had a monopoly on iPhones over the past four years, and Verizon, which will offer its first iPhone Feb. 10, will simultaneously announce the upcoming iPhone 5 in time for the back-to-school crowd in late August or September.
“Like clues in a mystery, the more clues we’re given, the easier it becomes to imagine when we might see the iPhone 5. AT&T’s iPhone 4 was released in June of 2010, and I’m sure that even as far back as the summer, Apple had given AT&T a heads-up that a Verizon iPhone deal was imminent. That being said, Apple gave AT&T over six months of being the exclusive carrier of the iPhone 4 before making the Verizon announcement,” Nace said.
“Logically speaking, it would not be surprising to imagine that Apple will give Verizon a marketing window of six months or so before making an announcement on the iPhone 5.”
MacRumor Forums set up a group to speculate on iPhone 5 back in June 2010. This was separate from a forum focusing on iPhone for Verizon.
One commentator noted: “Wow, we’re already talking about 5 when 4 isn’t even on pre-order yet? Overachievers.”
Still dreamers dream, and speculators speculate:
—Physical keyboard and more buttons on sides, please.
—RFID, 64GB, Nano-like chromatic colors, same design, improved front camera more RAM, faster processor.
—LED notification light.
One person who dreamed really big asked for an iPhone 5 with “a pork chop sandwich maker.”
Back to reality.
Ingrid Lunden noted in MocoNews.net under the headline “Verizon iPhone: Now Let The iPhone 5 Beauty Contest Begin” that Apple’s plans for next-generation 4G LTE are unknown. But she added: “(W)e think that putting the iPhone on more networks in the U.S. could be setting the stage for speculation about who will get the ‘iPhone 5’—or whatever the next generation of the device might be called.”
Along these lines, Ross Rubin, an analyst with NPD, tweeted: “‘Where is the LTE iPhone?’ Is the new ‘Where is the Verizon iPhone?”’
Noting that the multiyear agreement with Verizon is not exclusive, Rubin asks: “Might Sprint be in the offing?”
So could Sprint (S) be the home for iPhone 5? Inquiring minds want to know.
Meanwhile, blog watcher Richi Jennings at Computer World passes this along: “Rumor: iPad 2 and iPhone 5 ‘have no Home button.’” He added: “Steve Jobs wants you to use the new iOS 4.3 gestures instead.”
One MacRumor Forum poster said: “Screw the iPhone 5, let’s talk about the 7.”
