http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2346071,00.asp 04.28.09
by Sascha Segan Apple and Verizon Wireless may have found a sneaky way to work together without violating Apple's exclusivity contract with AT&T, which runs at least through 2010. As we reported in 2007, AT&T's contract with Apple covers "all models" of the iPhone. But it only covers iPhones. So if Apple builds something that isn't an iPhone, well, all bets are off. If BusinessWeek is to be believed, Apple is working on a "media pad that would let users listen to music, view photos, and watch high-definition videos," and which would "place calls over a Wi-Fi connection." If the device doesn't make cellular voice calls, it may be able to avoid the iPhone's AT&T exclusivity. According to BusinessWeek, Apple has been talking to Verizon Wireless about the device, as well as about another "iPhone-like" device which may be the "iPhone Mini" I wrote about a few weeks ago. Verizon has already been experimenting in the VOIP media pad space with the Verizon Hub, a home-based media pad that makes Wi-Fi calls. Apple's product would hopefully work better than the Hub, though. Getting an iPhone Mini onto Verizon before 2010 may prove much more difficult than launching a media pad, because of the iPhone exclusivity contract with AT&T. In any case, no deal has yet been sealed, BusinessWeek said. Yesterday, USA Today reported that Verizon and Apple are talking about possibly introducing an iPhone on Verizon's network in 2010. Comments from Verizon's CEO Ivan Seidenberg and Apple's COO Tim Cook have led us to believe that device would run on Verizon's upcoming LTE network, not the carrier's current CDMA network, as USA Today reported. We expect Apple to announce the next iPhone on June 9. *********************************** * POST TO MEDIANEWS@ETSKYWARN.NET * *********************************** Medianews mailing list Medianews@etskywarn.net http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
