Apple's New iPhone = Killer Phone + Lawsuit

Published on January 9, 2007 By greywar In Gadgets & Electronics

I already have an iPhone. I have had it for two weeks already. Yupper, sitting right on my desk at home. "How can that be?" you might ask, since Steve Jobs only announced the iPhone today at Macworld 07?

I will tell you how. Apple doesn't, didn't, and likely won't ever make a product called iPhone. Cisco and it's subsidiary Linksys did, do, and likely will make the only iPhone (it's a VOIP phone). They have owned the copyright on iPhone since 1999 and haven't sold it to Apple. How Jobs' legal department plans on handling the damage after today is frankly beyond me.

Frankly the Apple phone looks wonderfully cool and calling the iPhone would be nice... but it is unlikely unless Apple coughs up a *lot* of cash to Cisco.

Comments

BlueDev

on Jan 09, 2007

I knew I had heard of something called the iPhone previously.

chiprj

on Jan 10, 2007

Perhaps they did Cisco a favor. Maybe people will run out and buy iPhones like crazy!

shadesofgrey

on Jan 10, 2007

It looks like a deal is being worked out (and was in process before yesterday's announcement). WWW Link

greywar

on Jan 10, 2007

Interesting follow-up. I have to wonder why Apple is going this direction with it though... Cisco has got to be asking for a substantial amoun of money for the rights to this... Wouldn't PohPhone or even iPodPhone or somethign similar have been a lot more cost efficient? I understand that "iPhone" would be a greta name for the product but I don't think a name change ould have cost their product more in sales than this deal with Cisco will. In fact I would wager that by unveiling the phone without concluding the deal with Cisco first will cost them a buttload of cash.

darth silliness

on Jan 10, 2007

As far as I am aware Cisco only had the trademark for the US, meaning Apple could use it elsewhere regardless. I think it is win-win, Cisco get some mullah, and Apple get their preferred name for their largest market.

ddww804

on May 14, 2007

First iPhone in the Wild (West Texas A&M)

TUAW reports that (perhaps) the first "civilian" iPhone may have been given to West Texas A&M's president, Dr J. Patrick O'Brien.

According to the first hand report, AT&T's CEO Stan Sigman presented the iPhone to Dr O'Brien at a commencement speech at the university:
The big news is that he presented the president of WTAMU, Dr. O'Brien, with what he claimed was "the first iPhone in Texas." Dr. O'Brien even held the iPhone up for the crowd to see at the ceremonies.

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Texas Wahine

on May 14, 2007

Don't have anything constructive to add. I'm a WTAMU alumni and thought it was cool to see WT mentioned somewhere.

Sorry.

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