Can Silicon Valley really prosper if the general economy tips back into a recession? Probably not. But then, no one should work here unless she is prepared to be lucky.

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Apple is poised to announce updates to its iPhone OS on April 8. And although Apple has been mum on what it plans to deliver, here is a look at 10 possibilities that may or may not make their way to your iPhone or iPad.

As Apple prepares to deliver iPhone OS 4.0 on April 8, speculation abounds over what the company will show off. Apple, tight-lipped as ever, is unwilling to provide any details on what may or may not find its way into the new iPhone operating system. However, that hasn’t stopped the rumor mill. Some Apple watchers believe that Apple will be offering multitasking in its next mobile operating system, while others contend that it will deliver Flash. In any case, it’s all a guessing game at this point.

So, that’s where we come in. Rather than wait for Apple to tell us what the next iteration of iPhone OS will offer, it might be worth taking a look at what may or may not come to the operating system. There’s no guarantee that any of the following 10 items will actually make their way to the software, but based on consumer opinion and obvious issues with the software, it’s entirely possible that iPhone OS 4.0 could be a major upgrade.

Let’s take a look at some of the features that may or may not find their way to iPhone OS 4.0.

1. Flash

It seems that everywhere you turn, someone is wondering why certain sites, videos, and games don’t work with the iPhone. It’s simple: it doesn’t support Flash. I, like many others, have been calling on Apple to bring Flash to iPhone OS for quite some time. But I fully realize that the chances of that happening are slim. By not offering Flash on the iPad, it seems Steve Jobs has made it his personal mission to kill Flash on the Web. That means the standard probably won’t be making its way to iPhone OS anytime soon.

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If you worry that Apple Inc’s new iPad will slow down Web surfing on AT&T Inc’s mobile network or cause even more dropped cellphone calls, analysts say you should rest easy.

Later this month, Apple will introduce a version of the iPad tablet computer that can surf the Web on the go using AT&T’s third generation (3G) mobile network. The current iPad, which went on sale this weekend and drew big crowds, works only on short range Wi-Fi connections like those found in cafes.

Some fear that should the 3G version of the iPad prove a blockbuster hit, it could test AT&T’s network, already under severe strain in some markets from heavy iPhone Web usage.

AT&T has said it is now investing heavily to upgrade its network and spokesman Mark Siegel added that it has “of course factored the iPad into its network planning.”

But some worry that thousands of new iPad users could spend even more time than iPhone users downloading movies, buying books, or surfing the Web on AT&T’s 3G network.

But several analysts said worries were overblown, even after a strong debut by the first iPad model. More than 300,000 of them sold on Saturday, surpassing some forecasts.

“There’s a lot of worry and it makes for good reading to say it will have an impact. But I think not,” said UBS analyst John Hodulik, who expects sales of iPad 3G to be less than half the sales of the first version of the device.

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Sometime this year, Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) will almost certainly unveil an iPhone compatible with Verizon Wireless’ — and Sprint’s (NYSE: S), for that matter — CDMA-based network.

Apple is also working on another GSM iteration of its iconic device, which will be released by AT&T (NYSE: T) later this year, according to The Wall Street Journal, which broke the story on Monday.

The timing is right for another upgrade to the iPhone, which stormed onto the market in 2007, and it’s no shocker that Apple may be planning a release for Verizon Wireless.

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A wireless dog collar set to hit the market this year is just one of a plethora of new devices the telephone company hopes will catch on with U.S. consumers.

The collar could send text messages or emails to the owner of a pet when it strays outside a certain area, or the device could allow continuous tracking of the pet.

Other gadgets include a pill box that uses a wireless connection to remind people to take their medicine, e-readers, a device that tracks product pallets for shipping companies, and entertainment systems for people riding in cars.

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Smartphones may be one of the hottest areas in technology with big names like Apple and Google tussling for share, but investors are questioning the growth prospects for mobile carriers as subscriber gains slow.

While it is true that clever devices like the iPhone or Android phones will boost demand for advanced wireless services such as video, games and mobile web, analysts worry that returns from such services cannot sustain revenue growth.

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U.S. regulators will announce a major Internet policy this week to revolutionize how Americans communicate and play, proposing a dramatic increase in broadband speeds that could let people download a high-definition film in minutes instead of hours.

Dramatically increasing Internet speeds to 25 times the current average is one of the myriad goals to be unveiled in the National Broadband Plan by the the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday.

The highly anticipated plan will make a series of recommendations to Congress and is aimed at spurring the ever-changing communications industry to bring more and faster online services to Americans as they increasingly turn to the Internet to communicate, pay monthly bills, make travel plans and be entertained by movies and music.

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At 18, she could hold dinner conversations with her family while surreptitiously texting with friends, hiding her cellphone under the table.

Everyone in the Rogers, Ark., high school senior’s circle had warned her about texting while driving; they’d see her car swerve and know what she was doing. It cost her her life.

Last May, on the day before graduation, Mariah was driving to a Minor League Baseball game in Springfield, Mo., texting with the player who’d invited her. As she was sending him a text, she lost control of the car, which clipped a bridge, skidded on its roof along the edge of the bridge and flipped back into oncoming traffic.

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BARCELONA – Twenty-four telecom operators have formed an alliance to build an open platform that will deliver applications to all mobile phone users in an effort to compete with Apple’s successful apps store.

The move is supported by three of the world’s largest device makers — LG Electronics, Samsung and Sony Ericsson the telecoms industry body GSM Association said on Monday at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

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AT&T said Thursday that it will invest an additional $2 billion in its network in 2010 to make sure it keeps up with the growing demand from new smartphones and other 3G data devices, such as the Apple iPad, on its network.

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