I'm getting tired of the stagnation. All the 3GS added was a compass, essentially, while other companies are innovating.

Whatever Apple does, I doubt will will be more than ripping off of Palm (again) and releasing a more powerful device.

Actually, I've also tethered (both my Droid and Palm Pre, so Sprint and Verizon) and if your in the right place, for instance in a relatively sparsely populated area of Connecticut where there aren't a lot of people using network resources, 3G speeds get pretty darn fast. I live in San Francisco and I'm frequently impressed by how quickly pages load when my Macbook is connected through my Droid.

Umm-I am a fan-boy of neither network, hating them both equally. But when you say you tethered and it was "as fast as cable", that is CLEARLY BS.

AT&T's 3G, while obviously not as extensive as VZ's IS MUCH FASTER, and it is only a fraction of the speed I get from Comcast.

You had a reasonable argument going until you posted something that is clearly and demonstrably false.

1) Setup a background timer process to bring your app to the front.

2) Setup the ability to watch for specific network traffic. This is a bit more than what notifications provide. Think IM clients.

3) Setup the ability to ping out small amounts of data at specific times (see 1 above). Location services for example. There may be limits to how fast you can do this.

4) Setup the ability to stream data to the audio. Think pandora.

5) The objects that actually do this will exist outside the "main" app. They will be limited in size and scope.

I wouldn't knock Verizon's 3G, it's pretty fast. I tethered my Droid to my Laptop in the middle of no where Connecticuit for the holidays and it was lightening fast, it was just as fast as cable. And in Tampa, my Droid was beating (well humiliating is the better word) the iPhone at 3G speed tests.

I love hearing you fanboys whine and complain behind a computer screen saying that "Verizon isn't going to get the iPhone because of what they said about it." Uh, that's called business, Apple does it to Windows all the time so they're no better than Verizon, but look at then now, after slandering Windows all the time they now run it on their computers.

The only theing that would stop Verizon from getting the iPhone is Apple and Verizon themselves when it comes to negotiating. Which is what happened the first time, Apple and Verizon couldn't make a deal on data usage so Apple took their business elsewhere.

The all mighty dollar is a powerful thing, never underestimate the power of money. Apple changed the way we think about smartphones, even though the iPhone wasn't the first touchscreen phone, it was the first one to perfect it. They changed the game, but they've pretty much stayed where there are since then, now Google is changing the game even further, by selling the Nexus One, unlocked, so it can be taken to other carriers. Apple should do the very same thing.

Smartphone and regular phone exclusitivity is going to be a thing of the past eventually. So stop your belly-aching about a Verizon iPhone, if you're happy where you are and with what you have, do everyone a favor and shut up. The iPhone going to Verizon isn't going to affect you in anyway because you'll still have your iPhone on AT&T.

Limited multitasking? There's been nothing in terms of (notable) updates from Apple since the iphone 3GS announcement.

I'm not trying to have too high of expectations here, but its certainly more than limited multitasking. Apple needs to nail it.

Apple needs not only to catch up but pass them up.

I am currently a Verizon customer, been very pleased with my service, I do hope for the iPhone to come but I'm prepared to stick with Verizon if it comes and also ready to jump ship if it does not.

Doesn't AT&T have a 5 year exclusivity contract with AT&T ?

Perhaps the 4.0 will enable it on the 3GS too, but I doubt iPhone 3G will have it.