Apple readying iPhone Lite and TouchBook?

Apple and US phone network Verizon are reportedly in talks to develop two new wireless devices that may hit the market this year -- a deal that, if true, will ruffle the feathers of Apple's current US mobile partner, AT&T.

According to a report in BusinessWeek, one device would be a thinner, lighter and lower-priced version of the iPhone -- an iPhone Lite, if you will. The other would be something like the touchscreen MacBook we've been tracking for some time. BusinessWeek's anonymous source describes it as a "media pad that would let users listen to music, view photos and watch high-definition videos". The image above is a Mac fan's conception of what this might look like, courtesy of Gizmodo.

BusinessWeek's source, who claims to have seen the new media pad, says it's "smaller than an Amazon Kindle electronic reader, but its touch-screen is bigger than the Kindle's". It would be able to make phone calls over Wi-Fi and 3G.

In discussing the latest rumour, BusinessWeek and some analysts downplayed the possibility of the iPhone Lite coming to Verizon as long as Apple has an iPhone deal in place with AT&T. While details of that agreement remain scant, the assumption is there's a clause that very likely imposes "strict limits on Apple's ability to introduce an iPhone on a rival network", according to BusinessWeek. There's also a strong possibility that Apple is using all the Verizon talk to put pressure on AT&T to extend its deal with Apple under better terms.

All that said, with all the chatter, it seems more likely we'll see that media pad -- or what some people are calling Apple's version of a netbook -- this year.