Report indicates iPad 3 could come out in February

Here are your Apple rumors and AAPL news items for Friday:

iPad 3 Coming February 2012? It seems Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) keeps bumping up when it releases new models of its famous tablet. The original iPad released in April 2010 and was followed by the iPad 2 in March 2011. Word from Business Insider (via All Things Digital) is that Apple will release its latest model, thought to be called the iPad 3, in February next year. Citi analyst Richard Gardner said in a Thursday note to investors that “several sources” have indicated that the iPad 3 will release just in time for the late Steve Jobs’ Feb. 24 birthday. The iPad 3 is rumored to have a high-resolution screen similar to the patented Retina Display used in the iPhone 4S. Gardner also said in his note that he expects Apple to sell between 12 and 13 million iPads before the end of the holiday quarter.

1.5 Million iPhone 3GSs Sold in Q1 2012: The iPhone 4S is just two months old and consumers already are salivating at the thought of the iPhone 5 expected out next year. The latest and greatest won’t be the only iPhones that continue to sell well for Apple in 2012, though. A Friday article at Tech Radar reported that sources within Apple’s supply chain have said the company will manufacture between 1.4 and 1.6 million iPhone 3GS handsets during the first quarter of next year. While it might be surprising that the nearly three-year-old iPhone model is continuing to reach consumers in such large numbers, Apple has done a fine job of positioning the 3GS as its entry-level phone. As of October, Apple began giving the iPhone 3GS away with two-year contracts with AT&T (NYSE:T). It’s possible that when Apple releases the iPhone 5 in the back half of 2012, the 3GS will be replaced by the iPhone 4 as Apple’s budget model, predominantly because it can be carried! by othe r telecoms like Verizon (NYSE:VZ).

Motorola Strikes Back Against Apple in Germany: The many competitors that have fallen under Apple’s litigious gaze in the past 12 months are starting to battle back. Samsung (PINK:SSNLF) recently beat an Apple injunction against its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet PC in Australia and will start selling the device in that country just in time for Christmas. Now Motorola Mobility (NYSE:MMI) is the one sticking it to Apple, this time in Germany. According to a report at FOSS Patents (via Apple Insider), a German court ruled that Apple’s iPhone and iPad infringe on European Patent 1010336 (B1), a patent held by Motorola relating to smartphone and tablet 3G radio technology.

As of this writing, Anthony John Agnello did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned stocks. Follow him on Twitter at?@ajohnagnello?and?become a fan of?InvestorPlace on Facebook. For more from the company, check out our previous Apple Rumors stories.