Edible Apple

Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg delivered a keynote speech earlier today at CES and there was nary a mention of the iPhone coming to Verizon. This, of course, shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone given that Apple has a proclivity towards controlling the narrative surrounding their products and announcements.

That notwithstanding, the iPhone hitting Verizon is at this point a foregone conclusion, with the most recent reports relaying that we can expect an official announcement from Apple in the next few weeks, and most likely, before Valentines Day.

Now comes word via AppleInsider that Apple has told retail employees that they will not be granted vacation time during a blackout period that spans the last week of January through the first half of February. Now it doesn’t take a genius to deduce that something’s afoot and all circumstantial evidence indicates that the Verizon will become available sometime during that window as similar vacation bans have been implemented by Apple during previous iPhone launches.

Meanwhile, Apple is also said to have retained its overstaffed holiday personnel at many retail stores, even with the annual shopping season now concluded. While a gradual drawdown of temporary employees remains inevitable at some point, it appears the company is keeping staff on-hand at some stores, perhaps in preparation for a new product launch.