[jcoley2]

Bloomberg reporting tonight that Verizon will be carrying the iPhone in January:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-0...clusivity.html

I am torn. We have 5 iPhones in our house and generally coverage is good, but with the addition of my recent iPad, I am noticing very slow down times on AT&T.

Perhaps Verizon will be a welcome change.

[SpecMode]

So..."two people familiar with the plan...who declined to be identified" are saying it's definitely going to happen this time. Why does this sound so familiar?

This should probably be in Spec&Rumors, methinks. I'll believe it when Steve Jobs says the words on stage, and not a moment before.

[jcoley2]

Originally Posted by SpecMode This should probably be in Spec&Rumors, methinks. I'll believe it when Steve Jobs says the words on stage, and not a moment before.

Fair enough. . .Admin, please move.

[psmith2.0]

This rumor is stronger and more constant than all that neverending "tablet" crap the past 3-4 years. And look what happ...oh, wait.

[dmegatool]

That would fit with the extended eligibility of AT&T. I mean, they didn't do it just to be nice. It was just to get as many customer before Verizon comes in. Glad for you if it's true guys.

[Robo]

Originally Posted by pscates2.0 This rumor is stronger and more constant than all that neverending "tablet" crap the past 3-4 years. And look what happ...oh, wait.

I really do think something is likely to happen, on this front, in the next six months.

There's just too much noise. WSJ reporting that production is starting this fall, AT&T mysteriously allowing everybody who is upgrade-eligible in 2010 to upgrade up to six months early, &c. I really do think that we'll see an iPhone on Verizon in either September or January.

And there's no reason (besides signing another exclusivity deal) that CDMA iPhone couldn't also work with Sprint, and all of Sprint's prepaid brands to boot. And as long as they're going multi-carrier, a T-Mobile 3G version is just a radio band away.

I'm thinking the lack of a Verizon iPhone this month was probably more production-related than contract-related. I mean, they can't make enough of them as it is, and they're already shipping them out before the glue dries.

[Ryan]

Doesn’t Verizon also officially launch 4G/LTE in January?

Makes you wonder...

[PKIDelirium]

Glad I saw this before I went out to get a Droid this week...

[Robo]

Originally Posted by PKIDelirium Glad I saw this before I went out to get a Droid this week...

Well, that and the Droid 2 that's hitting in like a month.

[Eugene]

I still say it isn't coming. iPhone 4 was just released, the timing is off. Why would you release a sought after new product after Christmas? Why wouldn't you just wait for LTE adoption at this point? I don't think the increased inventory and retail complexity is worth the trouble.

[Robo]

Originally Posted by Eugene I still say it isn't coming. iPhone 4 was just released, the timing is off. Why would you release a sought after new product after Christmas?

Apple did this for years. See: MWSF.

Originally Posted by Eugene Why wouldn't you just wait for LTE adoption at this point?

Even when Verizon switches on their first LTE cities, the vast majority of their network will be CDMA, and will be for years (I think 2013 was the date they've thrown out for full network coverage). Any LTE iPhone would still have to support CDMA, in other words. There'd still have to be two models.

It would be like expecting Sprint to make a WiMax-only phone now.

Originally Posted by Eugene I don't think the increased inventory and retail complexity is worth the trouble.

This is the same company that sells thirty-four different iPods.

I don't think they're going to turn down the opportunity to potentially double US iPhone sales because of "increased inventory and retail complexity." Hell, they sell more iPad models than they do iPhones.

[MBHockey]

Does anyone else think the biggest indicator of an impending Verizon iPhone is AT&T's switch from the very Jobsian flat rate unlimited data plans to the more confusing and differently priced tiered data plans? I just don't think AT&T would pull this kind of shit if they weren't losing their iPhone exclusivity soon anyway.

As soon as I saw AT&T was doing that along with pushing up everyone that had an upgrade in 2010 to June, for the first time it seemed like a Verizon iPhone was actually coming.

[Fullthrottledesigns]

I hope so because my Verizon plan is up on Jan 1 2011. I want an iPhone so bad...

[Messiahtosh]

Well it is not like ATT would have been the iPhone's only carrier in the U.S. forever.

[Robo]

Seriously, though. CDMA is "a dying technology" in the same sense that 3G GSM is -- both are getting replaced by LTE, but that's...a ways off. And this is the same company that sold a $600 EDGE phone in 2007. I don't think they particularly care about supporting bleeding-edge networks (or the iPhone 4 would have HSPA+ ).

Yes, they'd have to ZOMG make a separate model. But I really don't think that's as big of a deal as some of you are thinking. I mean, Samsung just announced five different versions of their Galaxy S smartphone for different US carriers.

