Did Zander just confirm the Apple iPhone?

Seems people are more interested these days about what Motorola CEO Ed Zander has to say about Apple than, well, what he has to say about his own music playin' whipping boy. Now sound-bite Ed appears to confirm the much speculated Apple iPhone saying, "We know that they are going to build a smart phone—it's only a matter of time." The quote came after an MIT presentation where Zander, get this, showed off a prototype device that can "receive and play music videos." Any chance those are coming from an iTunes Movie Store, Ed?

[Via Brighthand]

[matt jackson @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

How could you say stuff worse for your own bussines?
I think this guy must be having some kind of midlife (hair loss) crisis.

[jnasato @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

Man, this guy looks like David Cross.....

Apple will *wow* with their phone...

yo.

[JS @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

He looks like a generic lawyer. Quick, everyone check the back of your phone books!

[@a @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

I think he's just speculating like everyone else. Replace "smart phone" with "PDA" or "tablet" and he can be the editor on every Mac rumour site. Somehow I doubt Apple would be showing prototypes to the CEO of Motorola with their immensely secretive nature and all.

[AJ @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

What if moto made the chips and the phone for apple...oh my

wow what a realization

[tennis guy @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

.
What carrier is going to agree to distribute an iTunes phone which allows PC music downloads that cut them out of the revenue stream? Without carrier support, this phone will be DOA.
.
.

[Ipsum @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

What the hell? Weren't Apple the ones saying that it's important to have devices that focus on one function in particular? A phone with iTunes seems to go against that philosophy...

[John Williams @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

What a twat this guy is

[anonymous @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

Apple is having a product release in Mid October that is pretty hush hush. This could be the phone and at the very least it is a new product. It is difficult for me to say more without revealing myself and putting people in jeopardy of losing their jobs.

[Joseph T. @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

Man, Ed Zanders sucks.

[Producer @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

iPhone + Podcasts = Game over for Radio as we know it.

[mike @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

What the hell? Weren't Apple the ones saying that it's important to have devices that focus on one function in particular? A phone with iTunes seems to go against that philosophy

----

Duh! Retard alert!! You're calling Apple hypocrites for something Moto said...(which was actually rhetorical fluff) ??!?!

Wow.. that is amazing!

[Jake @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

If you're not sure Zander confirmed it, then by definition he didn't. Besides, sounds like pure speculation to me.

[::.Navras.:: @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

if apple its going to make its own phone i guess the rokr its out of question,and if its going to make it for real i guess that the new newton are coming too...

[aparrish @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

That photo is truly exceptional and I approve of its continued use.

[Steve Jobs @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

Hey Engadget readers. Haven't you guys sat down and thought for a moment: iPod cannot be improved? For a device that solely plays music, the 60 GB iPod is perfect? That is why iPod now must converge with other devices, such as PVPs. That is why the next step for iPod to go is to play movies. Think: the next time you're on a plane or bus, you don't have to just listen to your boring music over and over again. Since the very beginning, music was intended to accompany visual action, and whether that is music videos or plain old movies is up to you. But the current iPod is not a good candidate for playing movies just because its screen is too small and low resolution. So unfortunately you guys won't get firmware updates on your current iPods.

So, what else can you do with a bigger screen and higher resolution? Apart from watching movies, you will be able to surf the web! To achieve this, the next generation iPod will have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

The next generation iPod will be called iPod Video. It will be based on the design of the Palm Tungsten T3 PDA. http://www.palm.com/us/products/handhelds/tungsten-t3/
Please visit this site now so you will understand what I'm talking about.

iPod Video will be used in Landscape format. The stretch feature has no use but to make iPod compact and fittable into a pocket, and to save batteries (screens on handhelds suck up a lotta battery life). When small, the screen can display pictures and song details. When stretched, the screen can display web pages and movies. It is 4.0" widescreen format, 768 by 480 pixels.

The other new feature on iPod Video is the click circle. Unlike a click wheel, the click circle does not have a button in the middle. Rather, if one needs to press OK, he or she will just need to tap the circle lightly anywhere they want to, like a notebook touchpad; only this is circular, not rectangular. The four buttons (menu, back, forward, play/pause) will still have that physical force feedback. The scroll function will also be executed on the edge of the circle. This click circle also allows the user to move a cursor around while surfing the web, and tap to "click" (also like on a notebook).

[InfoMofo @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

Whew, thanks for clearing that up Mister Jobs!

[tino @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

Haha Palm you get what you deserve. I am holding out on my Treo 650 and wait for this.

[::.Navras.:: @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

to go to the net u can always add bookmarks and sync to safari to complete the wi-fi and if u cannot improved the ipod why are u putting the design concept of a T3 PDA,u can always go to the design of the newton that its simple to use and thinner just like the T3 but better.And here goes a little bit of inovacion,to adapt the proxie to go to the net u can always get an ``friendly user network``,this inovacion is like using the same net and ip but goes to our server acount,its a click and easy to program. This is only my opinion.

[Jeff @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

Man this guy is a media relations department nightmare. A liability to his company really. With the stuff that comes out of his mouth their board ought to tell him to shut up or ship out. Where;s a muzzle when you need one. Granted I am all about building buzz etc. but Apple and Steve must just want to kill the guy at times for oening his mouth...

[Tommy @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

How is this anything NEAR confirmation? It's pure speculation. He has no idea what Apple plans on making, he just thinks he does.

[Shawn Prince @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

Yea, yea, one minute your getting all these cool music videos on your phone and then the next day it's nothing but episodes of Real World and Road Rules back to back.

[Rob @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

Couldn't really care. I just paid for an imate sp5 and putting a 2gb mini-sd in it - they are out next month, mmmmmmm.

[Dustin @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

I don't trust anything that guy says about this. He is just rumor-mongering like the rest of us =)

[Linksys @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

Apple will have to reinvent the way people use cell phones to make their iPhone a hit.

[Brian @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

Why is carrier support needed? Apple could sell its phones off its own website, through Apple Stores and through places like Circuit City, Best Buy, etc. Assuming they are quad-band GSM, they should "just work" on Cingular, T-Mobile, etc.

Release the phone first and let the early-adopters (the ones that buy cell phones off contract anyway) rave about it, Then Cingular, et al. will practically be forced to carry it.

[Cashmore @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

"I don't trust anything that guy says about this. He is just rumor-mongering like the rest of us =)"

Are you suggesting that Engadget doesn't pursue a policy of factually correct, well-researched reporting?

Oh you are? Oh, ok, carry on then.