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AppleInsider has the word that Apple is looking to make a hybrid GSM/CDMA iPhone model in 2010 that they can sell to all cellular providers worldwide, and specifically Verizon in the US. The info comes from a report by OTR Global that was passed to AppleInsider, and details that this new cross-network capability comes courtesy of a new hybrid chip from Qualcomm. Asustek (rather than current iPhone manufacturer Hon Hai) will be manufacturing the phones.

The news is also a bit surprising after Verizon has been targeting AT&T and the iPhone hard in their latest round of ads, but the OTR report claims Verizon and Apple have worked together on an agreement to make a Verizon iPhone a reality within a year.

The report also detailed that the new iPhone model will apparently have a 2.8″ screen (compared to the current iPhone’s 3.5″). And since there’s no mention of large and small iPhones existing side by side, AppleInsider conjectures “it appears but has not yet been confirmed that next year’s iPhone will scale down in size while also gaining compatibility with all major mobile networks.”

I’m going to have to call shenanigans on this possibility, because there’s simply no way that Apple is going to shrink the next generation iPhone screens while all of their competitors are trying to go larger. It certainly makes sense for Apple to create a network-neutral iPhone, but it seems far more likely that this particular 2.8″ iPhone model will exist as a smaller option to the current iPhone.

After all, nothing is stopping Apple from plugging that same Qualcomm chip into the current iPhone frame (or a bigger one), and that news could have simply been left out of this particular report.

[Source: AppleInsider, Image Source: iLounge]