The invitation adopts a minimalist approach: "Join us as we share the latest news from Verizon Wireless." No other details about what the news is. The sharing will take place at New York City's Lincoln Center (Frederick P. Rose Hall) on Tuesday, Jan. 11, at 11 am. It will be hosted by Verizon President and COO Lowell McAdam.

In his post, Paczkowski says "sources close to the company tell me this will indeed prove to be the long-rumored Verizon iPhone announcement."

Estimates of how many iPhones Verizon might sell have been all over the map. But according to one analysis, selling a lot of them is critical to Verizon's future.

ANALYSIS:

Horace Dediu, founder and managing director for Asymco, a Helsinki, Finland mobile app production studio and industry advisory firm, recently sifted some new data that, he argues, show how iPhone's spectacular success on AT&T has robbed Verizon of its growth, even with the .