Another week, another addition to the rumor mill, perpetually revolving the talked-about Verizon iPhone. This time around, it’s another analyst tossing in their two cents about the ever-evolving relationship between Verizon and Apple. And while folks out there may be hoping that everything is going smoothly with the deal negotiations, it seems that a snag, this time revolving around cellular technology, may be stalling the situation a bit.
According to Kaufman analyst Shaw Wu, Apple and Verizon are currently trying to decide whether or not an iPhone released onto the United States’ largest wireless carriers makes more sense in 2011, or 2012. More specifically, whether or not a 4G iPhone, utilizing Verizon’s LTE technology, would just be the better way to go about things. According to Wu, Verizon is currently hard at work on SVDO, which would allow for Verizon devices to access data, while still talking on the phone. By allowing simultaneous voice and data, the iPhone wouldn’t be as hindered as it would be now, on Verizon’s current network technology.
If Verizon is indeed working on SVDO, which we’ve heard rumored before with their tests of Voice over Rev. A (VoRA), it would be a stop-gap before their full roll-out of LTE in the coming years. But the big question would be: a 3G iPhone, or a 4G iPhone for Verizon? We’re sure that if the talks are going on right now, which many believe they are, an announcement would indeed be primed for the January CES event, next year. What that announcement will hold should indeed be pretty interesting. What would you prefer? Waiting until 2012 for a 4G-capable iPhone, or do you want it right now?
