However, lately it seems like more and more evidence is mounting that Verizon will indeed be getting the iPhone in the early parts of 2011.

As far as evidence goes, the first comes from a report from Bloomberg saying that Verizon would be releasing and iPhone in January of 2011.  Most of the time reports come from bloggers, not credible news sources.

Now it’s looking like there’s some physical evidence that these devices could become a reality with a recent report saying Apple has ordered millions of CDMA chips from Qualcomm.   CDMA is the technology used by Verizon Wireless (and Sprint) while the current iPhone 4 and all models before it have relied on GSM technology which is the technology used by AT&T (and T-Mobile and the rest of the world).

It’s far from a sure thing and I wouldn’t hold my breath or start waiting in line at your Verizon store for the iPhone 4 to make an appearance but it sure seems like there a little more to this story than just a rumor.

If I learn any new evidence, I’ll be sure to post it here for you.

Update August 16th:  Here’s a new report that seems to hint that the iPhone 4 may be ready for field testing on Verizon.

The iPhone 4 Coming To Verizon Soon???

Here are the big ones:

1) It shatters… like glass

Let’s be honest here, not even the magical Steve Jobs in all his infinite wisdom can stop glass from doing what glass does… it shatters with enough impact (even bulletproof glass does).  Of course, most smartphones have issues like this, especially those that opt for glass as the iPhone does.  However, I still can’t figure out why it has glass on both sides -- that’s just asking for trouble.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2oBWorzjVE

2) Scratches

One of the reasons to use glass over plastic is that it’s more scratch resistant.  However, that doesn’t make it scratch proof, even the special hardened glass (Gorilla Glass)  used on the iPhone 4.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aLIMnHveOY

3) That funky antenna

Good ol Steve made a big deal about how the  exterior metal band around the iPhone 4 and how it was some kind of technological breakthrough.  As it turns out, that means that holding the phone by the metal part of the phone makes the phone drop calls.   Hmm, maybe that’s why no one else used this “revolutionary” antenna before…

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGxENOp4XUQ

Now, like I said -- those are all easily fixed and not necessarily dealbreakers -- just buy a case for it and you shouldn’t have any problems.

4) Yellow Spots

This one is probably the least annoying one long term as it goes away (supposedly) after you use it for a while, but many people are reporting that the phone has yellow spots on the “retina display” which Apple has said is a residue from the manufacturing process.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJvJypUydhc

Have any other issues for your iPhone 4 that I missed or anything you’d like to add?

He spent a good part of last night playing around with my phone (a Droid, not an iPhone) trying to learn how about everything these phones can do.

So since I know I’ll be getting asked about which iPhone apps are the best, here is a list of 10 must have apps for the iPhone 4 for everyone to see (but no games, you can find people more qualified to give you game advice than me – I don’t do games).

Pandora (free)

With iOS 4, Pandora can finally run in the background so you can listen to music on your phone and do other things, like jot down notes, play games, send texts,  read the New York Time, and so on and so forth.  Pandora is a great way to discover new artists that you might not know you like so if you’re sick of the same old 40 songs being played on the radio, this free apps should be one of the first you download from the App Store

www.youtube.com/watch?v=stADpDu-z3c

The Weather Channel (free)

There is no shortage of weather apps available for the iPhone but this one is largely regarded as the best.    My favorite part – the ability to view and animate the radar so you can track the path of a storm.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=a29uRtKdaLk

Find My iPhone (free – MobileMe Membership Required $99/yr)

Coming to the realization that you lost your iPhone really does give a person a sinking feeling in their heart.  Find my iPhone, developed by Apple allows you to remotely track down you iPhone if you lost it or if you think it might be stolen.  It also allows you to remotely wipe the phone to protect your personal information.   The best part is that even if you don’t have the app installed before you lose your phone, you can still use this program – all other lost iPhone apps need you to be prepared and have these programs installed before your iPhone is lost or stolen.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-wCuA6CgeE

Car Locator ($1.99)

For those who can’t remember where they parked (like me), this app is for you.  Just fire up this app when you park and tag your location.  When you’re ready to find your car later, just tell the app and it’ll guide you right back to it.  I use a similar app on my phone frequently when I park downtown as I often don’t remember exactly where the heck my car is – saves me a lot of time wondering around lookin’ like a fool.

