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Apple event countdown brings new rumors

As the company's Wednesday press event draws nearer, speculation over what it will announce continues to mount.

Erica Ogg Former Staff writer, CNET News
Erica Ogg is a CNET News reporter who covers Apple, HP, Dell, and other PC makers, as well as the consumer electronics industry. She's also one of the hosts of CNET News' Daily Podcast. In her non-work life, she's a history geek, a loyal Dodgers fan, and a mac-and-cheese connoisseur.
Erica Ogg
2 min read

Apple just had its best quarter ever, but much of the public focus on the company is concentrated on something else: whatever it is Apple plans to announce at a press event Wednesday.

Apple event tablet

With almost $40 billion accumulated in cash, revenue topping $15 billion, and almost 9 million iPhones sold in the last three months of 2009, the much-discussed tablet is what both investors and tech fans seem most concerned about.

The company didn't shy away from providing even more fodder for hungry Apple fans related to Wednesday's event. In a press release about Monday's quarterly earnings, CEO Steve Jobs was quoted as saying, "The new products we are planning to release this year are very strong, starting this week with a major new product that we're really excited about."

Until we do see that, there's going to continue to be a parade of headlines trumpeting every latest morsel of info related to what Jobs will unveil. Here's Monday's round, from around the Web.

Leaked tablet ad
VentureBeat wonders if this really is a TV ad that Apple has prepped in advance of releasing the tablet. But TechCrunch says "no way."

Verizon's big day
Boy Genius Report says it heard that Verizon is planning its regular quarterly update for store managers for the same day and time as Apple's event, and will include a "live Webcast" for the event, which is not the standard procedure, apparently. The implication is that Apple could be announcing that either the iPhone or tablet could be coming to Verizon.

An end to iPhone exclusivity
An analyst with Oppenheimer & Co. sent a research note to clients today predicting just that. Tim Horan says he believes over the next year and a half that all U.S. carriers will get a crack at the iPhone, and that could double or triple the number of the phones sold in the country. According to his report, T-Mobile would be up first sometime this summer, followed by Verizon and Sprint this fall. Clearwire would get its chance next year. It's unclear how he sourced this report. On Apple's earnings call today, COO Tim Cook was intentionally vague about Apple's plans to add additional carriers.

Cheaper than we think?
The 9to5Mac blog chatted with some publishers who say they've been approached by Apple to put their content on the tablet. Among other things, those publishers say Apple told them the device "isn't going to cost anywhere near $1,000 as has been reported elsewhere." That's good news for some of the potential customers who've been polled by market research groups--a large chunk said they wouldn't be interested in buying a tablet that cost more than $700.

We'll be blogging the event live on Wednesday, so please do come back at 10 a.m. PST that day for up-to-the-minute coverage.

Apple event preparations under way in SF (photos)

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This post was updated on 1/26/10 to correct Apple's Q1 FY10 revenue figure.