More news on the Verizon getting the I-Phone..

I am sure you have heard that there are even MORE INDICATIONS that the IPhone is indeed coming to the 'Can You Hear Me Now?' network. Soon. As in REALLY SOON.

Well...yes and no....


The article that started it all this week AKA THE 'YES': http://brainstormtech.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2009/11/12/rumors-a-verizon-iphone-in-2010/



"Judging from reader comments in this space, there are a lot of cellphone owners in America locked into Verizon (VZ) contracts who would buy an iPhone in a minute if they didn't have to switch carriers to get it.

Verizon has made it pretty clear that it would cut a deal with Apple (AAPL), were it not for a couple of impediments: 1) the contract that makes AT&T (T) the iPhone's exclusive U.S. carrier, and 2) the fact that Verizon's network (based on CDMA2000 technology) is incompatible with Apple's smartphone (which uses W-CDMA (UMTS)).

The first roadblock — AT&T's contract — is set to expire next year, according to a widely cited 2008 USA Today article that included an interview with chairman Randall Stephenson. (Stephenson declined to comment on the details of the contract.)

The second barrier could also disappear were Apple to build a new iPhone that is compatible with both AT&T and Verizon's networks.

Last week, AppleInsider reported on rumors that Apple may be doing just that. Its source was a leaked OTR Global report, based on unnamed sources in Apple's Taiwanese supply chain, that said Apple was making a "worldmode" phone using a new hybrid chip from Qualcomm (QCOM).








And here is the 'no', not yet part....


"This morning, CDMA inventor Qualcomm announced official plans to release new dual-carrier chips that would enable future phones to work on both its own CDMA/EVDO carrier partners such as Verizon and Sprint, as well as rival 3GPP carriers using UMTS/HSPA+ technologies such as AT&T and T-Mobile. The new chips also provide future support for LTE, the next generation 3GPP standard that most carriers plan to begin testing for deployment globally over the next few years.

However, an analyst has cited sources within Qualcomm in stating that although the company would like to have a dual-mode handset ready in 2010, that would likely be impossible. Ashok Kumar, an analyst with Northeast Securities, told AppleInsider that a dual-mode iPhone from Apple wouldn't exist until 2011 at the earliest.

Kumar said what Qualcomm wants and what they can do are two different things. In order for a dual-mode iPhone to launch in the summer of 2010, such a device would have to be in field trial today.

"They're nowhere near that," he said.

Kumar said he believes it would be a "stretch" for Apple to introduce a dual-mode CDMA/EVDO and UMTS phone in 2010. Instead, he expects a CDMA-only phone specifically made for Verizon Wireless, the largest mobile carrier in the U.S., to debut in the second half of next year."

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