AT&T has been the sole provider of the popular iPhone in the United States, word on the street is that Verizon will be the next carrier for the iPhone in 2009. The iPhone will be available for Verizon’s EVDO service. Here is a list as to why Apple should break away and offer the iPhone to more carriers:

1. Apple has been scouting out EVDO and CDMA Engineers for months in their online iPhone job postings (here, here, here and here). Yes, some of these skills overlap with UTMS and CDMA can also refer to the broad swath of 3G Technologies…but come on…don’t put “EVDO” on the job description if it ain’t true.. (BTW, WiMax is also littered throughout Apple’s Job postings…interesting/digress)

2. No matter how big AT&T is and how much range they cover, leaving out Verizon and to a lesser extent Sprint, will be eliminating a broad swath of the US wireless market. If Apple is serious about competing with Blackberry, Symbian and Android, they will have to broaden their carrier footprint. One carrier does not a platform make. Apple will need a way to grow its market after AT&T is saturated.

3. LTE technology won’t be mature until well into 2010. Apple can’t afford to wait that long to broaden its carrier footprint

4. Who is happy with Rogers in Canada (*crickets*)? EVDO opens up to new carriers there as well.

5. Verizon wireless is a partnership between Verizon communications and Vodafone. Vodafone, you’ll recall, has contracts with Apple for iPhones in around 15 markets around the world. Apple has a working relationship with Vodafone (and Tmobile obviously).

6. Apple has just started going “Open” in a few markets, including Hong Kong. This will likely increase the number of unlocked 3G iPhones on the world market (South Africa is also open). While this won’t benefit Verizon directly, it certainly shows that Apple is considering being more “carrier agnostic.”

7. Tim Cook, famously said that Apple wasn’t married to the one carrier/country model. As Apple expands, it is going more and more open.

8. Verizon’s iPhone Cheat sheet was weak and their arguments about Stevo getting old were silly. They’d rather play ball with Apple than try to defend itself against it.

9. Apple originally wanted to go with Verizon for the iPhone. Some of the original disagreements included “not carrying the iPhone at Best Buy and hardware reliability” - see quote below. AT&T was a second choice. When Verizon balked, Apple went to AT&T…Think Verizon is happy about that decision (no) or willing to reconsider Apple’s overtures (yes)?

-Ray

[Source: TopiPhoneNews]

It is already well known that Apple’s iPod is at the pinnacle of MP3 players. But why is it? Here is an interesting article of why the iPod Nano is a notch better than the competition. Check it out.

New iPod nano a notch above the rest

By Tom Rose / Bostonherald.com

8GB iPod nano (4th gen.): A-

Apple Inc. has done it again.

Each year its competitors add new features to their mid-range mp3 players, making already good products that much better. But then September rolls along and the iPod nano undergoes a redesign that puts it just out of reach at the top of the class.

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Apple recently recalled all their chargers that came with the iPhone 3G because of a safety issue. The iPhone charger recall was needed because apparently the metal prongs were breaking off and becoming stuck in electrical outlets which posed a safety issue. There were no reports of injuries fortunately, and Apple will replace your charger free of charge. Apple will be sending out replacement chargers on October 10th, information regarding the recall can be found on the Apple website. Here at iPhoneSpies we managed to get our hands on one before everyone else and we’re happy to announce they work great. It hasn’t broken on us yet. So be sure to check out the Apple site or head on over to the Apple store for your replacement.

-Ray

It’s said that China will soon get the official iPhone, but a much stripped down version then the version the rest of the world gets. It has been reported in Chinese newspapers that a manufacturer in China will be producing the iPhone without the 3G connection or Wi-Fi and is waiting on approval from China Mobile. The stripped down version is said to be demanded by state-owned China Mobile who wants to push the Chinese government’s TDSCDMA instead of 3G made by the West. Some are saying that Apple shouldn’t have to customize their iPhone just for one market, but it’s a very large market. China Mobile is said to have 415 million customers, I doubt Apple would pass on an opportunity like that. Communism, you gotta love it!

