An iPad with 3G support for carriers around the world, including both GSM and CDMA operators? That's the prediction of at least one analyst, who's also anticipating a front-facing camera and a slimmer design for the next-generation iPad.
Based on the usual "channel checks" with component makers, Wedge Partners analyst Brian Blair believes the new iPad—which, mind you, hasn't even been announced yet—will come with a new "multimode" chip developer by Qualcomm that would be capable of connecting to both GSM networks (like AT&T and T-Mobile) and CDMA networks (like Sprint and—of course—Verizon Wireless), All Things Digital's John Paczkowski reports.
Such a "multimode" chip would allow Apple to build a single iPad 3G for the world—a "world iPad," as Blair puts it.
It would also grease the wheels for a new iPad 3G on Verizon Wireless, which recently started selling the current iPad—but just the Wi-Fi-only version, bundled with a MiFi mobile hotspot.
There's also been mounting speculation (bordering on certainty) that the iPhone will be coming to Verizon next year, with one of the initial thoughts being that Apple had a multimode iPhone up its sleeves. The current iPhone is based on GSM technology, perfect for AT&T but a no-go for Verizon.
Aren't all the predictions a little premature, though, given that Apple hasn't said a peep about a new iPad?
Well, perhaps, but keep in mind that it's almost been a year since Steve Jobs first unveiled the original iPad, and given Apple's typical one-year refresh cycle for its headliners, we're about due for some news about the virtually guaranteed iPad 2.0.
Earlier predictions from industry analysts have, like Blair, pointed to a lighter, slimmer design, at least one built-in camera, and perhaps even a mini USB port to go along with Apple's proprietary 30-pin iPod connector.
There had also been chatter of a smaller iPad—say, 7 inches, same as the just-released Samsung Galaxy Tab.
But Steve Jobs put the kibosh on that idea after he called 7-inch tablets like the Tab "dead on arrival" because "users cannot reliably tap, flick or pinch" elements on such a small screen, which (as Jobs pointed out) is only 45 percent as large as the current iPad's 9.7-inch display. (The utility of a small screen is a matter of opinion, of course.)
What features would you like to see in a new iPad? Or are you spurning Apple in favor of an Android-powered tablet, like Samsung's—or what about the BlackBerry PlayBook, for that matter?
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So far, though, all signs point to Apple building a separate, CDMA-only version of the iPhone for Verizon.
Meanwhile, Wedge Partners analyst Blair also believe that one of the most often requested features on the iPad—namely, a front-facing camera—is coming to the so-called iPad 2, which could also see a thinner, unibody design, similar to Apple's slim-and-trim MacBooks.
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