If you're tired of dropped calls and dead zones, and pondering the merits of turning in your iPhone for a DROID... hold on there, champ. AppleInsider says it's received a copy of a report by OTR Global, claiming that Apple has signed contracts to produce a UMTS / CDMA hybrid iPhone to be released in the third quarter of 2010.

The hybrid handset, built around a dual-system chip from Qualcomm, would allow the iPhone to run on virtually any GSM/UTMS cellular network worldwide -- and also on the CDMA2000 networks of US carriers like Verizon and Sprint. In particular, Verizon is cited in the report as the target carrier for the new devices.

The report states that Foxconn, the Taiwan-based sole-source provider of iPhone hardware at this time, will not build the new device. Instead, a subsidiary of Asustek known as Pegatron has been selected to kick off manufacturing. It's also rumored that the hybrid device uses a 2.8" screen, making the handset smaller than the current model which uses a 3.5" display.

Photos of the smaller display were first featured on iLounge in June of 2008 (see photo at right), sparking widespread rumors at the time that an "iPhone nano" was on the way. Over a year later, neither the smaller iPhone nor a Verizon model are available. However, if the leaked report is any indication, 2010 could be yet another year of incredible growth for the iPhone economy.

TechCrunch is reporting that Foxconn (the Taiwanese Apple manufacturing plant) is building over 800,000 iPhones per week in order to meet demand. They are also reporting that this means the plant is working "above current full capacity" and notes that the quality control might not be the best at this time.

Apple has moved more than 6 million iPhone units in just the first year. According to TechCrunch, Apple's run rate for the iPhone 3G is over 40 million units per year.

AppleInsider reported today that Apple is advising resellers to stock up on the better-selling iPods and MacBooks, as factory supplies are expected to slow to a trickle in August. There's speculation that this could be due to a release of new models.

For 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pros and the standard MacBooks, Apple was recommending that channel partners place orders that would give them a 3-week supply. For iPods, a 4-week supply was advised.

Apple usually notifies resellers via bulletins like this when they're getting ready to refresh a product line. This points to a product introduction for the new laptops and iPods (most likely the iPod touch and nano) in late August or September. While this is late for the school buying season, it could mark an early entry into the holiday buying season with an agressive launch of new products.

IT News Online tells us that Samsung has begun mass producing 16 Gigabit NAND flash chips. "In rolling out the densest NAND flash in the world, we are throwing open the gates to a much wider playing field for flash-driven consumer electronics," IT News quoted Jim Elliott, director of flash marketing.

As you probably know, high density data storage is a prime ingredient of flash-based music players like the iPod Shuffle and Nano lines, and smart phones like the iPhone (as well as digital cameras, handheld computers and memory cards). Denser storage means more capacity for these consumer electronics.

I'm guessing that 16 Gb chips probably will not debut in Apple products until the end of this year or the beginning of the next. If I have my facts straight, the iPhone uses 4 Gigabit chips in its design.

Last week, the USPTO published an Apple patent for doubleshot casting. Doubleshot casting allows manufacturers to create housings using two color applications, like the clear-over-white and clear-over-black molding that makes the iPod so visually striking. It's the same process that creates the beautiful (at least it is beautiful in my opinion) brown-over-green Zune casing. As Ryan Block, over at our sister blog Engadget, points out, if this patent is granted, Microsoft may be paying Apple a tariff as well coughing up the dough to Universal. Which would be kind of cool.