No iPhone Nano Announcement at MacWorld Expo

Apple's keynote address at the MacWorld Expo has concluded without the rumored announcement of an iPhone Nano.

In recent weeks, there were rampant rumors and speculation that Apple would unveil a smaller, less expensive version of its flagship smartphone at the MacWorld Expo tradeshow this week. However, if this was going to happen, it would have taken place during today's keynote.

Apple had already signaled that a major announcement probably wasn't in the cards for this tradeshow when CEO Steve Jobs bailed out of keynote. Instead, it was done by Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing.

On the other hand, expectations were raised when some of the PR for this conference included the phrase "Even the Small Talk Will Be Big".

It's Still Possible

When Apple announced last month that Steve Jobs wouldn't be presenting at MacWorld ever again, the company said it was part of a new strategy to announce its products at private events on its own schedule, rather than unveiling them at larger tradeshows.

This means that Apple still could be planning to bring the iPhone Nano out later this year. If this device isn't close to being ready for release, Apple would almost certainly want to wait, as an announcement well before the actual debut of the device would hurt sales of the current model.  

What the Rumors Say

According to the various unconfirmed reports, the iPhone Nano will be about the same height as the recently-released iPod Nano, but wider and thicker.

It will supposedly have much in common with the current version, but lack 3G wireless networking.

AT&T has an exclusive multi-year contract to offer the iPhone and related products, so if the iPhone Nano is real there's no doubt which carrier will offer it in the U.S.

Many details on this model haven't even been rumored yet, such as the amount of built-in storage.