There has been a TON of talk in recent months about a potential Verizon iPhone, with most of it amounting to little more than rumor. But a BusinessWeek article quoting someone who has seen Apple Prototypes that Verizon CEO Lowell McAdams and Apple CEO Steve Jobs have met to discuss are the first credible signs of Apple hardware on Verizon Wireless. So what does this have to do with Palm?

While initial attention has centered around Verizon, Apple and AT&T, Palm fans should find a particular paragraph from the article troubling:

Apple could also use the prospect of an iPhone-esque device as leverage to prevent Verizon Wireless from introducing the Palm (PALM) Pre, or at least delay the introduction of the smartphone on Verizon’s network. Sprint Nextel (S) is due to release the widely anticipated phone in June. Selling the Pre through Sprint, with 35.5 million subscribers, is less a threat to Apple’s iPhone than if Verizon Wireless, with 86.6 million subscribers and a reputation for a superior network, were to begin distributing the device.

That would be disappointing for Palm, WebOS and Pre fans but you can’t blame Apple… it is simply good business. I know a LOT of Verizon Wireless customers who would love to see the Pre appear on shelves available to them and if you ask me, it is too early to speculate what WILL happen. The companies involved probably don’t even know themselves.

The two devices Apple has prototyped for Verizon Wireless include an iPhone-like device described as an iPhone Lite and a Media Tablet not unsimilar to a mix between a Touchscreen smartphone, Kindle and Verizon Hub.