The LG/Prada KE850 designer handset was announced last year, but looks awfully familiar. The KE850 looks very similar to the Apple iPhone, right down to the form factor, the touch screen, and the glossy user interface. The KE850 uses a tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE radio to connect to wireless providers, and has a slew of interesting features. It comes with an 800mAh battery, a 2 megapixel camera with LED flash, an SD memory card for storage, full multimedia playback features, Bluetooth 2.0, and USB 2.0. While the KE850 is slightly smaller than the iPhone, 9.9 x 5.4 x 1.2cm to the Apple gadget's 11.5 x 6.1 x 1.2cm, it lacks some serious features that are iPhone exclusives. The LG device lacks Wi-fi, and costs a lot more than the iPhone ($777, or 600 Euros compared to $600, or 463 Euros for the best Apple iPhone).

While Apple is expected to charge around $500 for their revolutionary new iPhone, independent firm iSupply did some investigating into how much this thing is really worth. The 4GB model "only" costs $229.85 in terms of raw hardware costs, though after OS X is installed, configured, and licensed, the device cost is estimated at $245.83. The MSRP of the 4GB model is $500. The $600 8GB iPhone costs $280.83 to produce. If these figures are close to what Apple is really paying, once the iPhone begins shipping (and once it gets an FCC ID, if it hasn't already done so), it will earn Apple a lofty sum of money for each sale. And if the iPhone doesn't catch on due to an obscenely high price, Apple will have plenty of room for price cuts. The phones will be carried by Cingular later this year.

In an interview with the CEO of Apple, found here, Steve Jobs explains that the iPhone will not have any third-party applications. While the iPhone uses a copy of Mac OS X, Steve Jobs made sure that users could not install custom content for several reasons. The first is profit. Steve having complete control of what can and cannot go on the iPhone means that things like ringtones and songs have to be allowed by Apple to go on the iPhone (various premiums might be charged). The second and hopefully more important reason is security. If the iPhone could accept third-party or homemade applications, it could potentially be used to take down AT&T (service provider for iPhone). Finally, the iPhone is limited for the same reason iPods are: Macintosh sells products that they know work, and want them to stay in working condition for as long as possible.

Apple finally unveiled their iPhone at Macworld. Too bad they forgot one critical step: getting it licensed through the FCC. And of course, any cell phone that isn't approved by the FCC is not allowed to be sold or distributed in the United States of America. Add this to the recent lawsuit from Cisco over the iPhone name, and chances are it will be a long time before Apple gets to sell it's iPhone to the general public.

On December 18th, 2006, Cisco released a set of Skype compatible wifi phones, basically claiming the iPhone name. Cisco and Apple had been talking about who should rightfully get to use the iPhone name since then. When Apple unveiled it's iPhone at Macworld this year, Cisco sued. Cisco wants to halt all sales of the Apple iPhone.

Everyone has been waiting for this one - the Apple iPhone. It actually uses a wide screen display and touch screen with multi finger gestures. The device will run Mac OS X. 8GB memory serve as storage for your iTunes, contacts and all the usual data. You can also take pictures using the 2 megapixel camera and it is very thin: 11.6 mm. You can listen to your music through the speaker or use normal head phones. The display is incredibly dense: 160ppi. The device has sensors which detect if you put your ear to the phone, what kind of light sitation you are in and if you are holding the iPhone horizontal or landscape. The device uses quad-band GSM + EDGE. So no 3G/UMTS services, but it has WiFi and bluetooth.

The Register predicted a Monday announcement of the iPhone, which they certainly got. However, the iPhone was not the rumored Apple one...The iPhone is a new Linksys phone. The WIP320 and CIT400 both connect to DECT and Skype. However, the $200 WIP320 does so using 802.11G wireless technology, while the $180 CIT400 uses cordless technology. There should still be Apple iPhone announcement at Steve Jobs' annual "launchathon" at the Macworld Expo, hopefully under a different name then the already copyrighted "iPhone".

The first picture is the WIP320, and the second is the CIT400.

The new gadget from Apple, the iPhone, should be available sometime in January. However, Apple may run into some serious patent/copyright issues. Several Canadian and American businesses have already trademarked iPhone, and Canadian service Comwave has offered it's iPhone service for a long time. How Apple will react to this, and what Comwave's reaction is, only time will tell.

Information on Apple's iPhone leaked

Some specs from about the upcoming Apple iPhone have found their way onto the internet. The Inquirer has a link to a video supposedly discussing the new iPhone and some of its features. The most important details you might be interested in are that it will have independent batteries for both the phone and MP3 player, a touch screen and 4GB and 8GB versions priced at $249 and $449 respectively.