The iPhone is here! What? Oh crud. (and movie bloopers)

Gimme all your numbers so I can phone IT Blogwatch, in which the much-rumored iPhone breaks cover. Ummm, or not. And let's not mention any computer usability bloopers in the movies...

Brian Lam was the big tease last week:

iPhone Will Be Announced On Monday. I guarantee it. It isn't what I expected at all. And I've already said too much.

And then, come Monday, Brian gave us this:

The iPhone Lives: But the Trademark Belongs to Cisco. It's not what any of us expected. The iPhone is a voip phone made by Linksys. Cisco, their parent company, has owned that trademark since 1996 ... I'm reminded of the Brucesploitation era. When Bruce Lee died, imitators, under names like Bruce Le and Bruce Li came out with their own films to fill the void. Fans would hear the name, glance at the spelling, see the false idols, and move on. How can anything live up to the name? So the iPhone is a VOIP handset, and not by Apple. Now, the bigger story presents itself: What will Apple call its cellphone?

Nancy Gohring adds:

Linksys’ newest iPhones include the CIT400, a cordless phone with a base station that attaches directly via Ethernet to a network and comes preloaded with VOIP software from eBay Inc.’s Skype Internet telephony service. The phone allows users to make and receive Skype calls without having to turn on and use their computers. The WIP320 also comes loaded with Skype software and is compatible with Wi-Fi so that users can make and receive calls on the phone from anywhere they can connect to a wireless access point.

Users can check their Skype contact list on the phones to see if someone they want to call is available. The devices support SkypeOut and SkypeIn, the services that allow users to make and receive calls with landline phones for a fee.

Cynthia Brumfield grumbles:

In the “that’s so funny I forgot to laugh” category, Gizmodo’s Brian Lam has played a practical joke on the blogosphere ... The problem is that the iPhone Lam referred to is not the long-rumored, possibly market-shifting device that Apple is said to be developing, which combines all the cool features of an iPod with mobile voice capabilities. It’s a phone made by Cisco’s Linksys division that connects to a wireless router
...
Ha ha ha -- get it. It’s an iPhone, but not from Apple ... Now everyone can go back to the rampant speculation about if and when Apple will release its voice-enabled iPod (we can no longer, of course, say Apple’s iPhone.)

Philip Michaels pokes fun at Brian Lam:

Exclusive! Super Cool Device to Ship Soon! I’ve just gotten word that a new product will be shipping soon, and I feel pretty confident in stating that it might possibly be the most important product ever to ship ... When this product ships -- and I assure you, I’ve never been more certain of anything my life that it will ship soon enough -- it will totally revolutionize the way you think about products like this one ... Is it hardware or software? Some sort of new computer? A handheld device with video and telephony capabilities? Or something else entirely. Yes -- something like that.
...
I’d love to tell you more, but I’ve probably already said enough to compromise my sources ... Well, something probably shipped while I was typing that. And I’m sure it’s cool enough to make my headline accurate.

Sorry if it didn’t live up to your expectations. It certainly wasn’t my intention to write something vague enough for you cultists to easily misinterpret -- that’s really your failing, not mine. Besides, in all this hubbub over what did or didn’t get announced, let’s not lose sight of the most important thing about this exercise:

Made you look.

Robert Scoble loves blogs:

Cisco totally schooled Apple’s PR by doing the iPhone. Watch how it leaked from blogs onto the pages of other publications. Blogging is corporate warfare. It’s amazing that Apple doesn’t have a way to talk to journalists and other influentials through blogs. Instead Cisco was able to use blogs to build massive knowledge up about its offerings. Apple could have killed that last week with a blog that simply said “we aren’t announcing any phone devices on Monday.” By being silent Apple helped Cisco.

Watch other competitors use blogs against Apple in the coming years. This is corporate warfare. Blogging is where the street fighting is done. Apple’s absence from the street fight looks brilliant right now, but will it look brilliant in two years after competitors use blogs and other social media to position against Apple like Cisco did here?

Meanwhile, Preston Gralla wonders what Google's up to:

Wish you had Google with you wherever you go? That may happen soon -- the Guardian Observer reports [that's just "The Observer", AKA "Teh Snuday Grauniad"] that Google is in talks with mobile operator giant Orange to create a "Google Phone" with a variety of Google features in addition to normal phone functions. The device, reports the Guardian, would have a screen much like the video iPod's and offer quick access to Google. In addition, the paper reports that it would offer location-based services.

Rob Beschizza sums it up:

This is one of those situations where you stare at the press release for a while, blinking, on the verge of hysterical laughter.

Buffer overflow:

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Previously in IT Blogwatch

• We are all Time's POTY (and be a perfect SO)
• Microsoft Mix & Mash Meeting Moot? (and Vista plagiarism)
• Apple's iTunes slumps! iTunes grows! Huh? (and IPv4 map)
• Jim Allchin wants a Mac (and Cute Overload reloaded)
• Flash memory: old news. Here's PCM (and schadenfreudian slip)
• Older posts

And finally... Usability in the Movies -- Jakob Nielsen's Top 10 Bloopers

Richi Jennings is an independent technology and marketing consultant, specializing in email, blogging, Linux, and computer security. A 20 year, cross-functional IT veteran, he is also an analyst at Ferris Research. Contact Richi at blogwatch@richi.co.uk.