Before we get started with the article, let's have a moment of candor. A casual glance across the gadget blogs shows that iPhone rumors are about a dime a dozen. You don't have to go far to find some analyst telling everyone what the Cupertino-based company has planned for the immediate future. It's important to remember that 'Analyst' speculation is still just speculation. These guys are wrong all the time. It happened with the last iPhone, it is happening with the next iPhone, the iPad, and every other Apple product from here to eternity. There's money to be made guessing about Apple's future.

So when analysts say that the Verizon iPhone is years away and T-Mo is a much more realistic immediate carrier (AppleInsider), I don't want you to invest too much trust in their words. However, this time, their speculation seems to be founded in good sense. They point out that both Big Red and Apple are all about "customer control". Verizon wants its own app store, Apple isn't going to be cool with that. Verizon has V Cast, Apple uses iTunes.

The iPhone is the king of smartphones. Verizon wants it, and one day they will carry it. But it's unlikely their network will be ready and a deal will be hashed out by 2010. Meanwhile, Sprint and T-Mobile are both ready with limited 4G now. Both carriers are in the midst of dire financial straits, and thus more likely to be amenable to Apple's whims.

Analysts claim that adding T-Mo's 1700 MHz spectrum to the iPhone would be much simpler than adding Sprint CDMA compatibility. On that, there's no doubt they're right. If we do see a T-Mo iPhone, late next year is the earliest possible release date. Until then, we're left with nothing but speculation.