Apple Expected to Hold Press Event Late January, Report Says

A new year means 365 new chances to speculate on what Apple might have up its sleeve. And two days into 2012, we already have a potential Apple event to talk about.

The Wall Street Journal’s AllThingsD blog reported Monday that Apple is planning a media-related event for the end of January. The event would be held in New York City, says AllThingsD’s Kara Swisher, citing “sources close to the situation.” The AllThingsD report was confirmed by The Loop’s Jim Dalrymple.

Before visions of a new iPad start dancing in your head, AllThingsD cautions that the event is unlikely to involve new hardware—no iPad 3 or the rumored Apple television set that Steve Jobs reportedly talked about with biographer Walter Isaacson. Instead, AllThingsD pegs the likely news as “some kind of advertising or even publishing announcement,” based on the New York setting and the likely involvement of Apple executive Eddy Cue. Recently promoted to senior vice president of Internet software and services, Cue oversees everything from iCloud to iAd to Apple’s assorted online retail outlets (the App Store, the iTunes Store, and iBookstore).

Historically, Apple hardware announcements tend to be made closer to Apple’s Cupertino home. Both the iPad and iPad 2 were unveiled at press events in San Francisco.

In 2010, Apple was involved in two New York-based press events, though in both instances, it shared the stage with other companies. Last January, then-chief operating officer Tim Cook joined Verizon executives to announce an iPhone 4 that was compatible with the carrier’s CDMA-based network. A month later, Cue was on hand when News Corp. unveiled The Daily, its iPad-only news publication.

Apple has been very active on the publishing front in recent years, inking deals with book publishers to offer up ebooks via the company’s iBookstore. Last year, Apple rolled out in-app subscriptions for magazine and newspaper publishers, though not without ruffling some feathers in the publishing world. As for a potential advertising announcement, Apple has been looking to gain traction for the mobile iAd service it launched in 2010. The executive in charge of iAd left the company this summer, and Apple has reportedly made changes to better compete with other mobile advertising services.

 By Philip Michaels, Macworld