Apple announces iPhone

[Greg Boston]

That could be a deal breaker for me also, Boyd. I have been waiting for a widescreen video iPod to come out. It's a shame that it's wrapped into a phone that I would be forced into a 2 year contract to get the advertised price. So then you have the carrier fees and other stuff lumped in. I was also hoping to see some type of removable mass storage like micro SD.

I'm sold on the AppleTV, but I wish they had introduced a phone that was open because I have no plans to give Cingular my hard earned dollar.

-gb-

[Heath McKnight]

Good links, Boyd!

heath

[Rob Yannetta]

I want the iPhone... without the phone function.

[Dave Perry]

iTV was an internal code name for what's now the Apple TV...and I now know what I'll ask for for my birthday :) I knew that when they debuted the "iTV" in Sptember that it would have to have HD streaming ability and I'm glad to know that it does. I can't stand the thought of subscribing to Cox HD TV for substandard quality. Now I don't have to.

I think the phone should have been called the iPod Phone to play on the iPod popularity.

I would love to have one for the widescreen hi res iPod but 8 gigs is a minuscule amount of storage these days. I use my 30 gig iPod almost exclusively for video and it's now become too small.

I know the iPhone will increase in specs and come down in price so I'll wait.

[Boyd Ostroff]

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/stor...yhoo&dist=yhoo

Looks like the battle lines are being drawn...

"We think Cisco's trademark lawsuit is silly," said Natalie Kerris, an Apple spokeswoman. Several companies already use the name "iPhone" for Voice-over-Internet products, Kerris said. "Apple is the first company to ever use the 'iPhone' name for a cell phone," she said. "We believe that Cisco's trademark registration is tenuous at best." Kerris added: "If Cisco wants to challenge us on it, we are very confident we would prevail."

[Heath McKnight]

That's ridiculous. Apple needs to be careful--no one's indestructible.

heath

[Glenn Davidson]

Didn't Apple Inc. get into a simular scuffle with Apple Records? I'm surprised Mighty Mouse didn't sue them, too.

[Heath McKnight]

Glenn,

I thought about the Mighty Mouse thing more than once. Maybe that's a case of Apple quietly taking care of it.

hwm

[Boyd Ostroff]

Originally Posted by Heath McKnight

Apple needs to be careful--no one's indestructible.

Well of course that's true, but they prevailed over the Beatles and have settled a myriad of other lawsuits about MacOS and the iPod. They wouldn't make such a gutsy statement if their lawyers didn't feel they could fight this. Don't forget, Steve Jobs dubbed himself the "iCEO" when he returned to Apple from NeXT :-)

And like I said above, this is yet another story to keep them in the news and drum the term "iPhone" into the public consciousness. If nothing else, it will be fun to watch the battle...

[Boyd Ostroff]

Originally Posted by Glenn Davidson

Didn't Apple Inc. get into a simular scuffle with Apple Records?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4983796.stm

Mr Justice Anthony Mann ruled that the computer company used the Apple logo in association with its store, not the music, and so was not in breach.

Actually this sounds a bit like the quote from the Apple spokeswoman above, who said they were the first to apply the name "iPhone" to a mobile phone...

[Heath McKnight]

Funny how they played the Beatles yesterday. My crazy rumor I wanted to see happen was the Beatles going to iTunes, with a Beatles-branded iPod.

hwm

[Boyd Ostroff]

Heath, you weren't the only one who noticed that.... maybe your prediction wasn't so far off the mark after all?

http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/edit...reax/index.php

Steve’s slides were loaded with Beatles references. Album covers, Beatles songs playing, etc. They were everywhere. Too plentiful to miss. And yet, no announcement was made about the Beatles collection being available on the iTunes store—was there some sort of last-minute legal hold-up?

[Heath McKnight]

I heard, but haven't checked, that Apple Records is appealing either next week or later this month/early next month.

hwm

[Harrison Murchison]

Originally Posted by Heath McKnight

I heard, but haven't checked, that Apple Records is appealing either next week or later this month/early next month.

hwm

Gluttons for punishment I see. Apple Recrords doesn't stand a chance. I remember reading an excellent argument about how they lost. Wish I still had it.

I'm bummed that iPhone is on Cingular. I'm on Verizon but hopefully this allows Apple to get up to their %1 marketshare goal and then they can branch out to other carriers or go MVNO.

[Charles Papert]

I think the first song I would load onto the iPhone would have to be "The Girl from iPanema"