iPhone Buzz Just Beginning

Look for the Apple’s newly-announced iPhone (pictured at left) to create even greater buzz when it comes available this summer – but don’t expect to be able to buy one at a reasonable price anytime soon (and maybe just on eBay, a la PS3, Wii and Elmo TMX). Similar to Motorola’s RAZR phones, rolled out Christmas 2005, they were tough to get, insanely expensive, and toted by RAZR-thin people with last names Hilton, Ritchie, Lohan, and Simpson (no, not O.J.). Today, not so much. Their average price on eBay is $134.

The current iPhone (pictured at right), the one that's VoIP and Skype-enabled, is available on eBay. The new Netgear Wi-Fi phone for Skype is also very cool. The VoIP iPhone is from Linksys, a company owned by Cisco, which owns the name "iPhone." The iPhone name is at the center of the legal brewhaha, where Cisco is claiming trademark infringement against Apple. But don’t expect Apple to rename their latest gadget "mePhone" or "myself Phone" to replace "iPhone."