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There's nothing like a good piece of scuttlebutt covered in fairy dust and served up on the back of a magical unicorn dancing across a moonlit glade. TechCrunch knows this, and in an effort to make this the best speculation-laden Columbus Day ever, has posted some titillating rumor-on-rumor action suitable for Apple lovers of all ages.
Last week, the clarion calls of analysts and credible news sources surrounding the debut of an iPhone on the Verizon network were renewed. According to unnamed overseas manufacturing sources, the Verizon iPhone would be a CDMA-only device that would see the light of day in early 2011. After being left on its own for a few days, it appears that the original story has grown in size and scope. According to TechCrunch, the phone will indeed be making the scene this upcoming January. However, where once the phone was said to support only CDMA networks like Verizon, TechCrunch now has it that the device will contain the bits and pieces for both CDMA and GSM network support, allowing for a single handset model to be deployed on any number of networks world wide. Unfortunately, CDMA and GSM are where the the Cupertino-based company will supposedly draw the line. Despite the availability of Verizon's 4G network infrastructure, Apple is said to be waiting for for at least one more generation of its smartphone handsets to debut before adopting any next generation cellular standards.
Do any of these rumors hold water? Sure, why not. It makes good sense for Apple to roll out a single handset that can be used by both CDMA and GSM carriers. Given the company's reluctance to adopt new technologies until they've proven to have some staying power (Bluray is a great example of this), it's not unreasonable to expect that they'd want to wait a spell before adding 4G tech to their handsets. However, at this stage of the game, it's far too early to be buying much of what anyone is selling out there. Without a concrete "I forgot it in a bar" leak or a Keynote debut, new iPhone handset hardware, while said to be only a few months away, may as well for all intents and purposes not exist at all.
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