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1999 Dec14: Apple acquires the domain name www.iphone.org, which used to just direct visitors to the main corporate page. Article

2001 Apr16: Infosync posts a photo of what many believe to be the iPhone. Forum

2002 Jul20: Apple CEO Steve Jobs downplays the prospect of an Apple PDA by explaining that Apple decided about 3 years ago, they felt that PDAs would eventually evolve into next generation cell phones, and that PDA's will become a smaller market. Article

2002 Aug18: The New York Times discusses Apple's future plans for an Apple-branded Phone (aka iPhone): "But analysts and people close to the company say that the plan is under way and that the evidence is manifest in the features and elements of the new version of the Macintosh operating system." Article

2002 Aug28: Wireless Week reports that Steve Jobs, chief executive of Apple, and his former partner, Steve Wozniak, are said to be developing a "smart" phone in an attempt to kick-start the market for next-generation mobile phones in the same way that the company's computers popularized personal computing. Article

2002 Sep11: Perhaps the first time Jobs fields the question: The International Herald Tribune interviews Steve Jobs and asks about the iPhone directly. Q: Will there be an iPhone? Jobs: "One never knows. We don't usually discuss products we haven't announced." Article

2002 Sep26: A website called ePrairie claims to have authentic, leaked photographs of the iPhone, back when such a claim was taken somewhat seriously. The first faked iPhone pictures? Maybe. Here's the original cl.. "ePrairie has obtained these three photographs (dated September 2002) of an unannounced Apple cell phone called the Applele hiPhone R4 CHICAGO (Exclusive) – A picture can tell a thousand words. Leaked to the right place at the right time, some pictures of some products can even tell a story of a new venture by an unsuspecting company that has decided to silence the word. Well, at least for now." Article

2002 Oct18: Apple applies for a trademark on "iPhone" in Singapore. Article

2002 Oct21: Apple applies for trademark of "iPhone" in the U.K. The application seems to suggest a software solution like a .Mac internet phone or iChat voice integration. Article

2002 Dec03: Apple trademarks "iPhone" in Australia. Trademark #930990. Article

2003 Jun10: Singapore grants Apple a trademark on iPhone. Article

2004 Oct14: Apple files for iPhone trademark in Canada. Article

2004 Dec13: Apple files a civil suit against several anonymous parties, claiming that "an unidentified individual, acting alone or in concert with others, has recently misappropriated and disseminated through Web sites confidential information about an unreleased Apple product." Pundits suspect the product is the iPhone. Article

2004 Dec16: Apple and Motorola have admitted they are working on a joint-venture phone to support a mobile version of iTunes. "We've said we have something coming on this in the first half of 2005 and we're definitely on schedule for that. Hopefully you'll be able to see more about it soon," says Eddy Cue, VP in charge of applications at Apple. Article

2004 Dec20: Turns out the Dec. 13 lawsuit was against three Mac rumor sites and regarding an unreleased product called Asteroid or "Q97." Not the iPhone. Article

2005 Mar28: Business 2.0 Magazine publishes an article based on analysts' comments about what is next for Apple. The iPhone is in the top five potential products, along with a wireless iPod, video iPod, media center and an enhanced iPod product for the car. Article

2006 Mar21: A search of the European Patent Office reveals a patent application from Apple entitled "Database programs for handheld devices" that was published in February 2006. As advertised, the patent describes techniques for providing access to databases from handheld devices. The application, however, incidentally points out that "the remote handheld device can, for example, be a wireless phone which uses a telecom server to communicate with the database program." Article

2006 Mar30: Think Secret reports that the iPhone has been placed on hold because of "significant technical hurdles" in development. Apple wants to develop the phone "from the ground up" rather than improving on existing designs, which led to technical problems in interfacing the various cell components. The iPhone will not likely come until at least 2007, if not later, the site believes. Analysts, however, expect one in the next 12 months. Article

2006 Apr02: Analyst firm visiongain claims that Apple will team up with Sky Dayton's MVNO Helio for the iPhone launch. Article

2006 Apr02: Think Secret reports that Apple is struggling with its chipset for the iPhone. Article

2006 Apr19: Analyst firm visiongain suggests Apple will go the MVNO route and calls an iPhone launch "logical and inevitable." Launch date predicted during 2007 as the end of the year sees a product acceleration. Article

2005 May04: The US Patent & Trademark Office revealed an Apple patent titled "Reservation of digital media items," originally filed on December 21, 2004. The patent relates to the purchasing of digital media items and, more specifically, to the use of a portable wireless device to identify and/or purchase digital media items. In fact, ringtones are discussed, so we're talking telephony. Article

2006 May12: Japanese news agency Nikkei is reporting that Apple and new Vodafone Japan owner Softbank are working together to develop cellphones capable of downloading and playing music from the iTunes store. Article

2006 Jun04: The Globe and Mail reports that analyst Peter Misek believes BlackBerry maker RIM could ink a deal with Apple for an Apple branded PDA: Such a deal would have huge merit because each company lacks what the other provides. RIM wants a firm foothold in the consumer market and Apple doesn't have a presence in the booming wireless data sector. Article

2006 Jul29: Engadget reports that: "A reader is reporting to us that a coworker's tech-unsavvy friend, who is regularly hired by Apple to do marketing photo shoots, was recently brought on to take some shots of 'the sleekest, sexiest damn phone he's ever seen.'" The phone could appear as early as August, the site claims. Article

