Apple iPhone Buzz Picks Up Steam

By Colleen Taylor -- Electronic News, 12/6/2006

From Silicon Valley to Wall Street, Apple aficionados everywhere are buzzing about the company's rumored upcoming product release: the iPhone.

Although no details have been confirmed by the company, speculation about a possible iPhone product began earlier this year. Fueling the fire, Apple won a patent with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) in October for speech-recognition technology. Apple filed for "assigning meanings to utterances in a speech recognition system" with the PTO in February 2004. The technology can be used for "assigning meanings to spoken utterances in a speech recognition system," according to the patent's documentation.

The buzz grew louder this past weekend, as Digg.com founder Kevin Rose disclosed on his immensely popular techie video blog "inside information" from a "solid source" on the upcoming iPhone. Rose said that the iPhone is set for a January debut, and will have GSM, CDMA and PCS capabilities. The phone, which Rose said will feature a mini version of OS X will be offered in two capacities, a 4GB at $249 and 8GB for $449. The phone will feature MP3 playback, flash memory, a slide out keyboard and a touch screen, according to the blog.

And the iPhone rumors are piquing the interest of far more than just diehard Mac fans: Wall Street has gotten in on the buzz, as well. In a note to investors this week, Gene Munster of investment firm Piper Jaffray said that it's "almost certain" Apple's iPhone will be in production phases within two to six months, according to a Forbes report. "We believe the company is well positioned to enter the phone market now that early music-enabled handsets have tested the waters," Munster wrote.

Prudential Equity Group analyst Jesse Tortora chimed in with a note to investors this week as well, saying production has already begun for a slim iPhone product, and that a smartphone will follow one to two quarters behind, Forbes reported, also stating that  Apple will sell a staggering 7 million phones in 2007 and 15 million phones in 2008, positioning the company as serious competition for longtime cell phone stalwarts like Nokia and Motorola.

On successful sales and increasing iPhone buzz, Apple's stock has been steadily picking up steam for the past several months. Stock for the consumer electronics superstar opened this morning at $90.65 a share—nearly doubling the $50 share price Apple had just back in mid-July.

Apple could not be reached for comment on the iPhone.