RUMOR: Verizon iPhone Has N92 Codename
John Gruber of Daring Fireball has some new information to add to the Verizon iPhone rumors. He says that the device is codenamed N92 and is already at the Engineer Validation Test stage, which is two steps below production. If this is true, it helps support the many rumors that there will be a Verizon iPhone this January.
From Daring Fireball:
I don’t know anything about negotiations with Verizon, and I doubt anyone does other than the highest-level executives at both companies. But I do know that engineering-wise, the wheels are turning on N92, the CDMA variant of the iPhone 4. It’s certainly not in production yet, and hasn’t reached DVT status (device verification test — like Gray Powell’s infamous stolen unit), but it is, a few little birdies claim, at EVT (engineering verification test). That’s one step below DVT, which is one step below production. So it’s right about where you’d think it would be if it were scheduled to go on sale in January. The CDMA iPhone is no longer a cold storage, keep-it-alive-just-in-case-we-need-it project.
(though he may have to refrain as CES comes before Apple’s typical January keynote). I may be proven wrong, but based on my history dealing with components and selling to Apple, a Verizon-compatible iPhone looks to be a done deal.
