“Apple Inc is betting a 4G-equipped iPad will tempt more U.S. consumers to pay extra to watch high-quality video on the go, and in turn, give Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc a revenue boost,” Poornima Gupta and Sinead Carew report for Reuters.
“Until now, Apple’s fan legion has been reluctant to shell out extra money even for iPads with 3G connections. The cheaper Wi-Fi-only model — with more limited Web access — is by far the top-selling one today,” Gupta and Carew report. “The newest iPad will be capable of operating on a high-speed 4G “LTE,” or Long-Term Evolution network, according to a source familiar with the product. At speeds roughly 10 times faster than current 3G technology, that may go a long way toward banishing the sometimes shaky video quality of older devices.”
Gupta and Carew report, “Such a juiced-up device would help boost the telecoms market if consumers catch on and can be enticed to pay more, some analysts said. The global tablet user base already reached 67 million in 2011, according to researcher Strategy Analytics. ‘It’s going to dramatically improve video consumption,’ said UBS analyst John Hodulik. ‘This is the device people want. They want the fastest speed. They want high resolution.'”
“The unveiling at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, where the company also introduced the last two iPad generations, will be Chief Executive Tim Cook’s second major product launch, after the iPhone 4S unveiling last year at the company’s headquarters,” Gupta and Carew report.
Read more in the full article, including Appel TV speculation, here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
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