The other day we learned that Apple is in talks to bring the iPhone to Verizon. Now we hear that they'll be bring not one, but two models:
One device is a smaller, less expensive calling device described by a person who has seen it as an "iPhone lite." The other is a media pad that would let users listen to music, view photos, and watch high-definition videos, the person says. It would place calls over a Wi-Fi connection. One of these devices may be introduced as early as this summer, one person says.
While exciting, this just doesn't sound right. As the same article notes just a couple of sentences later, AT&T's current exclusivity period doesn't expire until the end of the year. Perhaps this iPhone lite gets around that, as it would be a 'media pad,' not a phone:
"The media pad category might go to Verizon," said the person who has seen the device. "We are talking about a device where people will say, 'Damn, why didn't we do this?' Apple is probably going to define the damn category."
The new iPhone-like device is slightly thinner and smaller than the existing iPhone, people say. The reason the device is much cheaper than existing iPhones is that it relies on a so-called system on a chip, which incorporates many types of chips and drives down the cost of silicon in such devices, says one source familiar with the design. This new chip could also potentially be used in the media pad. "It will have a much lower cost that will blow away the margins on the BlackBerry and the iPhone," the person says.
Read it all at BusinessWeek and decide for yourself.
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