In an interview with Bloomberg, Verizon Wireless Chief Financial Officer Francis Shammo reportedly said that his company will sell a new version of the iPad with an integrated CDMA radio. The current iPad with integrated radio is only compatible with AT&T's 3G wireless network in the U.S.
Verizon and Apple previously worked around the issue by bundling a MiFi 2200 Intelligent Mobile Hotspot router with the Wi-Fi-only iPad. The hardware bundle started at $629 for the 16GB model, the exact same price as the 3G-capable hardware with direct connectivity to AT&T's network.
While Shammo reportedly spilled the details on the forthcoming CDMA iPad, he declined to say when the hardware might become available. First released last April, the iPad is expected to be updated to a second-generation version in the very near future. The anticipated update is part of an aggressive strategy that would see Apple update the hardware in less than a year, partially to push its FaceTime video chat standard with a camera-equipped iPad.
Cases and mockups claiming to represent the second-generation iPad began to appear online in late December. They suggested that, in addition to forward and rear facing cameras, the next-generation device will also include a larger speaker on its back and a tweaked, slightly thinner design.
There have also been reports of a new CDMA iPad being released in addition to the UMTS and Wi-Fi models currently available. Suppliers in the Far East suggested that the CDMA variant would account for roughly 30 percent of all iPads manufactured.
41 Comments
iPads are very popular to take on trips. Your Verizon CDMA iPad will not work in Europe! (or any other cool place.....unless you think China is cool)
Sure.. For iPad 2.
Well, if you have a Viphone, with hotspot, a CDMA ipad may not be needed. Nice! I do like that idea.
On the other hand, for you chatty users, the Viphone can't talk and chew gum(data) at the same time. Zzz-innngggg!
My crystal ball says:
Apple will have an another event by the end of the month to release new iPads and Macbooks! the next-gen iPad will have both GSM/HSPA+ and CDMA variants. 6 months is enough time between the CDMA iphone vs the GSM one, but a couple of months is too short of a time to come out with a iPad v1 that's cdma compatible only to have trumped ~2 months later.
BTW, China is a cool place.
If anything, I would hope that they put both CDMA and GSM into the iPad. Space constraints aren't as much of an issue in that device. It would totally suck to have to buy a different model to connect to a different carrier. By having dual radios, customers could buy subscriptions based on where they are getting the best coverage.
The confusion level between the wifi and 3G models is enough for some consumers. Now if you have to decide which one to buy based on the 3G service, it's going to be a world of mess.