There have been whispers for a while now, but ThinkSecret reported yesterday that an announcement of a new cell phone from Apple could come as early as the next MacWorld Expo in January of 2007. Many analysts thought Apple might be sneak peaking the device at last week’s Media Event on September 12th, but Apple instead chose to sneak peak its new set top video streaming device, tentatively called iTV. Hindsight is 20/20 of course in these situations, but since the main announcement at the event was the addition of movies to the Music Store, it made much more sense for them to debut another video device that could be used conjunction with the newly available movies.
But rumors of a cell phone offering from the makers of the top selling iPod have been circulating ever since Apple partnered with cell phone manufacturer, Motorola, to bundle Apple’s iTunes on the MotorolaRAZR and new MotorolaSLVR. The new cell phone from Apple is said to not have a 100 song limit like the RAZR/SLVR, but instead will only be limited by storage space.
Look for the phone to have a similar look and feel to the iPod, but is also rumored to be equipped with iTunes/iPod functions, a camera, and 2.2-inch display. AppleInsider reported last week on Apple’s March 2006 filing for patents of various touch-sensing handheld devices and features several drawings and sketches. The filing is seen as proof that Apple is gearing up for a push to grab a share of the cell phone market.
