verizon wireless

Reports have surfaced that Skype and Verizon Wireless have cemented a 2-3 year exclusive deal to develop and run Skype applications on Verizon smartphones. iPhone owners have been waiting for a 3G-enabled version of the Skype app for some time.

Now that AT&T and Apple have lifted the Wi-Fi only restrictions on applications like SlingPlayer, Skype users naturally expected they would be the next to benefit from this change. In fact, Skype already has a 3G-ready app but the company has delayed its release due to concerns over AT&T's network.

As pressure mounts before the Apple media event next week, reports are flying around the net about exactly what Apple will announce in San Francisco on Wednesday. Rumors of negotiations between Verizon Wireless and Apple have surfaced before, however they've picked up new steam.

Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek is the latest voice to weigh in on a Verizon iPhone deal, and he fully expects a Verizon 4G iPhone to support CDMA this coming June. Misek believes this announcement will come next week along with the launch of Apple's yet to be seen tablet computing device.

With the exclusive iPhone deal between AT&T and Apple ending this summer, Verizon is reportedly in negotiations with Apple to offer a CDMA version of the device on its network this year. Maynard Um from UBS Investment Research wrote a note to investors that stated, "We believe a CDMA-iPhone is also in the works, though we believe Verizon Wireless and Apple may currently be apart on pricing."

Um's research points to a new iPhone release this summer, including a CDMA network compatible iPhone for Verizon or other CDMA carriers in Japan and China. Ongoing negotiations between Verizon and Apple have been rumored to be happening frequently in recent months. The release of a Qualcomm hybrid chipset that supports multiple wireless network technologies has also added to speculation.

Speculation has been rampant over a Verizon Wireless iPhone, however a simpler path for Apple to expand its iPhone market would be to offer the device to T-Mobile. Doug Reid, an analyst at Thomas Weisel, sees this move as a logical step.

Apple already offers the iPhone through Germany's T-Mobile unit (T-Mobile is owned by Deutsche Telekom). The carrier has compatible wireless technology to AT&T and wouldn't require any hardware changes to the iPhone, unlike any move to Verizon Wireless.

Qualcomm is talking to Apple about its new hybrid mobile chipsets going into future iPhones. These chips would make it possible for one iPhone to work on several different carriers, including Verizon and AT&T.

The chips are not expected to make it into the summer 2010 iPhone release, as they are too new to have been properly field tested. DigiTimes is reporting that Qualcomm is looking for a deal with Apple for "future cooperation".

Fans of other wireless carriers can rejoice. The end is near for AT&T's exclusive deal with Apple to offer the iPhone in the US. Broadpoint AmTech analyst Brian Marshall claims the expiration date is June 2010.

AT&T is said to be in negotiations to extend the deal through 2011. The iPhone deal could be of even greater importance to the carrier since Verizon will have LTE (4G) technology up and running in 20-30 markets in 2010.

Apple's offerings next summer will include a Verizon-only iPhone compatible with the carrier's CDMA network technology. Dual-mode chips, announced this week by Qualcomm, might not be ready for prime time in 2010. Neither will LTE network technology, which is expected to enter widespread service in 2011.

This leaves Apple with only one option to expand to the largest US carrier after their exclusive contract with AT&T ends next year. Build a Verizon Wireless compatible iPhone.

The second half of 2010 could finally bring a much-anticipated Verizon Wireless iPhone. A new hybrid chip developed by Qualcomm makes it possible to communicate with several different network technologies using only one component.

This means Apple can manufacture one device, the "world mode" iPhone that will work on all of the networks it's currently compatible with as well as Verizon's CDMA network. Previous reports speculated that Apple would wait until at least 2011 for Verizon's launch of LTE technology.

The Apple logo on the back of your iPhone now has competition. Next week it will be possible to carry around a mobile device with three corporate logos!

Verizon, Motorola and Google each get their own billboard space on the Droid, scheduled for release next week. In a brazen act of branding, two of these logos (Verizon and Motorola) actually appear on the front AND back of the Droid.

Add analyst Brian Marshall to the chorus of iPhone owners, CDMA fans, speculators, AT&T haters and Apple shareholders clamoring for an iPhone on the Verizon Wireless network. Marshall, who works for Broadpoint AmTech, has noticed that Apple is moving towards a multiple carrier business model in several countries.

His analysis? The company will do the same thing in the United States. Completely ignoring the Motorola Droid and its associated anti-iPhone campaign, Marshall believes the iPhone will come to Verizon in the second half of 2010.