In an uncharacteristic move, Apple has allowed its new carrier partner, Verizon, to create its own commercial for the iPad, advertising that the touchscreen tablet can now be bought with a MiFi for on-the-go connectivity.
Verizon debuted the new commercial, entitled "Breakaway," on national TV this week. The largest wireless carrier in the U.S. began selling the Wi-Fi-only iPad, bundled with a 3G MiFi 2200 Intelligent Mobile Hotspot, late last month.
The commercial touts that "all of the magic of iPad" is now available with the "nationwide power and reliability of Verizon." It depicts an iPad user sitting inside a home, but the floor and walls begin to break away, leaving him sitting on a coastline using the device.
The commercial is particularly noteworthy because Apple is a company very controlling of its own image. For example, AT&T, the exclusive carrier of the iPhone in the U.S., does not create its own commercials for Apple's handset.
The commercial could be a sign of things to come: Verizon is widely expected to begin carrying a CDMA version of Apple's iPhone starting in January of 2011. That information has been independently confirmed by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and Fortune.
It has been reported that control over the iPhone -- including advertising of it -- was a major point of contention between Verizon and Apple in 2005. The carrier and Apple could not come to a deal, and the device debuted on AT&T's network in 2007.
But in order to bring the iPhone to Verizon, Apple may be compromising -- as evidenced by the iPad commercial. Fortune also reported in October that Verizon's iPhone is expected to offer special features, like live TV for customers of Verizon's FiOS cable service.