If you thought you were going to wait it out for 6 months to a year until the Apple iPhone came to your carrier, think again. AT&T and Apple, according to USA Today are destined to be in bed together at least until 2012.

As expected competing carriers are downplaying the significance of this exclusive deal. Verizon for example has gone on record stating the arrival of a still unheard of device that will garner just as much attention as the iPhone.

Many Apple fans have practically declared every carrier heading to bankruptcy shortly following the iPhone arrival later this year. However, with both Microsoft and Google being able to change the playing field at any moment I would not be so sure.

Also Samsung has had amazing success in the mobile market and its’ relative silence may mean a major announcement is in the works. Meanwhile Motorola, despite recent public drubbings always has the potential to present us another must have device.

Don’t forget that RIM has made some amazing advances this year with their BlackBerry on the consumer end. And an all-out consumer (at least marketing wise) device could very well be the BlackBerry Trojan horse that no one is expecting.