Meanwhile, the Boy Genius Report is reporting that Apple has from February 3 to 6. It speculated that the time of the vacation ban lines up "very well" with a likely launch of a Verizon iPhone. Last year, Apple imposed a four-day freeze on employee vacations just before it announced If the Verizon iPhone reached the shelves on February 3, it would be just in time to trumpet its arrival at one of the world's most-watched sporting events, the 2011 Super Bowl on February 6.

During the same time frame, January 25 to February 4, Verizon will conduct mandatory face-to-face sessions for an "iconic pre-order," , an iPhone, iPod and iPad blog.

If the event next week is to finally unveil a Verizon iPhone, then the question on everyone's mind is whether Steve Jobs will make a cameo appearance at the shindig? As John Paczkowski , "Remember, while there's an enormous amount of interest in the Verizon iPhone, this really isn't much more than a carrier announcement for last year's iPhone."