Dec 20 2006
iPhone Arives But Not From Apple
iPods have set the standard for digital music players; incredible interface, incredibly cool. It seemed only a matter of time before Apple launched itself into the mobile phone market with an iPod/mobile phone of their own. On Tuesday, the iPhone was announced:
The iPhone has arrived, but it’s not made by Apple Computer Inc., which was widely rumored to be working a cell phone-iPod combination of the same name.
Linksys, a division of Cisco Systems Inc. that makes networking equipment for the home and small businesses, unveiled the new line of Internet-enabled phones this week.
The phones use the increasingly popular Voice over Internet Protocol, better known as VoIP, and also allow users to switch over for traditional landline calling.
They also can search the Web and allow users to see when friends are online and ready to accept calls. Several other companies have similar offerings.
Linksys? They make great wireless stuff, but I though Apple had the iPhone name in their pockets:
Turns out Cisco’s had the name since 2000, when it bought InfoGear Technology, which had the rights to the iPhone name.
It’s unclear if Apple will be able to challenge Cisco’s right to the name, which is registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. More likely, Apple is gonna have to come up with a snazzy name for its product.
Cisco is capitalizing on a tremendous buzz generated by bloggers around the world on a product that exists only in rumors. ZDNet wonders:
How many people will buy the Linksys iPhone thinking they are getting an iPod cousin? You just can’t buy that buzz–and spark more Christmas giggles for folks following technology companies.
What is Apple to do? I guess we will find out in January. In the mean time, you can read more about the iPhone which looks like a pretty cool product. For more on the Apple phone, check out O’Grady’s PowerPage for some interesting marketing artwork that may or may not be from Apple.
bloggingstocks: This might deter some investors who are with Apple solely for the iPod surge, but it still looks likely that some hardware will still come out. What is likely is that Apple will have to do a last minute name change. But what will that be? The iCellphone? The iCell? What do you think Apple will name it?
Lost Remote: In hindsight, not locking in the trademark on iPhone seems like quite the misstep on Apple’s part.’’
Telecommunications Industry News: if Apple decides to follow through on alleged plans to launch an iTunes-enabled cell phone, it will undoubtedly need to come up with a catchy new brand name that isn’t already registered by another company.
Gen X at 40: Are we that dense that sticking an “i” in front of a noun makes it hipper than eight years ago when everything had an “e” and a dash before it. So what are the opportunities? Some of my favorites in the old era were “e-legal” and “e-literate”. I remember my grade five teacher used to say “iTaly” but that was just sorta sad.
