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Maybe I missed something, but I was sure that I heard correctly that Motorola was going to unveil a new “wickedly cool” phone today. I was told this device would be a “media monster” and Apple should worry about how to compete with it. Was I the only one that thought Ed Zander and Motorola may have had something legit in the works?

Wait. Are you saying that the RAZR2 phone that was announced today was the device he was talking about? You mean the thing that looks like the old RAZR only it does streaming TV, is a tad slimmer, and is made of different materials? I don’t know about you, but this hardly warrants a comparison to the iPhone. It barely warrants a comparison to any other phone except for the RAZR.

Here are the specs of the RAZR2 according to tgdaily:

The Razr2 will be offered in three versions - the V9 (3G HSDPA), V9m (EVDO CDMA) and the V8 (GSM). At the core of each phone is a 500 MHz ARM11, which Motorola says is about 10 times faster than the original Razr. The feature set also includes a 2.2”… more...

Here comes another one: another FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) posting this time from Todd Sullivan of Seeking Alpha. This one is a real doozy. At least Dvorak gets his facts straight. And Ballmer has a business reason to spread FUD against Apple. But this guy, just wants to get hits to the site. He contends that the iphone will flop because people will have to interrupt their music to take a phone call. He also gets his facts wrong saying the price difference is based on agreeing to a one-year versus a two-year service agreement with AT&T. Little did Todd know that you can’t get a one-year agreement with the iphone, nor is the price related to the service plan (it’s the 4GB vs 8GB, you dingbat)

He wants links his site, so linking to the page is exactely what I am not going to do. Instead, I have pasted the entire post below. (as well as a picture of the FUDdy Duddy)

Apple (AAPL) begins selling its revolutionary iPhone this summer and it will mark the end of the string of hits for the company. Billed as “your life in your pocket,”… more...

Just to quickly update Greg’s post from earlier regarding the possibility of Apple introducing the iPhone as an early pre-sale.

The store went down earlier today and whilst there was no other known major announcements to be made, it was thought that the iPhone could be made available for pre-sale. The site has now come back online world-wide and unfortunately for us iPhone enthusiasts, there is no iPhone. It turns out that Apple has updated its line of Macbooks to include a slightly faster processor, double the space on hard-drives and, I think, new displays.

As just recently posted, AT&T announced there will be no waitlists or presales for the iphone. But what about Apple? Will Apple offer presales for the iPhone through the Apple.com store?

If you go to the store right now, you will be met with the following graphic.

With the Apple TV already out, Leopard not set to release until later this year and no new iPod announcement it could possibly mean iPhone presale. More as we know it.

The keymaster has spoken, and it wasn’t “During the rectification of the Vuldrini, the traveler came as a large and moving Torg! Then, during the third reconciliation of the last of the McKetrick supplicants, they chose a new form for him: that of a giant Slor!” No, this time the keymaster is AT&T, the exclusive U.S. provider of the iPhone and they said this week that they will not accept any presales of the iPhone.

In a sales brief to its retail stores, it was made very clear to all branches that no wait lists and no presales will be allowed. Consider me bummed. At&T and Apple, by accepting presales could get a great idea of what the demand is for the new device but instead they will just need to take their best guess and see if it’s enough at launch.

Additionally, the memo read, “If asked what the price will be, answer that the prices have been announced as $499 for the 4G and $599 for the 8G, respectively.” Apple Insider has the full memo here.

[Via AppleInsider]

I am worried about availability of the iPhone at launch. I’m worried that people will camp out all night and some people might be left without an iPhone in their hands. But most of all, I am worried that none of this would happen.

That’s right, my belief is that the worst thing that could happen to the success of the iPhone would be if anyone who is willing to pay for it can get their hands on it. Widespread availability means no one foaming at the mouth outside the Apple stores waiting for the doors to open. It means no one paying astronomical amounts on eBay. Instead, it means people deciding to wait a few months to see if the rumored next gen iPhone actually hits before the end of the year. It means less time lusting and more time scrutinizing. And it will mean less than stellar sales throughout the year.

We have reported in the past few weeks on Apple’s confidence in meeting demand at launch. I hoep that confidence is masked trepidation. As much as I hope to get my hands on one of the iPhones at launch, I hope some people get left out in… more...

The iPhone is not out yet but there are a few specs that we know to be a fact. One of those facts is that the iPhone will have a lithium-ion battery that is not replaceable by the consumer. Apple, of course, also uses lithium-ion batteries in the ipod and the MacBook and MacBook Pro notebooks.

An irreplaceable battery is a major bummer but one that people have learned to live with in the iPod. People will complain about it but will deal with it for the iPhone as well. Although some people will have no real problem, if you look at the webpage on Apple.com about Lithium-ion batteries, you will notice a little tidbit of information that might make some potential iPhone buyers have second thoughts.

In the sidebar of the page:

Hot Tip
If you use your iPod or notebook in temperatures higher than its specified operating range, 95°F (or 35°C), you may permanently damage your battery’s capacity. I.e., your battery won’t power your device as long on any given charge. You may damage it even more if you charge the device in these… more...

Puerto Ricans might be American citizens. They may be able to serve in the armed forces and they may be able to pay with the Benjamins. But they can’t get the iPhone.

At least that is what one can determine for themselves when they view Cingular’s Puerto Rican website. The main Cingular website has a prominently displayed iPhone teaser page front and center. But the Puerto Rican one carries no such mention.

So I decided to try and verify this assumption. When calling the main customer service number: 1-888-333-6651, I was met with 3 rounds of voicemail prompts before being put on hold for longer than I could handle.

So I decided to call the “Customers with international service questions” number: 1-800-335-4685. After 20 minutes on hold I finally spoke to a customer service rep who told me that right now, Puerto Rican customers will not be able to purchase the iPhone in Puerto Rico. They can, however, get the iPhone in the continental U.S. and use it in Puerto Rico taking advantage of the “100 million AT&T wireless customers”.

Stan Sigman, AT&T Wireless CEO presented the President of West Texas A&M University, Dr. J. Patrick O’Brien with “the first iPhone in Texas” last week. Here is video taken from treo in the nosebleed seats.

The audio is garbled but basically here’s the transcripts to the video: “wah wah wah wah wah wah iPhone wah wah Dr. O’Brien wah wah wah (applause)” Enjoy.

[Via YouTube]

There has been reports lately of T-Mobile being the frontrunner for the exclusive contract with Apple to provide iPhones in Europe. The reports cite “sources” saying that Apple has narrowed the search down to Vodafone and T-Mobile. And if that is the case, then surely T-Mobile will prevail as there is no way Apple will sync up Vodafone’s Live! Portal with the iPhones iTunes. But I firmly belive that is not the case.

I believe there is no way that Apple would narrow the scope down to these two companies. T-Mobile has a very small presence in Europe and has little or no presence in Italy, Spain, and France. Even though every analysts has publicly stated how foolish it would be for Apple to sign with only one provider, especially in the more competitive European market, even if that were to happen, it wouldn’t be with T-Mobile.

Choosing one provider may be slightly foolish in the U.S. but it would be suicide in Europe and simply seppuku in Asia. Not to mention the internal strife… more...