-Ray

[Source: electronista]

Apple recently introduced a new purchasing plan for their iPhone 3Gs that are made to save customers time when they go to their local Apple Store. While it still doesn’t let you order the iPhone 3G online and have it shipped to your house, it does let you do a good chunk the phone buying at phone. You can now fill out a form with all your details, pick the plan you want and get all the other things out of the way before you get to the store. The forms allow you to create a new account or add new phones to an account you already have or replace an old iPhone. Choose the store you want to pick it up at and then you’re all set with no lines to wait in.

-Ray

[Source: iphonenews]

Apple changed the music industry when they first released iTunes. They changed the way consumers consume music with the introduction of iTunes. People began buying their music from iTunes, which makes iTunes the largest music retailer in the United States and one of the top music retailers in other parts of the world. But is Apple’s iTunes on the verge of losing business? Check out this article about the music industry and its relationship to Apple’s iTunes.

iTunes under threat as bands take their business elsewhere

Bands concerned for the ongoing commercial viability of albums are adding to the pressures on iTunes, says Brian Boyd
The previously unremarkable rap-rocker Kid Rock had a huge worldwide hit this summer with the single All Summer Long. The album it came from, Rock’n'Roll Jesus, has now sold more than two million copies.

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The competition to the Apple iPhone 3G, the T-Mobile G1 Android is here and wants to steal some of the iPhone 3G’s thunder. Here is a side by side review of the Apple iPhone 3G vs the T-Mobile G1 a.k.a. the Android phone. Both have many of the same features, but who comes out on top?

For starters, the T-Mobile G1 has a brand new operating system Google’s Android that has been highly anticipated for quite some time. It has the unique distinction of being open-source, which means developers from all over can update and modify the OS. The Android Market is also going to go live, which features apps from all walks of life.

The phone itself features Wi-Fi, GPS and 3G (where available). It features a 3-megapixel camera and 1GB of storage by means of a removable memory card, which can be expanded up to 8GB. The G1 has a touchscreen and a full QWERTY keyboard that is revealed by means of a nifty sliding mechanism. We can expect the G1 from T-Mobile on October 22 and current T-Mobile customers can pre-order it for $179.

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When we first reported that new Macbooks will be making their debut on October 14, bloggers and speculators were all wondering what Apple had up their sleeve. Well, it has been reported by AppleInsider (a rumor they say) that the next-generation Macbooks and Macbook Pros have surfaced. Apparently, both the Macbook and the Macbook Pro share similar aluminum enclosures as well as similar aesthetics. The new Macbooks and Macbook Pros have a design that is a cross between the Macbook Air and the aluminum iMac. It has also been reported by AppleInsider that Apple has eliminated I/O ports, such as the Firmware 400 port, and altered others in order to reduce the overall footprint of its next-gen notebooks. Again, this is all just speculation and we will have to just wait till Apple gives us an official announcement. Remember to check back as more information comes our way.

- Geoff

[Source: AppleInsider]

The popular iPhone lightsaber isn’t back just yet as it was scheduled to be released on September 16, 2008. It is available as an update to those who have the original PhoneSaber app that was pulled by THQ a few months back. Here is one of the first reviews of Lightsaber Unleashed for the iPhone.

There was much speculation a few months back when THQ asked TheMacBox to remove their popular free PhoneSaber Star Wars app from the iTunes store citing copyright issues (apparently you can’t just make apps based on popular movies without permission… who knew?). Many wondered if it would still be free when it returned, while others (including us) wondered if it would return as looking like a Nascar Car, full of ads and excess marketing crap.

Well, it’s still free….

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A user on Macenstein found out something interesting, that a jailbroken iPhone 2G had better Wi-Fi reception than his non Jailbroken iPhone 3G. The user who found this out says below:

So, does Jailbreaking improve Wi-Fi reception, or does the iPod touch just have a MUCH better Wi-Fi antennae than the iPhone? That is the question posed by faithful Macenstein reader Brian:

“I was visiting family last weekend and my wife’s cousin pulled out his jailbroken first gen iPod Touch to show me the apps he had installed. I had my 3G iphone with me and when we both went to connect to wireless we discovered a huge difference between the two devices.

As you can see in the photo his iPod found about 10 networks in the building (more are off-screen) while my iPhone only found 2.

What do you think?”

-Ray

[Source: macenstein]