Despite a slow start, Apple’s smartphone presence in China could grow to 5 million iPhone sales per year — and could even double that if the company were to offer a lower cost prepaid model.

Analyst Katy Huberty with Morgan Stanley issued a note to investors Friday stating that she is bullish on the prospect of improved future iPhone sales in China. This week, Apple executive revealed that more than 200,000 iPhones have been activated since the handset launched on carrier China Unicom last fall.

Huberty noted that the current install base of unlocked iPhones in China is about 2 million, according to a new study conducted by Morgan Stanley. That is already similar to the largest European and Asian countries. Read more…

A few of our readers have pointed out this interesting little blurb currently found down at the bottom of the iPad’s specs page:

This device has not yet been authorized as required by the rules of the Federal Communications Commission. This device is not, and may not be, offered for sale or lease, or sold or leased, until authorization is obtained.

Did Apple just announce a “magical and revolutionary product” that they can’t yet sell? Yes and no. Yes, given that the 3G iPads will connect to the cell phone network, the FCC will have to approve them. But will that be a problem? Probably not. Read more…

When Apple formally introduced its touchscreen tablet as the iPad Wednesday, it was not the first tech product to carry that moniker — Fujitsu released its own mobile, touchscreen ‘iPAD’ in 2002.

Speaking with The New York Times, Masahiro Yamane, director of public relations for Fujitsu, said it is the company’s understanding that they still own the name ‘iPad.’ Fujitsu is currently consulting with its lawyers over the next steps it may take.

It could become a similar situation to 2007, when Apple formally introduced the iPhone, only to be sued days later by Cisco, which owned the rights to the name. The Linksys iPhone was released just three weeks before the Apple iPhone was introduced at the Macworld San Francisco keynote in early January 2007. Read more…

Details of Apple’s custom-built processor inside the newly unveiled iPad are beginning to surface, with a report stating the system-on-a-chip includes an ARM Cortex-A9-based CPU accompanied by a GPU.

According to Bright Side of News, the Apple A4 is based mostly on intellectual property from ARM reference designs. The new, custom chip from Apple, through its purchase of fabless chip designer P.A. Semi, includes the Cortex-A9 MPCore (identical to the processor in the nVidia Tegra and Qualcomm Snapdragon), a ARM Mali 50-series GPU, and a memory controller all on one die. Read more…

Adobe has posted their thoughts on the iPad’s lack of Flash noting that Apple continues to impose restrictions on their devices which ‘limits both content publishers and consumers’.

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It was really exciting to see some of the technologies that Adobe has contributed to, like PDF and ePub support, taking center stage in the launch. Adobe technology is at the center of virtually every print and digital workflow, so undoubtedly a lot of what you¹ll see getting delivered to the iPad will have originated in Adobe creative software. Read more…

The just released iPad Emulator contains functionality that suggests the iPad was supposed to have a camera.

Crunchgear found that within the iPad’s contacts application is an “Add Photo” button. When pressed the button pops up a menu asking you to “Choose Existing Photo” or “Take Photo”. If you press the “Take Photo” button it opens a preview window which is supposed to display what the camera sees.

So what’s going on here? Did the iPad once have a camera, and it was pulled on such short notice that they didn’t have time to strip it out of the software? Read more…

McGraw-Hill’s CEO Terry McGraw is obviously very excited that he’s been asked to work with Apple on a brand new type of computer, and he just couldn’t wait another 24 hours to tell somebody — he showed up on CNBC today to talk about his company’s latest earnings, and he more or less spills the beans, saying that Apple will “make their announcement tomorrow,” that the tablet will be “based on the iPhone operating system,” and that it “will be transferable” (so anything on iTunes now will go straight on the tablet?). Read more…

Apple is expected to announce Verizon Wireless a carrier for its upcoming tablet and the end of AT&T’s iPhone exclusivity, according to the NYPost.

Apple is expected to name Verizon Wireless as one of its carriers with its anticipated unveiling of a new tablet device on Wednesday, sources told The Post. That means Apple head Steve Jobs will probably introduce a Verizon iPhone, ending AT&T’s exclusive hold on the hot smartphone.
Read more…

Citing an anonymous “inside source,” HotHardware has reported AT&T could lose their iPhone exclusivity on Wednesday, when Apple is also expected to introduce its long-awaited touchscreen tablet.

The report does not go as far as to claim what other U.S. carriers could offer the iPhone. But a source allegedly told the Web site that AT&T is “tired of taking the heat” for poor reception from iPhone users. In short, the report claims, AT&T officials believe the iPhone is hurting the company’s image, and they are no longer interested in having exclusive access to Apple’s handset.
Read more…

Zirana, a startup company with the goal to make Zirana.com “a one stop shop for all local information” for “residents of small and medium sized towns all across the world,” including Cupertino, is reporting that a prototype laptop was stolen from Apple’s campus sometime in 2009:

Trade Secret Theft/Possession of Stolen Property – Infinite Loop
Between 1/1 and 12/18, unknown suspect(s) took a prototype laptop worth about $100,000 from Apple Computers on Infinite Loop using an unknown method. The suspect(s) sold it to another suspect. Deputies recovered the laptop from the second suspect and he was released pending further investigation. Read more…