Late last month, Ivan Seidenberg, the CEO of Verizon Communications had expressed interest in working with Apple and had said that it was up to Cupertino to move forward on that. 

Now, it looks like Apple has already taken the step forward. According to an unconfirmed report from OTR Global, AppleInsider writes that Apple could be in the process of manufacturing a UMTS/CDMA hybrid iPhone due to be launched in Q3 2010. 

The report claims that Apple has already signed a contract with Pegatron, a subsidiary of Asustek based out of Taiwan, to manufacture these iPhones. The hybrid handsets will work on both CDMA2000 as well as UMTS 3G networks thus helping create a ‘worldmode’ iPhone. An interesting sidenote to this rumor is that these new iPhones that are powered by Qualcomm hybrid chips shall be much smaller and lighter than the current crop in the market. The new iPhone screen presumably would only measure 2.8″ as compared to the current screen display of 3.5″.

We have seen a flurry of rumors and speculations fly by in the past few weeks. When Verizon launched its vitriolic ‘Droid Does’ campaign, it was speculated if Apple and Verizon could ever work together. Then, we had rumors about Verizon working on a 4G LTE iPhone that would be launched late next year or in 2011. Now, this report brings an entirely new dimension to Apple’s forthcoming partnerships. 

Having said that, a smaller iPhone have been on the cards for quite some time now. A 2008 article on iLounge had reported on a 2.8″ iPhone in the making, though we are getting to know about the hybrid format of it just now. 

What do you think about the rumored smaller hybrid iPhone? Do you think it can help Apple leapfrog even further ahead of its competition? Please tell us your opinion in the comments. 

via | iPhone hacks