Ahead of next month’s CES, speculation is that the long-rumored iPhone announcement won’t be announced during the gadget-palooza. At least no announcement will come from the mouth of a Verizon representative, goes the thinking. Tuesday, the U.S. carrier announced its lineup of CES speakers would provide “a sneak peak of Android-based 4G LTE consumer devices” for a Jan. 6 news conference.
This shouldn’t come as surprise. We’ve talked about how Apple CEO Steve Jobs likes to control the message, including announcements of key products. Even Verizon’s own Chief Operating Officer has told the anxious press corp that any iPhone announcement won’t come from the carrier.
But it is a rather sure bet that some Verizon iPhone connection is set for 2011 — too many high-profile members of the press, along with industry analysts, have put their reputation behind such a deal. This question of how the deal will be made public is just the (thankfully) final stage of a years-long rumor becoming a reality.
