Apple Cuts Price of iPhone and Announces iPod Touch

For those who have been waiting for the price of the iPhone to drop, wait no longer. Apple just announced they will drop the price of the 8G iPhone by $200, bringing down its sticker price to $399. From the website now only selling the 8G version, it looks like the 4G version has reached End-of-Life.

Apple also announced the availability of the iPod Touch later this month. The iPod Touch will be the first touch screen iPod. It will resemble the iPhone with a 3.5 inch touch screen, but it will be thinner (only 8 mm). It will also have Wi-Fi to enable song downloads directly to the device and web browsing via the Safari browser. It will come in an 8G and 16G version priced at $299 and $399, respectively.

Rate Plans for the iPhone Announced

Apple and AT&T finally released the much anticipated information about rate plans available for the iPhone when it launches this Friday. All the plans will include the following features: unlimited data, Visual Voicemail, 200 text messages, roll-over minutes and unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling. Visual Voicemail is a cool application that allows users to view their voicemail messages in the same way they view email messages, allowing you to go directly to a message without having to listen to all of them.

The plans start at $59.99 for 450 minutes, and include options for 900 minutes ($79.99) and 1350 minutes ($99.99). All charges are monthly rates and do not include any discounts on the cost of the iPhone - $499 for the 4 GB model and $599 for the 8 GB model. There is also a one-time activation fee of $36.

The iPhone will be available this Friday at 6:00 PM (local time) at AT&T and Apple stores. At launch, the phone will not be available through distribution channels such as Best Buy and Radio Shack.

iPhone Coming June 29th

After months of speculation, the launch date for the much anticipated iPhone from Apple has finally been announced. June 29th is the date shown in new web and TV ads from Apple and AT&T.

iPhone Gets Approval From FCC

Apple has finally received FCC approval for the much anticipated and much hyped iPhone, stating they still plan to start selling the iPhone in late June.

For those who haven't heard about the new device, the iPhone is a combination of a smartphone and an iPod. It is expected to retail in two versions - 4G ($499) and 8G ($599).

Apple is still being secretive about the device. They've asked the FCC to keep diagrams and descriptionss of the phone confidential for 45 days, giving them plenty of time to launch the device without information being leaked.

Cisco Sues Apple over use of iPhone Trademark

Due to all of the buzz over the years, it makes sense that the launch of the Apple iPhone would not happen without some form of controversy. Cisco, who owns the iPhone trademark and already sells Voice over IP products using the iPhone name, sued Apple for trademark infringement just one day after Apple announced the iPhone. Cisco acquired the iPhone trademark when it bought Infogear in 2000. Infogear originally filed for the iPhone trademark in 1996.

Apple has been in negotiations with Cisco for several years, first approaching them in 2001 regarding use of the iPhone trademark. Negotiations broke down the night before the announcement from Apple.

"We think Cisco's trademark lawsuit is silly," Apple spokesman Alan Hely said. "There are already several companies using the name iPhone for Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) products. We are the first company to ever use the iPhone name for a cell phone, and if Cisco wants to challenge us on it we are very confident we will prevail."