I am going to deviate from app development discussion to talk about the mobile carrier/handset landscape.  In the early spring of 2010 I guest lectured at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on the topic of mobile technology and app development and I was asked when Verizon was getting the iPhone.  I definitively said June 2010 because I believed at the time Apple would introduce iPhone 4 on Verizon’s CDMA network.  Well I was wrong.  Fast forward several months and the Verizon iPhone rumors are once again swirling with a potential released Q1 of 2011. 

Customers want a Verizon iPhone marriage, especially if it includes unlimited data on Verizon’s network which is no longer available with AT&T.  I got into a spirited discussion with an Apple store employee on the topic of a Verizon iPhone partnership.  The blue shirt Mac specialist was steadfast that current iPhone customer’s were happy with AT&T.  Really?  After the latest round of rumors surfaced I read several facebook posts about the excitement of an iPhone on Verizon.  Whether this happens sooner then later the real winner in this situation is Google and Android.  Verizon customers who want a cool smartphone are buying Motorola Droids and HTC Incredibles.  This is especially significant given Microsoft just announced its upcoming Windows Phone 7 operating system OS will be on GSM only.

OK so when is Verizon getting the iPhone?  Sorry I don’t really know.  2011?  Maybe?  More than likely it will happen after Verizon finishes building their new Next Gen Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile network.

More importantly when are we going to see a real shift in the mobile technology space? When you buy a new PC or Mac do you have to let your internet provider know you switched?  No.  Wouldn’t it be nice to buy whatever device you want with the carrier of your choose.  As a developer who creates apps for iPhone, Android, and Blackberry I want as many handsets on as many carriers as possible so you can download and buy Jam-Mobile.com’s GREAT software.