If USA Today says it, it must be truthy -- hence the enthusiasm for today's report that sources close to the discussions are confirming an ongoing confab between Apple and Verizon on the topic of bringing everyone's favorite smartphone to America's most popular cell carrier. The future prospect of a Verizon iPhone, originally rumored and countermanded for this year, has perked up the ears of AT&T naysayers around the USA.

Although the paper cites Verizon's CDMA network as the target for the iPhone deployment option, most other observers (including Verizon executives) have noted the upcoming LTE/4G network, built atop the GSM standard that the iPhone already knows and loves, as the likely deployment environment. Robert swooned over the possibility of an LTE-enabled iPhone back in February; of course, way back in 2007, Verizon's attitude towards Apple's phone was far less conciliatory.

Even though AT&T is eager to hold onto its exclusive deal for iPhone in the US as long as it can -- and there's plenty of financial motivation already -- there's enough meat to this report to make me believe that Verizon-Apple negotiations are more than a stick to push the incumbent carrier toward a better deal. Getting earlier access to LTE (AT&T's buildout is at least a year behind VZW's) and more domestic options for the phone would be a win for Apple, as would a more generous revenue sharing plan with AT&T.

What's not clear to me is the percentage of would-be iPhone buyers who have so far avoided the phone because of carrier exclusivity and the two-year contract requirement. If having Verizon as a choice would flip you from the 'no' to the 'heck yeah' column, pipe up.

Update: Just discussed the Verizon rumors with Randall on TechVi.

Why wouldn't they? I know about a dozen people who have switched to AT&T precisely because they are the only US iPhone game in town (mostly). The exclusivity ends 2010, but SAI asks, will Apple renew its contract with AT&T? The biggest problem plaguing iPhones appears to be the network -- AT&T is notorious for dropped calls and spotty 3G coverage, whereas now-number 1 service provider Verizon has a great reuptation for coverage (both voice and data).

The issue for Apple is compounded by the fact that AT&T uses the globally-accepted network standard of GSM, where Verizon uses the other, less-used standard CDMA. So now you've got two radios to deal with (as provided in the Blackberry 8830 World Edition), something I think Cupertino isn't eager to implement.

Now, I understand this may be a very niche subject for our dear readership, but as many of you may remember, I'm a Verizon customer. That's why this morning's news about Verizon testing its Long-Term Evolution 3GPP (LTE) service in various parts of the U.S. has me excited.

Yes, while it's amazing that Verizon is getting 60Mbps downloads using LTE in Columbus, Minneapolis, and northern New Jersey, what's exciting to me is the fact that LTE plays nicely with GSM. If you could use a GSM phone on the Verizon network -- I think you can see where I'm going with this -- you might be able to use an iPhone with Verizon service.

While it's true that Apple and AT&T have an exclusivity agreement with each other, Verizon and Apple have previously used two completely separate kinds of technology (CDMA versus GSM, respectively) -- preventing any kind of interoperability. With Verizon at least speaking the same language as iPhone handsets, the possibility of keeping my carrier and having my dream handset comes closer.

In theory, at least; it isn't as easy as flipping as switch. If it works anything like, say, the procedure for using your iPhone with T-Mobile here in the U.S., it requires unlocking the phone with QuickPwn or yellowsn0w. Apple has recently suggested that it considers jailbreaking iPhones to be a violation of DMCA. Interpreted broadly, that may include unlocking software, too.

Add to that some SIM cards that don't work with unlocking software, like some from T-Mobile. There's nothing suggesting that Verizon's new LTE SIM cards will work right out of the box. Even if they are, advanced features like Visual Voicemail won't be available, but that's something I can live without.

For me personally, I wouldn't mind either an iPhone or a Palm Pre. Maybe it's just a waiting game to see whose exclusivity agreement expires first, rather than trying to hack something together.

Then again, maybe I shouldn't get my hopes up. We've still got another year to wait before Verizon rolls out LTE service to most of the country.

[Via Electronista.]

Update: Commenters Andrew and Shane made a good point that I failed to grasp when I wrote this: Verizon's LTE implementation will not necessarily mean that GSM phones will work on Verizon's LTE network. LTE works like this: If you have an LTE chipset in your phone, awesome. If you don't, your phone will fall back to the network's prior 3G technology. In Verizon's case, that's still CDMA, which the iPhone doesn't support. Now, if Apple were to build in LTE support into their next round of iPhones (in anticipation of AT&T's adoption of the standard in 2011) there might be a chance this will still work, but that's a lot of ifs. Thanks, guys!

I know it's practically heresy to say so, but I don't have an iPhone, as much as I'd like one. Verizon service is just a better option for me right now. Synchronizing data between my Samsung SCH-u740 and my computer, though, is right up there with "getting a root canal" in terms of painlessness.

I was eager, thus, to try FoneLink from Nova Media, which promised a much more Mac-like user experience than the venerable (but ugly) BitPim.

FoneLink allows you to synchronize saved data between your phone and your Mac, including photos, video, music, contacts, and SMS messages. You can also create ringtones from unprotected audio files, and (with this new version) dial a number or send a text message from the Mac.

My hopes were dashed, sadly, as it doesn't support my phone. It does support many others, however, from Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, and SonyEricsson.

FoneLink 2.1.1 is available in English, French and German, is universal binary, and works with Mac OS X 10.4.9 or higher. It's $33.57 for a single license, and multiple license discounts are available. Finally, you can download a free demo and give it a try.

Hang on, Canada, it looks like Rogers Wireless is in a snit.

The iPhone is a GSM phone, and all Canadian providers - except one - use the CDMA standard. The lone GSM provider is Rogers Wireless, which makes them the only Canadian company that can possibly support the iPhone. This past Tuesday, Rogers made a point of telling CBC News Online that they had not announced their intentions to carry the iPhone.

Note that Rogers didn't say they won't carry the iPhone at all, they just aren't prepared to say that they will. Perhaps the don't want to expose their plan too early, or maybe last-minute negotiations are ongoing.

In any case, we've got our fingers crossed for all of our Apple-loving neighbors to the north.