I wanted to get one last post in before it comes too close to the unveiling so I can write from a speculative perspective. At christmas time, Apple’s iOS lineup (iPhones not included) should look like this:

• $099 8GB 4th Generation iPod Touch
• $099 new AppleTV + AirPort Express combo device
• $199 8GB 5th Generation iPod Touch
• $299 16GB iPad Junior
• $399 16GB iPad 2
• $499 16GB iPad “3”

Some other price points

• $199 8GB Kindle Fire 2 7″
• $199 8GB Nexus 7
• $249 16GB Nexus 7
• ??? Nexus Q
• $299 10″ Windows RT devices

For now, Competitors can escape the wrath of the iPad Junior by still being cheaper, but if they’re ever in a store together it’ll probably be game over. $499 10″ Android tablets don’t sell well when put next to the iPad with retina display. I imagine the 7″ers won’t sell well next to an 8″ iPad even without retina because it’ll still have the best IPS panel out of the bunch.

Remember how the less-bang-for-your-buck iPod mini sold better than the regular sized iPod? Do you recall what color sold the best? Pink. I can’t find proof of this but I know it’s true. Tech nerds like to forget that women exists sometimes and that they outnumber us. This iPad is for them. No it won’t be pink, but it will be slightly more tuned for smaller hands. It won’t be called the Lady iPad, but it is the target consumer. Yes it will also be the number one Christmas List item for children, and yes men who want something slightly more portable and/or have small hands will want one too (me), but by and large, it will be the women who buy it. As a developer, this means new users, not replacement users upgrading, and that means more customers. Awesome.

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I won’t look for the link, but someone said that new devices will be able to AirPlay without WiFi. I don’t think Blue Tooth is the best way to do this and adding a BT chip to the AppleTV seems silly. If Apple can make an 802.11n base station the size of the current AppleTV like the current Express, maybe there’s enough redundant hardware to create at least a living-room sized n-network.

There’s only one little caveat. You should be allowed to create a network without internet for AirPlay, so how to do resolve the fact that any iPhone you add to it gets kicked off of 3G? iOS 6 has a new WiFi+3G option that will pull 3G data in the even that the WiFi signal isn’t doing it fast enough. This will also be helpful when you’re sitting in your driveway just barely connecting to your home router that can’t get any data to you. This would also be great for people like my parents who are using the G-router that came from Verizon without making them buy two things (the reason I haven’t bought them an AppleTV yet).