It's official: the Verizon iPhone is Apple's worst-kept secret. The persistent rumors have reached such a frenzy that we'd be utterly shocked if Apple's smartphone didn't land in Verizon stores next January

Today's "confirmation" comes from Fortune, which says the Verizon iPhone almost didn't happen due to differences of opinion between the two companies and their CEOs, Steve Jobs and Ivan Seidenberg. Specifically, Apple prefers AT&T's GSM 3G network over Verizon's CDMA technology. Apple will have to make a different version of the iPhone for it to work on the Verizon network.

U.S. iPhone owners have complained for years about poor service on the AT&T network. A recent survey found that more than half of Verizon's customers were very likely or somewhat likely to purchase the Verizon iPhone.

How many people will rush to their local Verizon or Apple store if Steve Jobs does in fact announce the launch of a Verizon iPhone? That's what we'd like to find out. We want to know what you, the Mashable readers, will do if the world's largest wireless carrier starts selling Apple's smartphone.

Our poll is below; let us know why you voted the way to did in the comments.