verizon wireless

As expected, retailers and mobile carriers are reducing the price of the latest generation Apple products in anticipation of the release of the iPhone 6 and second-generation iPad Air. Walmart got the ball rolling by permanently slashing the price of the iPhone 5c to $29, and the iPhone 5s to $99, and now Verizon Wireless is following suit.

Verizon customers can nab the 16GB iPhone 5c for only $99 when agreeing to a new two-year contract. The 50% off deal is available now available through VerizonWireless.com. This of course means you will be stuck with the iPhone 5s after the new iPhone 6 model is released in a few months.

With the release of the 4G LTE iPad an LTE iPhone seems imminent, and new iPad owners are quickly learning about the pitfalls of fast wireless connections. The Wall Street Journal published a report about the responsibility that comes with 4G connectivity by profiling one man who blew through 2GB of his Verizon data plan while watching March Madness games.

"Two hours of college basketball—which he viewed mounted to his car dashboard and live at tournament games—had burned through his monthly wireless data allotment of two gigabytes. Now, to keep surfing the Web or watch more NCAA hoops over Verizon Wireless's 4G network, Mr. Wells will have to pay an extra $10 for every gigabyte above his current $30 subscription."

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.

We've heard it all before, Apple is adding T-Mobile and Sprint to its roster of iPhone carriers, but Piper Jaffray analyst Chris Larsen and analyst Shing Yin of Citadel Securities believe 2011 is the year Apple will actually make the move.

Most analysts seem to agree that if Apple wants to compete with the growing Android Market, they will have to make their products more accessible. The days of Apple exclusivity are over, and Larsen's crystal ball says the iPhone being offered by all four national carriers will increase Apple's market share by 30 percent.

"While we remain uncertain regarding the next-generation iPhone's specs and features, we believe the most noteworthy change could be the device's ability to run on more networks, specifically Sprint and T-Mobile in the U.S.," Larsen wrote in his analyst report.

Verizon spokeswoman Debra Lewis told Apple Insider that new smartphone customers will no longer be offered unlimited data plans starting Thursday, July 7.

New mobile customers will be able to enroll in Verizon's "usage-based" billing program. Current Verizon customers will not be affected by the change, and upgrade-eligible customers will be able to move to a new mobile device while retaining their plans.

"We have lots of different ways for customers who may not be accustomed to this kind of stuff to check their usage in terms of data alerts, online tools, data calculators, things like that to help people decide what is the right plan for them," Lewis said.

Apple Insider reports that new customers, or current customers without a data plan, will have four options for "different capped monthly data plans: $10 for 75MB, $30 for 2GB, $50 for 5GB, and $80 for 10GB." Customers who exceed their capped plan will be charged $10 per gigabyte or $10 per 75MB on the entry-level plan.