Verizon iPhone Could Come February 3, Report Says
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Apple released the iPhone 4 to customers in the middle of 2010. It could only be used on AT&T in the U.S., per an exclusivity agreement that is now expired. (Creative Commons)
Tech blog Boy Genius Report confirmed Friday that Apple has turned down requests from employees to take vacation days between Feb. 3 and Feb. 7, a move that suggests the company will launch a much-anticipated iPhone for Verizon Wireless on Thursday the 3rd.
BGR believes the device is coming on that date because Apple stopped employees from taking vacations for four days when it launched the iPhone 4 last year and Verizon typically starts selling new phones on Thursdays. The release date would also allow for a Super Bowl-weekend marketing blitz.
UPDATE 12:30 p.m.: Verizon has scheduled a press conference for 11 a.m. Tuesday (Jan. 11) in New York. The content of the announcement is being kept secret, but the company could officially announce the iPhone release date then. This would break from Apple's tradition of announcing new iPhones by itself at its California headquarters.
Reports last year suggested the Verizon device would run on a Qualcomm CDMA chip and be released in early 2011.
Many had hoped Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg would announce the iPhone at the company's keynote event at CES 2011 this week, a technology trade conference in Las Vegas. Instead, Verizon announced 10 other new phones that would run on its LTE network--much faster than its present network. But none of the new Android LTE phones are expected to launch until the summer.
Apple is regularly absent from CES, though the company did release its Mac App Store on Thursday. Apple normally uses the spring to updates its line of laptops and the iPhone. A white iPhone 4 is expected to being selling on AT&T sometime this spring.
The Wall Street Journal reported last year that Apple was also working on an iPhone 5 that would have totally different shape and size than previous iPhones.
Reach executive producer Paresh Dave here. Follow him on Twitter: @peard33.
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