Apple Special Event official for January 27th

In what almost certainly has to be some form of a touch enabled, larger than iPhone cheaper than a MacBook Pro announcement, Apple has confirmed the special event to be held in San Francisco on January 27th.

I can't imagine this event will focus solely on iPhone OS 4.0 previews, given the media hype that's been surrounding Apple of late - no sense holding a special event that will obviously be criticized! Perhaps the only way an iPhone only related event might get positive buzz flowing would be an announcement of iPhone for Verizon Wireless, but there appear to be too many months left on the AT&T exclusive deal to do this now - it'd effectively halt US iPhone sales while people waited to bolt!

I'm not much of a prediction pundit, but my money says it's something along the lines of:

I STRONGLY SUSPECT THAT:

• 8" to 11" screen, possibly OLED, possibly LCD, certainly not e-Ink or any B&W technology, and doubtful to be Mirasol or some other technology that's clearly not ready to be manufactured and shipped in scale.
• SSD only for storage, and well under 100gb - this is an Internet device.
• 802.11n wireless absolutely, and most likely 3G either built in, or ordered as an option.
• Multitouch all over the place, and greatly expanded beyond the gestures currently supported.
• No voice recognition, no built in keyboard. I suspect Bluetooth keyboards will be supported, but you are going to see some form of full sized keys on an on-screen keyboard, and no, I don't think haptic feedback is a part of this. At least I hope not, I find it annoying!
• You are going to see a screen optimized for high definition - probably 720p though given the probably resolution of the screen.
• You are going to see some partners on stage, including a gaming demo that blows us away.

POSSIBLY:

• We'll see iPhone OS 4.0 previewed which will contain a radical extension to the SDK supporting a larger form factor. I don't think the tablet is going to run full blown OS X, but I doubt it will be as limited as the current iPhone OS is in terms of screen size support, etc.
• Cost to be $899. That's my guess. 
• Some new enhancements to MobileMe that makes it more attractive to tablet owners. 
• Wireless sync from iPhone to tablet and/or tablet to main Mac notebook/desktop.
• Expanded 3G downloads, especially if we aren't tied to AT&T. Possibly movie rentals over 3G. Possibly an expansion to the "Back to My Mac" functionality to easily facilitate streaming, maybe an extension to iTunes' Home Share to allow for remote access via 3G. I'm not talking sharing here, just you, a MobileMe user accessing your home content.

DOUBTFUL:

• Adobe Flash support. 
• Being locked into a carrier contract to get one. There may be a subsidy available, but I don't think you're going to be virtually unable (in the US) to get one without a contract. It's not a phone, folks.
• No eReader built in. I don't think Apple's about to enter this market. That said, B&N, Amazon, Kobo and all the others will have apps for that, just like they do on iPhone. 

Time will tell, but I know there's going to be a lot of eyes, ears, and blogger screens on Apple in just over a week from now.