According to some juicy and totally unverifiable rumoring by
Think Secret, Apple is prepping their "still totally unconfirmed but fairly likely to happen"
iPhone as a Cingular exclusive for when it launches next January. The exclusivity, which will expire mid-2007, doesn't seem incredibly far-fetched given the
ROKR exclusive Cingular scored last year -- not that it worked out
too terribly well for them. Apple is also purportedly in talks with other carriers across the world, but no word if O2 is going to score the Europe exclusive again.
Think Secret is also sticking with
their story in regards to specs: a 2.2-inch display and 3 megapixel camera, and we figure we might as well throw HSDPA into the mix given the predicted Cingular launch. The word from "insiders" is that Apple is estimating shipments of 25 million or more iPhones in 2007 alone, which seems quite optimistic given the fact that Moto's RAZR took two whole years to hit the 50 million mark, but when it comes to Apple and potentially fabricated launch deets and market predictions, we suppose the sky's the limit.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Finished Law School @ Sep 26th 2006 10:40AM
It would be an improvement becuase currently all of Cingular's phones suck in the worst of ways.
Mr. H @ Sep 26th 2006 11:47AM
I sincerely hope that was sarcastic. No other carrier can even touch Cingular in phone selection right now.
korey @ Sep 26th 2006 12:17PM
@1 I totally agree @2 If you wanna pay out the ass for mid-range phones i mean the RAZR still goes for around 300 off contract. So if iPhone drops on cingular I'll pick it up but I have been thinkin about a switch to T-Mob because cingulars been banging me like a p0rn star for data and txt messaging when I can pick up a sidekick for 60.00 month with 400 minutes and unlimited web email and txt so IDK I'd stay with Cinular if they pick up the iPhone but this is still a rumor.
Jason @ Sep 26th 2006 12:23PM
Quanity of phones, DOES NOT mean quality, I've been with Cingular for almost 5yrs, but they do NOT have the best handsets!!! Verizon was the 1st in the U.S. with a 3.2mp camera phone, Cingular STILL doesn't have a 2mp camera phone!!! Hopefully in 2007 Cingular will have more impressive handsets, but as of yet, there is no impressive mobile phones in their lineup, the closest to impressive Cingular offers is the LG CU500, and that handset's memory card slot is UNDER the battery, and it DOES NOT have a 2mp camera!!!
Mark M @ Sep 26th 2006 8:07PM
Anyone who understands the US/global phone biz knows that Cingular is the ONLY possible GSM carrier that an Apple iPhone can work with in the US (even if it is launched as an MVNO) - because if Apple is going to get serious with an iPhone, they also need decent speeds for iTunes Store browsing and downloads (EDGE sucks), which means UMTS at a minimum and hopefully HSDPA. Cingular is JUST now getting this network built out and functioning. Also Cingular is requiring that new UMTS/WCDMA phones it sells must be dual 850/1900 MHz, and these devices are JUST now starting to appear (see Nokia's N75 announced today; this phone is made just for Cingular). Cingular's upper-managment must be incredibly nasty to deal with - just ask Nokia.
Rusty @ Sep 26th 2006 8:27PM
phones phooey......I don't even bother waiting for
a carrier to release a GSM phone. Who wants to hassle
with signing another 1,2,3 year contract. Just buy
an unlocked one off the net. After a "hot" phone comes out, wait a couple months for the new to wear off (and the new software glitches), then buy one off the web. Yeah, the phone might be a bit more expensive, but at least you can use it on ANY GSM carrier in the U.S. or overseas (if quad band). That's what I did when I bought a Sony Ericsson W810i a couple months ago.
A FAN OF SONY ERICSON @ Oct 1st 2006 8:42AM
I want an iphone but not as much a sony ericcson k850i man my god this is magic it its like 7.9 mega pixels and i mean the decent ones now have 5-6-7 so this is top of the range