Wishing for an iPad or Verizon iPhone? Maybe you should wait

The questions I get most often recently have to do with two things: the Apple iPhone on Verizon and tablet computers.

The queries go like this:

■ "Should I get the Verizon iPhone? Should I wait?"

■ "How about the iPad? Do you think the next version will have a camera?"

■ "Why don't you have an iPad yet?"

■ "What about the new tablets you saw at CES (the International Consumer Electronics Show)?"

Here's my take. If you have yearned for the iPhone on a network other than AT&T and you really, really want an iPhone, I say buy now. The Verizon iPhone will be available Thursday . Lines will be forming soon, I'm sure.

Current Verizon customers got a one-week head start, as they could check their eligibility online and place an iPhone order starting Thursday . My wife was one of the many who did just that.

It's too soon to know how adding millions of iPhones will affect the Verizon 3G network. Demand on AT&T's data network has grown 5,000 percent since the iPhone was introduced in 2007. I suspect that Verizon has paid close attention to this and is ready for the data-demand floodgates to open.

Some potential iPhone customers are waiting for the next-generation version of the device, which will undoubtedly use faster 4G long-term evolution technology. Verizon's 4G network is running, and the company on Jan. 10 listed new 4G-compatible phones, tablets and portable hot spots that will hit the market soon. The list didn't include a 4G iPhone.

AT&T is preparing and promoting its 4G network and I suspect that both carriers will have 4G iPhones at the same time. Look for them in this year's second half.

If you've waited this long for an iPhone and aren't itchin' for one yesterday, you should keep waiting. Watch how Verizon handles the introduction of the 3G iPhone and then see what happens with the 4G version.

While Apple hasn't yet said anything about the next-generation iPad, you can bet the device will include at least one, and probably two, cameras. The Samsung Galaxy Tab, which runs Google's Android operating system, has two cameras, which makes video calling on the tablet possible.

I'm waiting patiently for the Apple upgrade, as historically the company makes improvements as a product evolves.

I expect Apple to dominate in tablet computers for some time, especially if the company is listening to customers. But look for Motorola's Xoom and Research in Motion's PlayBook, two of the many new tablets expected to hit the market this year, to slightly dent Apple's market share.

Recent research from Strategy Analytics shows the iPad with 84 percent of the tablet computer market in 2010. Projections for 2011 have the iPad shrinking to 75 percent of the market.

Share your Internet story with me at agibes@reviewjournal.com.