Apple will be selling an Apple branded Bluetooth Headset along with the iPhone. It is not clear if the headset will be included with iPhone or sold separately.
Apple and Cisco on iPhone: “We Can Work It Out”
Apple and Cisco are apparently back on iPhone trademark negotiations. Cisco has posted a joint statement regarding the iPhone trademark.
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. January 31, 2007 – Apple and Cisco have agreed to extend the time for Apple to respond to the lawsuit to allow for discussions between the companies with the aim of reaching agreement on trademark rights and interoperability.
Apple and Cisco have been negotiating the use of iPhone trademark prior to MacWorld San Francisco 2007. Apple was reported to have abandoned negotiations the night before Steve Jobs Keynote. Cisco immediately filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Apple for the use of iPhone trademark following the introductions of Apple iPhone by Steve Jobs.
http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2007/corp_011007.html
According to many reports, apparently Apple is holding “iPhone” trademarks in most part of the world with the exceptions of The United States and Canada.
http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=2145
http://10layers.com/2006/10/apple-filing-for-iphone-trademarks-worldwide/
http://news.com.com/2100-1036_3-6153865.html
According to some analyst Cisco might have lost their hold on “iPhone” trademark sometimes in 2006 for failing to use and defend the trademark.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Burnette/?p=236
Apple and Cisco are working together again to avoid the messy lawsuits and to benefit both companies.
Apple iPhone: Scott Bourne Might Know Something
AppleInsider is reporting one interesting tidbit about Apple iPhone. Apple Insider is quoting CNBC analyst Jim Cramer that Cingular/AT&T would give 18 months of service for free with the purchase of Apple iPhone to lure Verizon Wireless customers.
From Jim Cramer’s TheStreet.com article:
Cramer said AT&T is one of the most interesting stories coming out of the tech period. In its call, the company made it very clear that it’s going to use Apple’s iPhone to get customers from Verizon Wireless by giving away its service for a year and a half to those customers who buy the phone.
Verizon Wireless customers only? What about Cingular customers? I already have service with Cingular. I WANT MY FREE SERVICE!
I can only hope that Scott Bourne is right. Bourne mentioned in MacBreak Weekly 26 he heard some rumors that the price for the Apple iPhone would include some service.
You can listen to MacBreak Weekly 26 at time-marker 27:25 for Scott Bourne’s comments.
I know this is somewhat a wishful thinking on my part. Should it be true, this would certainly drive up Apple iPhone adoption rate. I hope that Cingular would at least give the data service for free or at a severely discounted rate.
One could only hope – but it sounds too good to be true!
Post CES and MacWorld Blues
Now that CES and MacWorld are over, it’s time to look back.
CES is still a much larger event and yet it was eclipsed by Steve Jobs’ MacWorld Keynote. Once again, Apple stole CES’ thunder. I am still processing and formulating the information overloads from CES and MacWorld.
Let’s see.
MacWorld
- Apple iPhone, AppleTV, and the new Airport Extreme base station. No real news about Mac OS X, Macs, and other softwares from Apple.
- ModBook – A tablet Mac.
- No GPS support on Mac OS X from Garmin
- …to becontinued
CES
- XBox 360 HD video and larger hard drive.
- Something about Windows Vista and its variants.
- Sling Media’s SlingCatcher.
- Tons of other products, to be added later.
This will take a while for me to write something interesting regarding CES and MacWorld.
Look! It’s a Phone, It’s an iPod, It’s a MacPhone!
A short editorial
On January 9, 2006 Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, introduced the much rumored Apple iPhone during his annual keynote at MacWorld San Francisco. As written on Apple website: “Introducing iPhone. Apple reinvents the phone.”
For the last 3 years Apple has been rumored to have been working on a phone-like device. Apple and Motorola introduced Motorola ROKR, an iTunes-enabled phone on September 7, 2005 and somewhat closed a chapter on the rumor. Motorola has since then released other iTunes-enabled phones such as RAZR V3 and KRZR.
Apple iPhone is a different breed compared to any iTunes-enabled phones. Its appearance resembles more like an iPod than a phone. There are other smart phones with touch screen, but Apple strives to make its iPhone to be a class of its own. Underneath its shell, Apple iPhone runs a variant of Mac OS X. Its capabilities make Apple iPhone more like a Mac than a phone.
Steve Jobs on his keynote said that Apple would like to capture 1% of Mobile Phone market, or about 10 million units. Should Apple be able to reach that goal, they would be shipping an additional 10 million of Mac OS X. It is a surprise that Apple didn’t call it “MacPhone”.
Apple iPhone is tentatively scheduled for release in June 1007.