iPhone 4

For those who aren't interested in ordering the Verizon iPhone 4 online, there's now a third location where you can wait in line and squabble over limited inventory. Best Buy has added its name to the list of retailers who will carry the Verizon iPhone 4 starting on launch day.

The third-party retailer joins the ranks of the Apple Store and Verizon Wireless in offering the CDMA iPhone 4 on February 10, 2011. Although it was rumored that Best Buy training materials hyped AT&T's network speeds as superior, company spokespeople have stated that the company has no interest in pushing one carrier over another. Best Buy intends to be neutral and offer consumers the best mobile phone for their individual situation and preferences.

One of the highlights of the Macworld Expo this year is a product from Studio Neat, the Glif iPhone 4 stand. This simply designed stand for the iPhone does just about anything you'd want a stand to do with a compact and portable form factor.

Glif is made of rubberized plastic and easily attaches to a caseless iPhone 4 in a variety of positions. Stand up the device vertically or horizontally for calling with speakerphone, FaceTime or watching video. The Glif even features a standard 1/4 inch brass thread for tripod mounting when taking photos. The stand is lightweight and just slides directly onto the iPhone 4 to grip the device in whatever direction is needed for your purpose.

Apple's lawyers now have another fly to swat after a California man stepped up with a class action lawsuit over the iPhone 4's glass. According to Apple, the glass found on the iPhone 4 is "20 times stiffer and 30 times harder than plastic." Apparently none of this matters when you drop the device on the ground from three feet up.

The plaintiff claims his daughter dropped his three-week old iPhone 4 from that height and the thing busted. In the lawsuit, he claims that "months after selling millions of iPhone 4s, Apple has failed to warn and continues to sell this product with no warning to customers that the glass housing is defective." His iPhone 3GS survived several similar incidents with no damage, so in his mind, the iPhone 4 should, too.

Verizon Wireless leans heavily on its reputation as the most dependable network in the US. The company is betting this reputation that it will flawlessly launch millions of iPhones onto its airwaves without any of the snafus that faced AT&T. Some are starting to wonder if Verizon is really as bulletproof as it seems.

Various reports from around the country have cited network problems of various stripes affecting Verizon for hours, even days in the case of some BlackBerry owners. The company is aware of the problems and is working on correcting them, but the news comes at an awkward time for America's largest cellular carrier.

Here's the scoop from Verizon's special event in NYC: a CDMA-compatible version of the Apple iPhone 4 is coming to Verizon Wireless and Apple stores on February 10, 2011. Pre-ordering for existing customers will commence on February 3, 2011. Subsidized prices with a two-year service agreement will run $199 for the 16GB iPhone 4 and $299 for the 32GB model.

The Verizon iPhone 4 has a redesigned antenna, which is a CDMA optimization. Verizon employees will start getting the iPhone 4 this week, and Verizon has been working on scaling up its systems to prepare for a flood of data demand.