Why mess with a good thing?
(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)Apple fans were disappointed last month when the annual Macworld Expo failed to produce a new version of the iPhone. Indeed, Apple's last Macworld appearance was a snoozer in many ways. New products of any type were slim and CEO Steve Jobs did not give his usual "one more thing" keynote.
In the weeks leading up to the show, rumors regarding a new iPhone were widespread. Most buzz predicted a cheaper, smaller version of the device--an "iPhone Nano" if you will--while others forecast a 32GB iPhone or a pink model. Though all of these rumored devices failed to materialize, the iPhone Nano gossip is showing no means of dying down. In fact, the most recent dish suggesting that China would get it first.
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A smaller, cheaper iPhone could hit China later this year, now that two companies appear to have gotten contracts to make its chips.
(Credit: Apple)More iPhone Nano rumors are surfacing out of China, as some are starting to wonder whether the much-rumored diminutive iPhone will ship in that region only.
Digitimes picked up on a report from the Economic Daily News that chip makers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) and United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) are set to get the contract to make chips for an iPhone Nano, which was described as a "low-cost entry-level" iPhone. TSMC and UMC are perhaps the two most well-known chip foundries in the business, and are perhaps getting ready to execute Apple's first iPhone chip design put together by the P.A. Semi team.
No other details were reported. But what of the iPhone Nano itself? Rumors first appeared about such a device in 2007, shortly after the launch of the original iPhone, but quickly died. They were revived late last year when an iPhone case manufacturer added an "iPhone Nano" category to its products.
There's a theory that the real iPhone Nano is merely the knock-off versions sold in markets in China and other places in Asia, which has proven so popular that demand has grown for cases. But Brian Marshal of Broadpoint AmTech expects Apple to launch such a device at some point this year, and thinks Asia might be the first place it arrives.
Marshal said his checks with suppliers show that AT&T has not received the device yet for testing, which he believes indicates that China could be the likely launch venue for the iPhone Nano and a new Apple relationship with China Mobile or another carrier. If this iPhone really does exist, a June launch would make sense given the pattern set in 2007 and 2008.
With Macworld coming up in just two weeks, the parade of Apple-flavored rumors, wishes, and murmurings continues.
Guess which one is the rumored iPhone Nano?
(Credit: MacRumors.com)The latest to surface--or resurface--involves a purported concept photo of what's said to be an "iPhone Nano," a more or less three-quarter-size version of the Apple iPhone. Even as it presents the photo, MacRumors.com also invokes a healthy dose of skepticism:
We have some serious doubts about the likelihood of such a device. These doubts are based both in the quality of the sources as well as the practicality of introducing a new form factor to the iPhone/iPod Touch platform.
Those cautionary words echo the historical perspective offered by CNET News' Tom Krazit, writing a week ago on the occasion of some earlier Nano-esque reports:
iPhone Nano rumors date back to the launch of the original iPhone, when a financial analyst predicted that Apple would have a slimmed-down version of the iPhone out for the 2007 holiday season. That obviously didn't happen, and other reports this summer and more recent speculation about a $99 4GB iPhone to be sold at Wal-Mart have kept the rumor alive.
And Monday, Tom took stock of a potential clue in this story: "iPhone Nano cases appear online."
See also:
•: No Jobs means no Macworld splash
•: Apple's blind-side hit on IDG
•: Rumor has Apple updating Mac Mini
•: Analyst predicts Apple will unveil Netbook
•: 'MacHeads' film to debut at MacWorld
With less than a month to go before Macworld, the rumors have started, and they sound familiar.
The possibility of an iPhone Nano has once again been served up for mass consumption by the Apple rumor mill, this time courtesy of a Web site called iDealsChina. The site claims that Apple accessory maker XSKN has been developing a case for a new version of the iPhone that is shorter and thicker than the iPhone 3G and that will be announced at Macworld in January.
MacRumors.com, which attempts to handicap the Apple rumor industry, notes that iDealsChina "has a very mixed track record" when it comes to reading the Apple tea leaves. The site did publish photos of case designs for what became the iPhone 3G, but incorrectly predicted that the second-generation iPod Touch would have GPS.
iPhone Nano rumors date back to the launch of the original iPhone, when a financial analyst predicted that Apple would have a slimmed-down version of the iPhone out for the 2007 holiday season. That obviously didn't happen, and other reports this summer and more recent speculation about a $99 4GB iPhone to be sold at Wal-Mart have kept the rumor alive.
You can expect an iPhone Nano to be on the shelves in time for the holiday shopping season, according to a report on the U.K.'s Daily Mail Web site Sunday.
The report, which cited "an industry source," said the product would launch in the U.K. by mobile phone operator O2 for the pay-as-you-go market, but offered no clue when or if it would be launched in the United States.
The report seems to indicate the iPhone Nano would be a dumb-down version of the current iPhone 3G.
"The iPhone 3G has been the fastest-selling phone ever in the U.K., but it is too expensive to be a realistic proposition in the pay-as-you-go market," the source told the newspaper. "However, a cut down version, with the candy bar shape of iPod Nano music players, would be a huge hit as a Christmas gift."
The newspaper suggests that the new iPhone Nano could have a touch wheel interface on one side and a screen on the other, meaning that calls would be dialed from behind and lack full Internet browsing functionality.
If this all sounds a bit familiar, it's because this rumor was floating around last year. Considering the wild success of the iPhone and Apple's plans for a family of iPhones, a move like this certainly makes sense. Whether Apple is ready to do it soon seems to be a bigger question.
One of the more-recent rumors has the iPod Nano getting a slimmed-down makeover. iLounge reports that Apple plans to bring back the thinner iPod Nano design of years past but in a taller package that's a nod to the screen size of today's "fat" iPod Nano.
Apple has held a September iPod event the last several years, and we're pretty sure they'll have another one on tap this year, with a revamped iPod Touch likely to accompany a new iPod Nano. In support of that suspicion, AppleInsider is reporting that resellers have been told to expect shortages of iPods and Macbooks in the coming weeks.
While the rest of the blogosphere is looking forward at the new iPods launched Wednesday, I want to take a look back and say goodbye to the now-outmoded version of the iPod Nano.
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It's like an iPhone Nano minus 90 percent of the features.
(Credit: CNET Networks)At last, we have the Venzero Slickr MP3 player in our cold, gadget-lusting grip. The German gadget manufacturer has been taunting us with images of their Slickr MP3 player for months now. We've only just opened the box, but we wanted to share a pre-review glimpse with our loyal Cravers.... Read more
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