Rumors

We've already reported in this forum about the patent awarded to Apple for a "Touch screen device, method, and graphical user interface for determining commands by applying heuristics." Well it seems they've already flexed their muscle with Google during the development of Android.

Guess what's back in the news. If you guessed a $99 iPhone then you just won the prize. Analysts at Royal Bank of Canada Capital Markets are predicting some changes in the Apple iPhone lineup this summer. However, the $99 iPhone predicted by Mike Abramsky doesn't resemble some of the earlier mockups of an iPhone "Nano" we've seen previously.

As you can see by the specifications above, the cheaper and highly subsidized version of the iPhone would have similar dimensions as its current model counterpart. The main differences would be lack of 3G or GPS support and a less expensive (and less included bandwidth) data plan. Along with the introduction of the basic model, Abramsky and others expect that Apple will also introduce an upgrade to the full-featured iPhone 3G.

Much speculation has surrounded the prospect of a smaller, simpler version of the iPhone dubbed the "nano" in recent months. Lately reports have centered on the possibility of an iPhone Nano in development for China, and the existence on some case maker's sites of "nano" size iPhone products.

These rumors were tamped down in October during Apple's quarterly conference call with Steve Jobs, when he laid out Apple's strategy in the mobile phone market. Jobs was quoted saying, "I think that the traditional game in the phone market has been to produce a voice phone in a hundred different varieties, but as software starts to become the differentiating technology of this product category, I think that people are going to find that a hundred variations presented to a software developer is not very enticing."

Those of you that were avidly following the rumor lead up to the launch of the current version of Apple's iPhone probably remember that one of the major "tells" in regard to the then-coming launch of the iPhone was a leaked memo from AT&T which instructed AT&T retail sales employees that they were restricted from taking vacation during the period between June 15th and July 15th of 2007. As it turned out, release day for the original iPhone turned out to be smack in the middle of that period.

The last month or so has been one of the most prolific in regards to rumors surrounding the release of the 3G iPhone. The latest rumors indicate that testing of the 3G iPhone is already underway by the privileged few, and that the release of the next generation iPhone could be coming as early as June or July.