Media invitations reveal time, place, and most importantly the purpose of the show

Jan 12, 2012 07:46 GMT  ·  By

The rumored event scheduled for late-January in New York City has been confirmed. Apple itself sent out the invitations to select members of the media, informing that the gathering is focused on education.

The media invitations are for an "education announcement" to be made at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City on Thursday, January 19.

Reports say the event will focus on digital textbooks and that there will be no new hardware announcement. The iPad 3 is now just a couple of months away, most analysts estimate.

The NY Times allegedly has learned that the event will mark a new foray into the digital textbook business for the Cupertino, California technology giant.

AllThingsD, the WSJ-owned blog that had spread the original rumor about Apple’s NYC event, has been told that “this is an effort in which Jobs had been involved with in the months prior to his death.”

It is believed that Apple’s event will discuss Jobs’ dream of reinventing textbook learning via iPad.

“He had three things that he wanted to reinvent: the television, textbooks and photography,” Walter Isaacson wrote in his biography on Steve Jobs. “He really wanted to take these on.”

The speakers at Apple’s January 19 event have not been disclosed, nor are there any rumors as to whom these may be.

We can expect one speaker to be Greg Joswiak, VP of iPod, iPhone and iOS product marketing. An appearance on behalf of CEO Tim Cook wouldn’t be exceptional either.

Other Apple execs that might step on stage are Philip W. Schiller, senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, and Eddy Cue, senior vice president of Internet Software and Services.

Apple will undoubtedly discuss iTunes U as well, the platform that offers educational content to colleges, universities, and other education organizations, in the same manner as it offers music and apps for the general population.