Rumor: Smaller iPhone on tap for Verizon in Q3 2010?
Posted Nov 7th 2009 12:30AM by Steven Sande
If you're tired of dropped calls and dead zones, and pondering the merits of turning in your iPhone for a DROID... hold on there, champ. AppleInsider says it's received a copy of a report by OTR Global, claiming that Apple has signed contracts to produce a UMTS / CDMA hybrid iPhone to be released in the third quarter of 2010.
The hybrid handset, built around a dual-system chip from Qualcomm, would allow the iPhone to run on virtually any GSM/UTMS cellular network worldwide -- and also on the CDMA2000 networks of US carriers like Verizon and Sprint. In particular, Verizon is cited in the report as the target carrier for the new devices.
The report states that Foxconn, the Taiwan-based sole-source provider of iPhone hardware at this time, will not build the new device. Instead, a subsidiary of Asustek known as Pegatron has been selected to kick off manufacturing. It's also rumored that the hybrid device uses a 2.8" screen, making the handset smaller than the current model which uses a 3.5" display.
Photos of the smaller display were first featured on iLounge in June of 2008 (see photo at right), sparking widespread rumors at the time that an "iPhone nano" was on the way. Over a year later, neither the smaller iPhone nor a Verizon model are available. However, if the leaked report is any indication, 2010 could be yet another year of incredible growth for the iPhone economy.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Allen S. said 12:34AM on 11-07-2009
What's up with that 3.2" display? That's a no go! 3.5" is perfect to type in portrait mode, but nothing smaller.
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str1f3 said 12:53AM on 11-07-2009
It's not 3.2". It's 2.8" which is incredibly small. Is a Apple trying to make a bite-sized iPhone?
Allen S. said 3:47AM on 11-07-2009
I understand the 2.8" part, but I was also looking at the other size resembled in the photo. Looks like it's a 3.2". I played with the HTC Hero which has the same size screen, and it's just a bit too cramped.
Jordan said 10:47PM on 11-07-2009
Them making a smaller screen = death
Steve said 12:39AM on 11-07-2009
not going to happen, Apple isn't going to make a smaller screen so the 100,000+ apps need to have two different size versions.
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Dale said 12:44AM on 11-07-2009
Well, no, they could make the screen smaller while increasing pixel density, thereby letting them keep the same screen resolution but have a smaller screen.
dagamer43 said 9:19AM on 11-08-2009
That still wouldn't work, as unless fingers shrink proportionally, it's going to be harder to tap on specific things.
Gillan said 12:50AM on 11-07-2009
Pretty sure this is fake. Apple wouldn't put the Home button so far spaced like that, i would hope.
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Hi Kenneth said 12:49PM on 11-07-2009
Well people diddn't think the PS3 Slim spy photo were real...that is until it came out. I say we don't judge and wait it out.
nickux said 12:51AM on 11-07-2009
iPhone on Verizon- I just have to believe and will it to be true.
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JoeB said 12:57AM on 11-07-2009
I seriously doubt Apple will create any handset for the Verizon network. Aside from the recent ads mocking the iPhone, there had already been bad blood.
Many don't either know or remember that Apple had initially approached Verizon with the original iPhone and Verizon wanted no part of it, hence it went to AT&T.
Verizon? Highly doubt it. Besides, I'd rather have it on Sprint and their upcoming 4G network.
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Steven Mohler said 2:01AM on 11-07-2009
Bad blood hardly matters when there is money to be made.
Allen S. said 3:49AM on 11-07-2009
Yep, money is money. Besides, Qualcomm has those logic boards which now have both CDMA/HSDPA technology rolled into one to allow both types of networks. Technology gets cheaper by the day, so either way it's a steal for Apple. The phones that are sold to China right now have the CDMA chip right now because of their network, so Apple's got something up their sleeve. And frankly, it's about time. Having a choice is always great.
Penny Aguilar said 5:50AM on 11-07-2009
Wow! A rumor that started more that 1yr ago and still unconfirmed. This is so exciting. Meh.
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Anthony said 8:23AM on 11-07-2009
Those are plastic screen covers to FAKE iPhones. - http://dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.26015
They are too gross to be real anyway/it's not the "apple-look."
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mark said 9:39AM on 11-07-2009
If the iPhone screen goes smaller I'm leaving for Android. The screen is small enough as it is.
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Phil said 4:26PM on 11-07-2009
A viscious rumor started by AT&T to keep it's grasp on existing iPhone dollars.
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jbelkin said 12:19PM on 11-07-2009
The smaller screen makes it a fake as an iPhone. There is NO WAY Apple is going to release a smaller screen version unless it's it's a itouch. PERIOD.
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Hickeroar said 12:32PM on 11-07-2009
If they kept the same resolution the same on the smaller screen, i have no problem with this at all. Smaller screen = smaller phone = what I want.
Honestly, if I could get an iPhone on verizon, I'd switch asap. Their 3g network is so much better than AT&T's, and I'm sure they'd actually deliver the tethering out the gate instead of this pointless delay that AT&T is pushing. We're one of the only carriers out there at this point who can't do tethering....and we were the first ones to actually get the iPhone.
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johnson412 said 1:40PM on 11-07-2009
Yeah, I'm sure they'd get right on that tethering...
http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/04/droid-tethering-its-coming-early-2010-says-verizon/
http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/06/verizon-confirms-droid-tethering-cost-will-ask-subscribers-to-d/