Friday Apple Rumors: Is iPad 3 Release Just Two Months Away?

Here are your Apple rumors and AAPL news items for Friday: iPad 3 Coming
February 2012? It seems Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL ) keeps bumping up when it releases
new models of its famous tablet. The original iPad released in April 2010 and
was followed by the iPad 2 in March 2011. Word from Business Insider (via All
Things Digital ) is that Apple will release its latest model, thought to be
called the iPad 3, in February next year . Citi analyst Richard Gardner said in
a Thursday note to investors that several sources have indicated that the iPad 3
will release just in time for the late Steve Jobs Feb. 24 birthday. The iPad 3
is rumored to have a high-resolution screen similar to the patented Retina
Display used in the iPhone 4S. Gardner also said in his note that he expects
Apple to sell between 12 and 13 million iPads before the end of the holiday
quarter. 1.5 Million iPhone 3GSs Sold in Q1 2012: The iPhone 4S is just two
months old and consumers already are salivating at the thought of the iPhone 5
expected out next year. The latest and greatest wont be the only iPhones that
continue to sell well for Apple in 2012, though. A Friday article at Tech Radar
reported that sources within Apples supply chain have said the company will
manufacture between 1.4 and 1.6 million iPhone 3GS handsets during the first
quarter of next year. While it might be surprising that the nearly
three-year-old iPhone model is continuing to reach consumers in such large
numbers, Apple has done a fine job of positioning the 3GS as its entry-level
phone. As of October, Apple began giving the iPhone 3GS away with two-year
contracts with AT&T (NYSE: T ). Its possible that when Apple releases the iPhone
5 in the back half of 2012, the 3GS will be replaced by the iPhone 4 as Apples
budget model, predominantly because it can be carried by other telecoms like
Verizon (NYSE: VZ ). Motorola Strikes Back Against Apple in Germany: The many
competitors that have fallen under Apples litigious gaze in the past 12 months
are starting to battle back. Samsung (PINK: SSNLF ) recently beat an Apple
injunction against its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet PC in Australia and will start
selling the device in that country just in time for Christmas. Now Motorola
Mobility (NYSE: MMI ) is the one sticking it to Apple, this time in Germany.
According to a report at FOSS Patents (via Apple Insider ), a German court ruled
that Apples iPhone and iPad infringe on European Patent 1010336 (B1) , a patent
held by Motorola relating to smartphone and tablet 3G radio technology. As of
this writing, Anthony John Agnello did not hold a position in any of the
aforementioned stocks. Follow him on Twitter at