Oh, my God! I was watching the television, and this guy had a phone, and on the phone's screen were icons thatvaguely resembled the iPhone's user interface! It was like, for one moment, the hand of Jobs reached down and touched me.
Excitement over the appearance of an iPhone-like device on Lost is exactly what Brian meant when he slammed iPhone non-news.
Yes, we as bloggers and fanboys admit to being guilty of following the unfurling iPhone story well beyond news and facts into the realm of rumors and hearsay.
We're not going to stop covering rumors and hearsay. However, as the iPhone frenzy begins anew, we will be sequestering items that to us feel particularly like hot air, to share with you under the heading of non-news. (Is this some sort of having-our-cake-and-eating-it-too maneuver? Oh, yeah.)
So come now, follow the jump, ye lemmings, for some iPhone non-news!
•iPhone on target for end of June launch, AT&T says - In a nutshell, AT&T COO Randall Stephenson echoes Apple's recent statement, something we already heard. It's good press for Stephenson, and for the AT&T brand, which will be/is/has already replaced the Cingular brand for the company's wireless division:
"Our expectations are good. Our testing has been good," said AT&T Chief Operating Officer Randall Stephenson. "The iPhone is on target to launch in June."
It's like the thumbs-up of the pilot on his way out of the hangar. He's pretty damn sure the flight is going to go smooth, but once he's up in the air, anything can happen. Plus, what the hell does AT&T have to do with the iPhone's development? Nothing! Absolutely Nothing! (To steal a phrase from Lord Helmet.)
•Apple, Cisco try to make iPhones compatible - You've probably already seen this one from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on a bunch of other sites. We blame the excitement on the headline writer. The head suggests that Cisco is exploring a way for the two iPhones to work together (what, as in, become able to make calls to one another?), but the body, covering a press conference with Cisco's Chief Development Officer Charlie Giancarlo, states specifically that it is not about that:
"The talks aren't centered on making Cisco's iPhone, an Internet-based home phone, compatible with Apple's. Cisco wants the Apple iPhone to work with its corporate phone systems, Giancarlo said."
OK, so Cisco wants Apple iPhone users to be able to call Cisco corporate phones. Sounds good, guys. Make sure that gets done. I hear you can do that with what is called POTS technology.
•Microsoft slams iPhone as "irrelevant" - OK, we covered this. But let's be honest, it is shocking. I mean, how could Microsoft, maker of operating systems, consumer software and a smartphone platform, openly criticize Apple, maker of operating systems, consumer software and a don't call it smartphone platform. It's not like they have a historical rivalry or anything. Again, this was just a smart exec taking advantage of reporter face time:
"It's a great music phone, and I'm sure it will be fantastic and have an interesting user interface," Microsoft's Asia-Pacific head of smartphone strategy Chris Sorenson told press during a recent visit to Australia. "However, it's a closed device that you cannot install applications on, and there's no support for Office documents. If you're an enterprise and want to roll out line of business applications, it's just not an option. Even using it as a heavy messaging device will be a challenge," the executive added.
Show of hands: How many people would rather have a manageable phonebook, an easy-to-use media player and an attractive browser rather than a version of Excel running on their phone? I think I see 100 million hands.
•iPhone on Lost? - This one is just cute. I mean, it's non-news, but we are really impressed that someone—two people actually, one named David and the other named Loki—took the time to run a photographic comparison between what he saw on TV, and what is posted on Apple.com. Seriously, David, it is people like you who keep us all motivated. News or not, it was fun.
Had enough? No? There's always tomorrow.
Our Full, Complete and Perhaps Unnecessary iPhone Coverage [Gizmodo]