1-11-11, 11 a.m. ... the iPhone comes again

Everyone knows it. It was inevitable. Steve Jobs' master stroke from 2007, which debuted on AT&T's network, will expand to Verizon tomorrow just before noon.

I didn't expect it would interest me. That was until Apple disappointed me this past summer. You see, I haven't bought a new phone since 2006. I know, who cares, right? But I watched the iPhone blossom and rewrite all the rules of smart phones. I instead bought an iPod touch, which I treasured for years. I ran hundreds of miles with that device at my side. But it was all an appetizer for the main course: an iPhone of my very own.

I had a 32GB iPod touch, which I filled to capacity with thousands of songs. I had hoped to join my iPod and my phone together with a memory upgrade — 64GBs, which would hopefully make it's way to a new iPhone...eventually! I thought that would be back in June, but alas, I'm still waiting.

Well, I got sick of waiting and got a used iPhone 3GS, which quenched my iThirst while leaving me free to upgrade to a new phone whenever I like. Yeah, I hate AT&T. I've heard good things about Verizon. So if the price is good, the capacity is right, this could be my time.

Anyways, that's my iSaga. So what have I heard about the iPhone V?

• The Verizon iPhone will be sold with an unlimited data plan. AT&T no longer offers unlimited plans for new iPhone users. I guess this is encouraging, but I'm sure new users will pay through the nose for it. AT&T raised their data price $5 so users could enjoy maximum data bandwidth — 2GBs a month. How much you wanna bet Verizon ups that another $5 for you to get back to an unlimited plan?
• The new CDMA iPhone should hit stores by the end of January (or in Steve speak, "a couple of weeks.") Apple and Verizon employees are reportedly restricted from taking vacations during the first few weeks of February, but it's unclear whether this is due to the new iPhone or the rumored iPad 2.
• It's possible the new iPhone will be dual CDMA/GSM, meaning the device can function on both AT&T and Verizon's network. The all-in-one device will be easier to port to varying networks overseas and would constitute an iPhone 4.5 upgrade, basically becoming the new iPhone to both AT&T and Verizon customers. This is still up in the air, but one thing is almost certain: the new iPhone will not run on Verizon's 4G network, or LTE network. Apple will likely wait until this standard is more widely adopted overseas.

Competition is great. My hope is that, once AT&T and Verizon are on equal footing, consumers will ultimately benefit. It would be great if data rates fell and monthly bills became more reasonable (after all, the U.S. tops the world in mobile data fees).

Will I pick up the new phone? Right now, I'd say the odds are 1-in-3. Maybe 1-in-2 if the phone is offered in a 64GB variety. But I've waited this long, why not just save my money until June when the iPhone 5 hits the scene. We'll see...