This Week In Apple, Verizon iPhone On Sale, iPad 2 Rumors And A New Jailbreak

Apple has had a busy week this week, what with the Verizon iPhone 4 going on sale and rumors that the company has ramped up production of the new iPad 2. There has also been speculation about the new iPhone 5 and even a few rumors about iPad 3, yeah I know!

So here's a quick breakdown:

Yesterday Apple and Verizon officially began accepting orders from the masses. Verizon was accepting pre-orders for current customers beginning Feb 3rd but now any of the millions of Apple Fans out there can order them. Just drop by Apple.com or Verizon.com and pick out your plan. For users that want a more hands on approach Walmart and BestBuy both confirmed that they will start selling the Verizon iPhone 4 today, Thursday, February 10.

The smartphone will be available at almost 600 Walmart in-store wireless areas, and the store will also have a variety of accessories like cases, car chargers, wraps, and hands-free options.

Speaking of the Verizon iPhone 4, for those of you that want to jailbreak your device there is an app for that. The device might not have been in users hands yet but the Chronic Dev Team has already released a new jailbreaking tool. Dubbed GreenPois0n RC5.4, the tool works with all Apple devices running iOS 4.2

So now that you have your iPhone fix you'll want your latest iPd rumors. Well Apple has reportedly started manufacturing the iPad 2 and it should be ready for release just as soon as they have enough stock on hand. It’s still unclear when the iPad 2 will be formally introduced however some speculation suggests it may be here just in time for spring.

The Wall Street Journal reports, based on "people familiar with the matter,"  that the new version of the iPad will be skinnier and lighter than the first edition, plus boast at least one front-facing camera that would enable FaceTime videoconferencing, like that available on the Apple iPhone 4 smartphone.  The Journal also reports that the device will be lighter, boast more memory and a more powerful graphics processor. These reports should comes as no real surprise as most of these rumors were already floated around. The iPad 2, like the iPhone, is also rumored to be available from both AT&T and Verizon this time around!

If that's not enough iPad joy for you Appleinsider and several other sites are floating around a new rumor fueld by ohn Gruber of Daring Fireball that Apple may be prepping iPad 3 for a fall 2011 launch. This is a very very speculative rumor and could be nothing more than guess work but we'll keep an eye on it anyways and report our findings down the road.

But wait you mentioned the iPhone 5, so where are those rumors?

Well here goes, the team over at iFixit recently did a Verizon iPhone 4 Teardown. Upon opening the device the team found a World-Mode CDMA/GSM Chip which means we could see a phone from Apple that works on both GSM and CDMA networks down the line. There were also a few upgrades such as dual antenna, lighter battery and a new GPS chip. All of which are expected to be seen in the iPhone 5.

Other rumors point to a totally new design as well as updated specs with a new 1.2GHz processor or even a dual core setup. Rumors also point to a larger screen: 3.7" instead of 3.5" and a massive graphical boost as it moves to a dual-core GPU - this could herald true 1080p output from the new device.

There has been some speculation that Apple might include Near Field Communication (NFC) technology in the iPhone 5G, turning it into a kind of credit/debit card. We know Apple want a piece of the swipe to pay pie so there is no doubt they are working on something we just don't know what yet!

Speculation puts the release sometime near summer with June or early July being the most likely.

Update: According to Bloomberg Apple is reportedly working on another set of iPhone that will be smaller and cheaper. The reports suggests Apple has considered selling the new iPhone for about $200, without a two-year service contract.

The prototype was about one-third smaller than the iPhone 4, said the person, who reportedly saw it last year. The smaller phone will use a processor, display and other components similar to those used in the current model, rather than pricier, more advanced parts that will be in the next iPhone