Shazam

One of the greatest apps ever created.  If you’ve ever wanted to know what song is playing on the radio, this app will tell you.  You’d be amazed how often you find yourself using this app.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkFTcbC9jnk

Evernote

This is a great app for jotting down notes, ideas, voice recordings, pictures, and videos.  And the great part is that it will instantly sync to your computer so you have all the info is there for you when you’re ready to act on it.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMbh_nGduJY

OpenTable

With this restaurant you can find a restaurant with open tables and make a reservation all from your phone without making a single phone call – just push a couple buttons and you have a reservation… it’s that simple.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxFgw86ghJc

Taxi Magic

While this one probably isn’t applicable to people in all parts of the country, this app allows you to hail a cab from your iPhone and if you’re in a supported city, it’s extremely useful.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvClBbpP5es

Remember The Milk

This is an online to do list and task manager and a sweet one at that.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJXRzZUtuAE

AroundMe

Need directions to the nearest airport, police station, or coffee shop?  Then you need AroundMe as that’s exactly what this app does.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x0omiP99qE

Looking for even more great iPhone apps?   Here are some more lists:

• http://news.cnet.com/8301-13556_3-20008296-61.html
• http://techexposures.com/2010/01/top-10-ipod-iphone-apps-must-have-february-2010/
• http://www.technoprimer.com/2010/03/10-free-must-have-iphone-apps.html

The Apple iPhone 4 - Now With Multitasking!

I’ve got some good news and bad news.

The good news – there are a few apps in the App Store now that provide GPS navigation for free… the bad news is that none are as good as Google Maps Navigation (and I wouldn’t hold out a lot of hope of that app coming to the iPhone anytime soon given that Apple and Google aren’t exactly beer drinkin’ buddies these days).

Here are your choices:

Mapquest

In my opinion, this is currently the best free GPS app on the iPhone and one I’ve been wanting for quite some time (even if it wasn’t free).   You can learn more about it on Mapquest’s official blog.

Skobbler

Skobbler is an app that uses Crowdsourcing via the OpenStreetMap project.  It’s definitely an interesting app since you can correct errors and help give better directions – honestly, I don’t like a lot of trial an error when trying to get around places that I’m not familiar with.

Waze

Waze was the very first app to offer GPS guidance for free… yes, even before the mighty Google.  Like Skobbler, it uses Crowdsourcing for directions which can be great or terrible like I mentioned above.

The best GPS Navigation Apps for the iPhone are still the paid apps from the likes of Navigon, TomTom, and Copilot, but the free choices are certainly better than nothing and since they’re free, what have you got to lose?

For most cell phone owners unless you were proactive and installed tracking software on the phone prior to it going MIA, you were pretty much SOL (apparently, it’s use as many acronyms as possible day – LOL – okay, I’m done, promise).

However, since you have an iPhone, you’re different and there is a solution available to you to track a stolen iPhone.  Apple just added the “Find My iPhone” App to the App Store.

So let’s talk about how it works and what it costs.

The “Find my iPhone” App is an app you install on a friend’s iPhone or iPod Touch (since obviously, you don’t have yours to install it on) – if you’re without friends, go visit Starbucks or any upscale bar – you’ll find plenty of iPhones there and maybe you can beg and plead them to let you use their phone to find yours.

Anyway, the App is free to download, but it does require a MobileMe membership which is $99/yr (60 day free trial available if you’re planning on losing your iPhone in the next 60 days) – kind of steep if that’s all you plan on using your membership for, but MobileMe actualy does a bunch of things.

Once the app is installed, you can remotely login to you phone, track it to find out where it is, and should it become clear you’re not likely to get it back, remotely wipe all the data.  To be able to remotely wipe data is a big deal as far as I’m concerned since I have a ton of personal information on my phone.

So there you have it, if you’ve lost your iPhone and don’t have any tracking software already installed, there’s still hope (as long as you have a MobileMe membership).

If you can’t display it, you’re missing out on the full Internet experience, especially online video.

Steve Jobs had been belligerent that Flash is crap and he won’t let it on his iPhone or iPad.   Adobe, being less totalitarian and more willing to give you a choice than Mr Jobs has figured out a way to bring Flash to your iPhone or iPad.

It’s called Greystripe.

Basically, it will convert anything built in Flash to HTML 5 on the fly if it detects a browser (like Safari on the iPhone and iPad as well as many Android phones as only Android 2.2 natively supports Flash) that can’t display flash.