LTE

T-Mobile Chief Technology Officer Neville Ray announced that the carrier will "be compatible with a broader range of devices, including the iPhone" sometime next year. This means T-Mobile iPhone users will finally be able to enjoy 3G HSPA+ speeds once the company deploys its 4G network in 2013. This is very good news for the one million T-Mobile customers who are stuck accessing the carrier's slower EDGE network with unlocked iOS devices.

Chief Executive Officer and President Philipp Humm said he wants T-Mobile to be known for “4G services, 4G devices and a great 4G network," but added that the carrier is not interested in offering the iPhone until the "right terms” come along. U.S. Cellular also turned down the iPhone 4S in 2011 due to "Apple's unacceptable terms of business."

According to investment bank Morgan Stanley the next generation iPhone will be slimmer and feature "a quad-mode chip" from Qualcomm that would give it both 3G and LTE capabilities. Analyst Katy Huberty (via Apple Insider) claims "new touch panel technology" will allow the iPhone to be thinner, and that Apple is considering new casing material. This coincides with a previous report from BGR who said the next iPhone will feature an all-aluminum back.

Huberty says little is known about the iPhone 5, but she believes it will be launched in Q3 of 2012 depending on "manufacturing yields" and "competition." "What is clear about iPhone 5 is that Apple and its supply chain are positively surprised by the demand for iPhone 4S, which increases confidence in strong sales for iPhone 5 later this year," she wrote in a note to investors.

AT&T is expanding its network by purchasing a slice of the 700MHz spectrum from Qualcomm. This is after the company dropped its bid to acquire T-Mobile due to opposition from the FCC and US Justice Department. Instead, AT&T and T-Mobile are entering a roaming agreement that has been billed as helpful to both companies.

The FCC has approved the latest deal, with Qualcomm selling the frequencies it was formerly using for its Flo TV service. The $1.9 billion agreement hands AT&T additional 700MHz spectrum to expand its 4G LTE network. Although the deal was announced last year, the FCC decided to review both the Qualcomm purchase and T-Mobile acquisition together and ruled on the proposal last week.

The newest iPhone rumor has nothing to do with tear drops or the number 5. Instead the latest suggests Apple will finally be joining the 4G LTE club with its newest handset next year. According to DigiTimes, 2012 is going to be the year of 4G LTE. Sprint plans to launch 15 LTE capable devices next year, and Nokia, Apple, RIM and Sony are expected to jump aboard the LTE bandwagon soon.

Apple isn't known for being "cutting edge" when adopting new technologies, but with so many 4G LTE devices available right now, Apple fans are growing tired of waiting. However, the technology is still young, and Apple is probably waiting for all three major U.S. networks to expand their coverage before deciding if it's worth making the leap or not. Verizon plans to have 175 markets nailed down by the end of this year, and Sprint plans to cover 260 markets by 2013.

BGR, the tech blog who announced that the iPhone 5 would be here in a few weeks, dusted off an old iPhone rumor by claiming they got their hands on an internal iOS test build that features property list files for LTE.

BGR says Apple's carrier partners are testing LTE capable iPhone models, much like Sprint employees are testing the iPhone 5. And the LTE rumors didn't stop there. Today, Engadget fueled the fire by publishing an image of 4G LTE equipment inside an Apple store.

The Engadget tipster revealed that AT&T installed a piece of equipment that supports 700MHz and AWS bands in an unnamed Apple store. In March, AT&T revealed its plans to use T-Mobile's 700MHz LTE spectrum if their merger ever went through.