2006 Aug02: Engadget claims that an Apple cell phone could see a launch at World Wide Developers Conference on August 5th. Article

2006 Aug11: Steve Jobs is cockier than ever about the firm's much-anticipated iPhone product. The obsessively tight-lipped executive apparently is bragging about the product to close friends, saying that the product launch is coming sooner than even he expected. Article

2006 Sep05: American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu reports that Apple is indeed developing such a device and predicts that the company would likely sell about 10 million phones. Article

2006 Sep11: PiperJaffray analyst Gene Munster estimates that Apple could sell as many as 12 million iPod-enabled cell phones next year, potentially boosting earnings by as much as 10 percent above current Wall Street estimates. Article

2006 Sep16: Apple files for iPhone trademark in New Zealand. Article

2006 Sep22: PiperJaffray analyst Gene Munster thinks Apple will launch an iPhone in the next 3 to 6 months -- an introduction he expects will draw more attention to the music-enabled handset market. He also sees it contributing to significant growth expectations implied in industry analyst market forecasts. Article

2006 Sep25: A company called Ocean Telecom Services based in Delaware files for a trademark on "iPhone" in the U.S. It is widely believed Ocean is working on behalf of Apple, because the filing is identical to previous "iPhone" trademark filings in other countries. Article

2006 Sep26: A company called Ocean Telecom services based in Delaware also files for a trademark on "iPhone" in Hong Kong and the U.K. using the same language as Apple did for iPhone trademarks in other countries. Article

2006 Sep27: Cingular Wireless will be the first carrier to offer the upcoming iPhone--a rumor which itself has not yet been confirmed. The operator reportedly has a six-month exclusive on the device, to be offered early next year. Article

2006 Oct09: T-Mobile USA CEO Robert Dotson also spoke quite favorably of Apple, singling out the Mac maker's efforts on the desktop as a "great precursor" of where he thinks the marketplace is headed with 3G, leading to speculation that T-Mobile, not Cingular, will host Apple's much-rumored iPhone project. Article

2006 Oct16: AppleInsider reports that Apple has filed for another trademark for the "iPhone" term on September 15th with "a Far Eastern trademark office." The filing describes the iPhone as under "handheld and mobile digital electronic devices for the sending and receiving of telephone calls, faxes, electronic mail, and other digital data; MP3 and other digital format audio players." Article

2006 Oct23: The Motorola Rokr is said to be dropping Apple's iTunes media player in favor of Real Networks' Real One player, which signals Apple's imminent entrance into the cell phone market. Article

2006 Nov02: Cingular announces its new mobile music service, partners with Microsoft, Napster, Yahoo! Music, XM Satellite Radio and eMusic for a subscription-based service model. The announcement marks an essential death-sentence to the rumor that Apple would be launching the 'iPhone' as Cingular-only initialy. The MVNO rumor on Cingular's network gathers more steam as a result. Article

2006 Nov15: BusinessWeek reports that Bear Stearns analyst Andy Neff ventures a guess that the iPhone could cannibalize about 30 percent of the iPod market. Article

2006 Nov16: Taiwan's Commercial Times reported Apple has already ordered 12 million handsets from contract manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry, with plans to launch the multimedia device in the first half of 2007. Article

2006 Nov21: While Apple has yet to even confirm rumors it is developing one iTunes-enabled mobile handset, American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu claims the company is already hard at work on a second iPhone, this one incorporating messaging capabilities. "From our understanding, it will leverage off existing iChat software that runs on Macs," Wu told clients. Article

2006 Nov22: Mercury News prints comments from Palm's CEO Ed Colligan on the iPhone rumors: "We've learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone," he said. "PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They're not going to just walk in." Article

2006 Nov30: Digg founder Kevin Rose makes the announcement during his Diggnation podcast that the iPhone will ship in 4GB and 8GB storage capacities for $249 and $449, respectively. All major mobile phone providers will carry the device, Rose claims. Video

2006 Dec14: Apple Computer is poised to launch its own MVNO service by acquiring wholesale capacity from Cingular Wireless, according to a note by UBS AG telecom analyst Benjamin Reitzes, who speculates the company would then sell its much-rumored iPhone music player/networked handset across its 174 retail outlets. Article

2006 Dec15: Daniel Mattes, co-founder of Mountain View, CA-based VoIP software developer JAJAH, has been quoted as saying that JAJAH is presently holding intense conversations with Apple over the use of JAJAH software for a mobile phone, according to a reports from the German-language website "futureZone." Article

2006 Dec15: Gizmodo runs a cryptic one-line report: "Gizmodo Knows: iPhone Will Be Announced On Monday I guarantee it. It isn't what I expected at all. And I've already said too much. –Brian Lam" Article

2006 Dec. 16: Sources report that the iPhone will be a GSM/EDGE (2.5G) phone and not a UMTS (3G) device. Apple's decision to go with 2.5G lies in the technology's advantages over 3G: physically smaller components and more reliable communication. Article

2006 Dec18: Linksys releases the iPhone, a VoIP handset with no affiliation to Apple. Cisco, which owns Linksys, has owned the trademark on iPhone since 2000 when it took over a company called Infogear, which registered the name in 1996. This iPhone was the one Gizmodo was referencing on December 15, hence the "It isn't what I expected at all" comment. Article


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