According to the Wall Street Journal today, Apple is planning on releasing a new iPhone this summer. In addition Apple is in secret developments with Verizon for a special built unit for only Verizon Wireless.  Just last month Verizon Wireless announced a custom deal with Skype and now it’s Apple.  We had our angle on Skype Verizon deal here.

This would put pressure on the AT&T relationship that Apple has. AT&T has gained millions of new customers and a positive image due to the deal with Apple. Now Apple is taking that to other platforms and other technology. In the report from the WSJ there is a CDMA phone in development.

Here is what the WSJ is reporting:

While Apple has unveiled a new iPhone every June or July since launching the product in 2007, the new model with CDMA capability, the cellular technology used by Verizon, is notable because Apple and AT&T Inc. have long had an exclusive relationship with the iPhone. That has given AT&T a competitive edge over other carriers including Verizon for the last three years.

The people briefed on the matter said one of the new iPhones is being manufactured by Taiwanese contract manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., which produced Apple’s previous iPhones. The model that has CDMA capability, used by Verizon Wireless, is being manufactured by Pegatron Technology Corp., the contract manufacturing subsidiary of Taiwan’s ASUSTeK Computer Inc., said these people.

One person familiar with the situation said Pegatron is scheduled to start mass producing the CDMA iPhones in September, but it was unclear when Apple might make the model available.

Spokespeople for Apple, Pegatron, Hon Hai and Verizon Wireless, which is majority owned by Verizon Communications Inc., declined to comment.

CDMA is a U.S. wireless technology adopted by Verizon, Sprint Corp. and a handful of operators in countries incuding South Korea and Japan. The vast majority of carriers world-wide—including Apple’s longtime U.S. iPhone partner AT&T Inc.—base their networks on the GSM standard.

“There has been lots of incorrect speculation on CDMA iPhones for a long time. We haven’t seen one yet and only Apple knows when that might occur,” said an AT&T spokesman.

Apple Has To Expand – The Apple Agenda – Push Critical Mass Before Android Catches Up

This is all about moving the Apple agenda forward to other platforms. Android is quickly changing the game and Apple needs to push their lead fast. Resting on AT&T is not something Apple wants to do. More importantly Apple’s main disruptive driver is their app store all those developers. Developer want to develop on a platform that will widely used – this only helps Apple.

The short term benefit for Apple to have Verizon is to offer an alternative to AT&T for all those unhappy customers who don’t like the AT&T network. I have to say I have never had troubles with AT&T.

We all know the problem with wireless is the spectrum, cap-x towers equipment, and the core networks (among a bunch of little things in between). This is why we at SiliconAngle cover Cisco, Juniper, Apple, Google, and WiMax, etc… like a blanket.