The iPhone. On Verizon

It's been a long time coming to be able to say those words, and not have to put "rumored" in there somewhere. At today's special event (at Lincoln Center in NYC, no less) Verizon (and Apple) made it official: the iPhone is coming to Verizon.

Which iPhone? Well the same iPhone 4 you already know and love, simply configured to run on Verizon's network. And pricing? The phone will start at $199.99 just like AT&T, but Verizon is keeping tight-lipped on the data plans, saying only that those prices will be announced "at a later date."

Now that's it's official, you'll be able to line up at Verizon (will there be lines?) beginning February 10. Existing Verizon customers will have first dibs at the early shipping phones.

What do you think? Was the lack of iPhone availability on Verizon keeping you from getting on the iPhone bandwagon?

My Completely Unsubstantiated Theory on the Verizon iPad

Yesterday, the biggest news story in the Apple blogosphere was the somewhat quizzical announcement that the iPad would soon be available from Verizon. It is an interesting announcement for a few reasons. First, it's not a Verizon iPad per say, but rather the standard wifi-enabled iPad, bundled with a discounted Verizon mifi personal wifi plan.

Why would Verizon start selling a quasi-carrier iPad? Why not wait for a cell version that would work directly with Verizon's network? My unsubstantiated theory: Apple is allowing Verizon to carry the iPad to make up for an unannounced delay in bringing the iPhone to Verizon. Many analysts has pegged the Verizon iPhone to a January announcement/availability, but then we heard it might be March until the Verizon iPhone is available.

To keep Verizon excited about the iPhone, perhaps Apple offered up the iPad early allowing them to meet a portion of internal revenue goals that may have been based on the assumption of January phone availability.

Of course there's always the possibility Apple is simply looking to move the iPad into as many channels as possible before other tablets have a chance to take hold, but that's not much fun at all, is it?

What do you make of the "Verizon" iPad?

Want to go to WWDC 2010? You Might Want To Clear These Dates

Kudos to MacNN for a little bit of technology gumshoe-ing to discover what looks likely to be the dates for WWDC 2010. You see, Apple hasn't announced the dates for 2010's developer conference yet, but June/July is a safe bet, in general. However, some investigating reveals an events labelled simply as "Corporate event" is scheduled for June 28- July 2. "Corporate event" has been used in the past to block the WWDC dates on the Moscone Center calendar until Apple announces the event.

Of particular interest, if this conference followed the patterns of previous ones, the keynote could occur on June 29th, As MacNN points out, this is exactly three years to the day of the original iPhone release. Just a fun date to celebrate, or an indicator of the expiration of AT&T's exclusivity on the iPhone? Keep an eye on those T-Mobile/Verizon/Sprint execs' calendars!

TDL Live This Week: (11/30 - 12/6)

We've made it out of our turkey coma (urban legend, by the way) and we were able to put together last night's TDL Live. It was a fairly slow news week, other than of course, that uniquely American concept of Black Friday. But we also managed to dig up some Psystar news, Droid sales numbers, and a look at those Black Friday sales results. We also want to thank our sponsor for this week's show, Task PRO. If you're looking for a great to-do list/ getting things done app for the iPhone or iPod touch, check out Task PRO, and support us at the same time.

Here's the show:

Verizon, We're Pulling For Ya

You got to admire Verizon's moxie. AT&T files a lawsuit due to those "there's an app for that" ads, and what does Verizon do? They come back with holiday-themed ads pressing the same point. While it's too early to tell whether the Droid will be a serious contender to the iPhone, one thing is certain: The combination of Verizon touting its coverage, and their introduction of a capable smartphone should worry AT&T. And it should certainly worry AT&T more than Apple. Apple could probably make the Droid disappear overnight if they could bring the iPhone to more major carriers. Of course AT&T's exclusivity is getting in the way, but someday it will be gone.

When both Verizon and AT&T can offer the iPhone, AT&T will have to either compete on price, or enhance their network, both of which are better for everyone.