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As JG mentioned yesterday, rumors are floating about talks between Verizon and Apple.  AT&T just might be losing exclusive rights to their major breadwinner.

But, it seems more and more as though if the deal does go through that we won’t be looking at the exact same iPhone just marketed through a different carrier.  All that nasty exclusivity confusion and all that.  We are hearing whispers of an iPhone Lite for one, by one person who claims to have seen a prototype of the device.  The iPhone Lite is obviously similar to its big brother, just more compact and less expensive.  My…a cheaper iPhone.  Somehow I think the people just may like that part.

Device number two is a tablet.  This media pad has music, photos, videos…it even would allow users to place calls using a Wi-Fi connection.  There is talk of this coming out as early as this summer if all goes through with the pow-wows between Apple and Verizon.

Also kind of newsworthy is the fact that Apple has hired on Bob Drebin, ex-ATI graphics chip designer.  It isn’t exactly known what department he is going to be working in yet, although, let’s look at the fact that he’s come from being CTO of ATI’s product group, and it isn’t a broad leap to think he’s going to be leading up a GPU project.  His experience, and what he’s worked with processor-wise, is said to be pretty much the core of the coming iPhone Lite, and the Apple Media Pad.  They are called “System on a Chip” (SoC), and are a combination of CPU, GPU and some other components that were previously separate.  This saves on both space and money.

This all seems to be a bit of a change from Verizon’s initial mindset regarding Apple.  They originally balked at the offer of becoming the sole carrier of the iPhone.  Yeah…Bet you can hear them now, Verizon.  Lowell McAdam, Verizon Wireless CEO has confirmed that they have spoken with Apple execs recently, “In the last six months, I have talked to Steve Jobs.”  He wouldn’t reveal what was discussed, although two people “in the know” confirmed it had to do with “two smaller iPhone-like devices under development.” 

However, AT&T spokesperson Mark Siegel doesn’t seem to want to admit to any such happenings just yet.  He says “We are delighted with the iPhone and our partnership with Apple.”  Apple declined making an executive available.  Hmmmmm.

So, yeah…it appears talks are definitely in the works.  But, that doesn’t mean it’s a definite.  The deal breaker here would be financial terms.  Namely, is Verizon willing to share monthly services revenues with Apple, and how much are they willing to pay subsidy-wise for each device.  Plus, if Verizon says “no go” on Apple wanting exclusivity regarding apps, like they do with AT&T, that may stop the whole thing in its tracks. 

The whole thing is kind of a win-win for Apple regardless.  If they go with Verizon, they gain another carrier.  If they can’t work out a deal with Verizon…it pushes AT&T to the plate for a nicer exclusivity contract. 

via: businessweek