Here are your Apple rumors and news items for Wednesday:
As Much as Verizon Wants: Apple Insider has confirmed suspicions that Verizon (NYSE:VZ) will no longer offer Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone users unlimited data plans beginning Thursday. Verizon spokesperson Debra Lewis said the telecom will now offer tiered “usage-based” billing plans, with caps on data transfers ($80 for 10 gigabytes of data, $50 for 5GB, etc.) Verizon iPhone subscribers who already have unlimited plans in place won’t be affected by the change. AT&T (NYSE:T) introduced a tiered payment plan system in June 2010 ahead of the release of Apple’s latest iPhone model. With the steady growth of the smartphone industry in the U.S., as well as the popularity of tablets like the iPad that use the same 3G and 4G networks as smartphones, it’s not surprising to see telecoms keeping user traffic under control. It’s likely that unlimited plans on current 3G wireless networks will return after Verizon and AT&T have fully expanded their respective 4G networks over the next few years.
Far Past Blackberry: A new Comscore report on smartphone operating system market shares shows Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android is in the lead, with more than 38% of all smartphones sold from March to May using the operating system. Apple follows with nearly 27% of the market, while Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) continue to diminish, falling to around 25% and 6%, respectively.
Don’t Worry, Be Happy: Industry pundit reviews and consumer hype surrounding the Hewlett-Packard’s (NYSE:HPQ) TouchPad tablet have been tepid to say the least — so tepid in fact that Jon Rubenstein, one of the minds behind creating the iPod and now the head of H-P/Palm’s mobile software team, issued a note to H-P employees trying to calm any worries about the sky falling just days after the TouchPad hit the market. The note, published at PreCentral and reprinted in part at Mac Rumors, expresses Rubenstein’s belief that criticism of the new platform is a good sign since it so heavily recalls criticism of Apple’s OS X operating system. He stresses that the early lack of apps and sluggish performance are bugs common to all platforms during their initial release and the kinks will be worked out in a timely manner. Working out the kinks doesn’t necessarily mean people will start buying it, though.
As of this writing, Anthony John Agnello did not own a position in any of the stocks named here. Follow him on Twitter at @ajohnagnello and become a fan of InvestorPlace on Facebook.
