Verizon iPhone Finally Seems Confirmed

Last week it was the Wall Street Journal; now the New York Times is saying that they have direct sources claiming that Apple is readying the launch of a Verizon iPhone early next year. We haven't been very excited about this for a number of reasons. First, Verizon is known to have a very closed network, wanting to sell its own apps and services - even to the extent that they will disable phone features in order to force users to purchase apps and services from them. This was most obvious with the Blackberry 8830 (disabled GPS) and the Motorola v710 (disabled Bluetooth). With the iPhone, we're wondering how they will cope with not getting a slice of all those apps and whether or not Apple has the clout to keep the company from doing something similarly stupid to the iPhone interface. Second, Verizon is on a CDMA network - an outdated system that isn't slated to be updated to the 4G LTE system until 2011 - and likely later for the bulk of users (though they tout 2010 as their rollout date, the year is almost up).

The one potential for amazement would be if Verizon would announce an iPhone with a  dual-mode (CDMA/LTE) chip in order to time some sort of LTE/4G announcement with the deployment of the iPhone. We'll have to see if this is some giant, wonderfully brilliant conspiracy, or if once again those of us in the media are simply thinking logically without the aid of manufacturing costs and deployment realities.

Apple has been using the AT&T cellphone network for three years now, and the word that Apple is now making a version of the iPhone 4 for Verizon's network is sourced from "a person who is in direct contact with Apple". That could be the janitor, but logic certainly supports a Verizon iPhone. The timing of the release until AFTER the holiday season is a perplexing one, though - couldn't they have upped the schedule a few months? The person said that Apple and Verizon would begin selling the phone early in 2011.

This is not the first rumor of a Verizon iPhone. The fact that both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal are reporting it makes for a compelling argument. The other thing that plays into this is the fact that Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg is slated to keynote at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

Will you buy a Verizon iPhone? Do you think it will be disabled somehow like all other Verizon phones? Let us know in our forums.