Right now iPhone 5, like any dark matter, can only be observed by its effects on others, including the log traces it leaves and the cases manufacturers leak. This time it’s TechCrunch, citing an undisclosed developer who’s iOS app, points to records of a never-before-seen dual-mode GSM/CDMA world phone.

The logs show that the app has been briefly tested by a handful of people using what is almost certainly an iPhone 5, evidently running iOS 5, sporting two distinct sets of mobile network codes (MNC) / mobile country codes (MCC). Those codes can be used to uniquely identify mobile carriers.

Sure enough, some registrations for the app – which the developer also asked not to be named – were logged from a new Apple device, using the MNC/MCC codes from both Verizon and AT&T.

Apple has had theoretical support for a world phone since switching to Qualcomm chips, but previous iPhone 4 models haven’t enabled the feature. Turning it on would likely be bad news for those hoping iPhone 5 would sport LTE (the faster and closest to a “real” next generation wireless technology). HSPA+, a not-quite-as-fast but far more widespread “4G” protocol looks like a safer bet, though it would leave Verizon behind on the same EVDO Rev A speed the current iPhone supports. (See TiPb’s guide to wireless network terminology for more on what this all means.)

In other words, Verizon could advertise a world phone but AT&T could say they have a 4G iPhone.

[TechCrunch]

Verizon CFO Fran Shammo revealed today that iPhone 5 is still on track to be a dual-mode CDMA/GSM world phone, and additionally that it will ship at the same time as the AT&T and other GSM versions.

When the next iPhone model launches Verizon will be able to offer it at the same time as AT&T. Verizon’s version will also work in as many countries as AT&T’s iPhone, which has global coverage, Shammo said.

Verizon began selling the Verizon iPhone 4 some 8 months after the AT&T version, and almost 4 years after the first iPhone debuted on AT&T. So for those worried there might be another delay between GSM and CDMA release dates, you can rest a little easier. (Unless Apple obliterates Verizon for leaking this…)

As previously suspected, LTE still looks to be off the table until 2012, and Verizon was happy enough to throw Apple under the bus for that one as well.

“I think it’s a bigger issue for Apple than it is for us,” he said. “Depending on where Apple plays, that’s where we’ll sell.”

Apple has commented in the past that current LTE radios require too many compromises when it comes to battery life.

Lastly, tiered pricing is still on its way to Verizon this summer, so get your unlimited data early if you want to be grandfathered in.

Would a hybrid iPhone 5 on Verizon that could roam internationally be a better draw than an AT&T iPhone 5 that couldn’t do CDMA in the USA?

[Reuters via Electronista, @jonfingas]

Apple has put up a job post requesting a carrier technician familiar with the Sprint network, which has led many to believe they may be prepping to include Sprint in their ammunition chest of US carriers that support the iPhone.

Apple in a newly discovered job posting effectively gave away plans to make a Sprint iPhone. A position for a “carrier engineer” is being offered that would work out of Kansas City, Missouri, just a short distance from Sprint’s Overland Park, Kansas headquarters. The recruit would be responsible for getting technical certification of devices in an area where Sprint is the only company with a major office.

This goes along with recent rumors of the iPhone 5 possibly including Sprint and T-Mobile as supported carriers, and also backs up Verizon’s claims that the next iPhone will be a world phone supporting both CDMA and GSM networks.

You may recall Apple was seeking CDMA engineers in a similar job posting late last year, which eventually led to the Verizon iPhone being released on the network shortly after.

Do you think we’ll be seeing the iPhone on Sprint anytime soon? Let us know in the comments!

[Stop it, AT&T via Electronista]

Could we see a combination CDMA/HSPA iPhone hit Verizon before the holidays? No, we don’t think so either, but that’s the rumor we’re hearing again.

Of course, we’re no stranger to iPhone on Verizon rumors, whether they be wishful thinking or the result of ongoing, longterm Apple/carrier negotiations that may or may not ever amount to anything, it’s ironic that rumors about America’s most reliable network are almost always anything but…

Given the limited remaining lifespan on CDMA (Verizon’s going LTE for 4G) and market (primarily the US — even Bell and Telus in Canada are going HSPA), it just seems like such an un-Apple-like thing to do. Then again, Verizon’s customer base is no doubt a huge temptation for Apple. Given how many iPhones they sell on AT&T, if they hit Verizon, we can only imagine the market share shift. (Not to mention the load balancing of network traffic that would hopefully follow).

Again, we’re not getting our hopes up. We don’t think we’ll see an iPhone on Verizon any time soon, especially not before the holidays. Let’s face it, it’s almost October already and the window to effectively launch and market the iPhone on a new US network by then is rapidly diminishing from slim to none.

But, if you want to sound off anyway about how much you want a an iPhone world-phone on Verizon, hit the comments.

[Thanks tipster!]