[zippy]

Originally Posted by Robo Seriously, though. CDMA is "a dying technology" in the same sense that 3G GSM is -- both are getting replaced by LTE, but that's...a ways off. And this is the same company that sold a $600 EDGE phone in 2007. I don't think they particularly care about supporting bleeding-edge networks (or the iPhone 4 would have HSPA+ ). Yes, they'd have to ZOMG make a separate model. But I really don't think that's as big of a deal as some of you are thinking. I mean, Samsung just announced five different versions of their Galaxy S smartphone for different US carriers.

Exactly. I think the Only reason we haven't seen one yet is because of the exclusivity contract.

Look at how many people are replacing their 1 year old 3Gs iPhones. If Apple made a pre-LTE Verizon iPhone, they'd sell millions. And the next year, they could make an LTE version and re-sell millions to those same customers. Those that don't want one, will have a CDMA version that still works - and will for a few years. Those that want the latest greatest would be buying a new one anyway.

And except for pscates, no one uses a cell phone longer than 2 years.

[addison]

Originally Posted by Robo Seriously, though. CDMA is "a dying technology" in the same sense that 3G GSM is -- both are getting replaced by LTE, but that's...a ways off. And this is the same company that sold a $600 EDGE phone in 2007. I don't think they particularly care about supporting bleeding-edge networks (or the iPhone 4 would have HSPA+ )..

I agree but if this BGR report is true then a 3G/4G iPhone could be a possibility if Apple is content launching with a 25 -30 market network. It will take about an additional 16 months to reach current 3G coverage.

http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2010/...ontent=Twitter

[Luca]

I'm sort of glad I'm on Sprint. I can only imagine the pounding the Verizon network will get once the iPhone launches on it.

[addison]

I doubt it would be as bad as it was for AT&T since the phones would be spread over two carriers and 3G and 4G for Verizon and Sprint are data only networks so you wouldn't see the dropped call issue. Plus, Verizon tends to be better at building networks than AT&T.

[Robo]

Originally Posted by Luca I'm sort of glad I'm on Sprint. I can only imagine the pounding the Verizon network will get once the iPhone launches on it.

Originally Posted by AWM I doubt it would be as bad as it was for AT&T since the phones would be spread over two carriers and 3G and 4G for Verizon and Sprint are data only networks so you wouldn't see the dropped call issue. Plus, Verizon tends to be better at building networks than AT&T.

That, and there's no reason to think that CDMA iPhone wouldn't be available for Sprint as well, anyway.

So yeah, spreading the phones between two or three (or four!) carriers should keep things okay.

[addison]

If they decide to throw LTE in there then it's Verizon only. Personally I can't see Apple putting doing business with Sprint but hopefully I'm wrong.

Anyway, the analysts are getting excited....once again.

Verizon Wireless customers may buy $1 billion in applications, adding to an expected $6 billion in apps through Apple’s App Store in 2011, according to technology research firm IDC. Verizon Wireless will start selling the iPhone in January, two people familiar with the plans said this week.

New iPhone users from Verizon Wireless may account for about 14 percent of Apple’s app sales, expected to rise to $7 billion next year from $2.9 billion in 2010, according to Scott Ellison, an analyst at IDC in Framingham, Massachusetts.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-0...1-billion.html

[bassplayinMacFiend]

Maybe in order to appease Steve, Verizon had to kill the Kin?

Oh, who am I kidding, the Kin killed itself!

[Robo]

Originally Posted by AWM If they decide to throw LTE in there then it's Verizon only. Personally I can't see Apple putting doing business with Sprint but hopefully I'm wrong.

Sprint has ~50 million customers in Apple's largest market. Apple sells the iPhone on multiple carriers in many countries with fewer than 50 million wireless users total. If Apple were making a CDMA iPhone I really can't see them not selling it through both Verizon and Sprint; I'd expect them to start selling the iPhone through multiple carriers as soon as they were contractually able to. But you're right; LTE could throw a wrench in things. (I'm not entirely convinced we're about to see an LTE iPhone, though.)

I could also easily see them swapping out UMTS Band VI for Band IV on GSM iPhones sold in North America; they're not advertising the (FCC-confirmed) existence of Band VI anywhere at the moment.

[bassplayinMacFiend]

I read some rumor two days ago that said Verizon was going live in 25 cities with LTE on 11/16/2010 and the iPhone would come out on Verizon on Black Friday.

[noleli2]

For some reason I thought Verizon and AT&T were both planning to use the same LTE technology, which would eliminate the CDMA/GSM divide, but reading this thread makes that sound false. Can anyone fill me in? (Robo?)

[chucker]

Originally Posted by noleli2 For some reason I thought Verizon and AT&T were both planning to use the same LTE technology, which would eliminate the CDMA/GSM divide

Yes, it would — for 4G data. However, wherever 4G coverage is spotty, it'll fall back to 3G (or 2G), thus the problem.