Verizon iPhone rumors are legion these days, but finally, for once, the evidence appears to be nigh indisputable—you just need to know where to look.
In this case, the place to look is the supply chain, specifically semiconductors and CDMA contracts.
As Steve Cheney over at TechCrunch points out, this constrained space is heavily affected by massive orders for new products (Related: what happened when Apple mysteriously started ordering a bunch of LCD screens in the run up to the iPad launch).
Today's Apple ordering bonanza is occurring, allegedly, over at Qualcomm. That company, if you'll remember, is the dominant supplier of CDMA chipsets (holy Verizon and/or Sprint!).
As for timing, speculation places an iPhone 4 on Verizon launch somewhere in the vicinity of January. This would coincide nicely with the up to 26-week lead time that Qualcomm and others often require to manufacture their chipsets and ramp up the supply chain so they can meet demand. Cheney can't say with 100% confidence that January is going to be the month, and neither can we, but for once in this long line of Verizon/iPhone rumors there's some legitimate supply chain meat to be had.
Further (obvious) speculation: CDMA could very well mean Sprint, as a few commenters over at TechCrunch have already pointed out. [TechCrunch]