According to a New York Times story this afternoon (“An IPod Cellphone Said to Be Imminent,” by Matt Richtel), Apple’s long-rumored “iPhone” could be introduced next Wednesday.
Roger Entner, a telecommunications analyst with Ovum, a market research firm, said he had been told by an industry executive that the new phone, to be made by Motorola, would be marketed by Cingular Wireless. Mr. Entner said it would include iTunes software, which helps power the iPod.
The software will allow people to transfer songs from a personal computer to the mobile phone, then listen to the songs, presumably through headphones. ‘It’s a deluxe music player now on your cellphone,’ he said of the device.
Apple, Motorola and Cingular declined to confirm or deny the report. But Apple did announce on Monday that it would hold a major news event on Sept. 7 in San Francisco that it indicated was music-related.
That’s funny because this spring, I noted Apple’s whole “missed the boat on multifunctional portable devices” issue by citing the PSP, mp3 phones and a comment from Bill Gates that he didn’t think that “the success of the iPod is sustainable in the long run,” adding “if you were to ask me which mobile device will take top place for listening to music, I’d bet on the mobile phone for sure.” Good bet, Bill.
Pray that Apple leant some of its industrial design savvy to Motorola and that this thing won’t be a nightmare to behold and control like most mobile phones. I do hope this device is worthy of a name like iPhone and not just “a phone with iTunes on it.” (And it looks like iPhone won’t be the name anyway, as that name is already taken by a VoIP provider.)