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13 Jul 2005
You bought the PC, the iPod and all manner of peripherals, so how about connecting your iPod phone through Apple's own mobile network? That is a future which the company is exploring, according to US publication Forbes.
Apple declined to comment, and most analysts polled today by vnunet.com think that the speculation is unlikely to be true.
James Governor, co-founder of Red Monk, said: "That's really silly. It's feasible that Apple would become a virtual network operator like Virgin, but it doesn't seem reasonable that it would pay to build a network, and neither would it want to upset other mobile operators by doing so.
"But I could be wrong. After all, Apple is supposed to be working with Motorola to develop a hybrid phone/iPod and it has 70 per cent of the MP3 device market, so it could well have lofty ambitions."
Tom Uhart, a partner at billing company Nimbus Systems, told vnunet.com: "If there is truth in this rumour, it will be one to watch.
"Taking the iPod/iTunes business, Apple controls every part of the supply chain including its significantly strong brand. Apple also manages the relationship with the customer, which is direct. There is no intermediary."
Clem Chambers, chief executive at shares website ADVFN, added: "Rumours suggest that Apple may turn the iPod into a mobile phone. So why not expand iPod into telecoms too? It's a huge market ripe for revolution.
"Can iPod gobble up the mobile handset market, or will handsets gobble up the MP3 market? Only one thing is for sure: if anyone can do it, it's a rampant Ap ple led by the brilliant Steve Jobs."
The Sunday Telegraph claimed last weekend that Apple will unveil the first fruits of its relationship with Motorola at the V music festival on 20/21 August.
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Do you agree?
re: ho ho ho by tony
Jealousy is a terrible thing!
Posted by: Arwel 28 Dec 2006
Another way to fool the "ilike" race.
Whenever it comes , this Apple phone will curb the freedom of the user. Only support for those "Apple only" formats and as has been said before, would be overpriced. Gonna be a piece of trash and is bound to carry a drought in features. Apple should at least now realize that it's era is over.
Posted by: Antrix 13 Dec 2006
ho ho ho
Like most of Apple kit it will remain overpriced and they cant justify that. Even the Apple Mac now its really a PC carries a stupid price... once they come in to the real world (as per Mac) they will get what they really deserve...
Posted by: tony 21 Jul 2006
the iphone
when apple make the iphone it will have all the ease of use and perfection as anything apple have produced to date. we just have to wait and see. but an ipod/iphone will not be good. the ipod is good at what it is and the iphone would be good at being a phone. combine the two and what you get is something that is not that good at either. face it there would be limited space for all your music and battery time would be reduced. 4GB is the limit for static memory. 80GB for a HDD the next ipod is going to be touch screen and upwards of 80GB. but that said i will be in the line when the go on sale. anything to piss on microsoft and all the other money grabbing coporations that put the $ on everything.
Posted by: doug 11 Jun 2006
Just a Mobile Phone
If Apple produce an IPod/Phone hybrid I would be very interested in purchasing one. Even better would be a Ipod/Phone/PDA based on OSX (perhaps a light version) although the can cram Windows XP onto a PDA these days and that is a big OS. Heres hoping.
Posted by: Paul Bowman 09 Jun 2006
cellular netwok provider ??
well....that should be interesting...but its not happenin very soon i guess... i think apple would consider converting the iPOD to a mobile phone...and its a smart move... we have seen mobile phones turning into media players...but they're just that phones...but ipod is a media player in the true sense.. im waiting for this to happen.. it'll definitely eat into the market share of major phone manufacturers..
Posted by: vish 04 Aug 2005
Apple Wi-Fi phone
People are thinking too conventional. Come on, Think Different! I'm privately hoping (well, maybe not so privately anymore) that Apple will be bringing out a Wi-Fi/cellular hybrid phone. With the advent of their AirPort Express and the huge and growing number of public Wi-Fi access points, Apple is uniquely positioned for such a gadget. Finally I'd be able to use the same device to call over a cellular network (say, when I'm in my car on the freeway) or call for free over my Wi-Fi network either at home or the office. And since I'd have just one phone number, the same device could be my home/office/mobile phone that I carry with me 24/7/365. For me, that's a good thing. John Wallace President, Now Software
Posted by: John Wallace 13 Jul 2005