Cisco -- not apple -- announces iPhone branded VoIP phones

We hate to break it to everybody who thought the inevitable Apple phone was going to be called the iPhone, but Cisco, which has apparently had the trademark on the name since the 90s, is launching a line of Linksys "iPhone" VoIP devices (yes, that's right, lower case "i", uppercase "P"). Why wait until now to launch the iPhone name? We can't say for sure, but we imagine Cisco was probably trying to work behind the scenes to sell the rights to the name to Apple, but things didn't pan out -- but since "iPhone" is already a fairly ubiquitous brand without even being launched, hey, why not run with it? We won't dwell long on the loss of the name iPhone to describe the Applephone (which is what we'll henceforth be calling it), so on to the gear. Expect to see the $180 iPhone Dual-Mode Internet Telephony Kit for Skype CIT400 (pictured), which from what we can tell, is merely a Skype handset; also, announced is the $200 iPhone Wireless-G Phone for Skype WIP320 (pictured after the break), a SIP VoIP phone. So, that's it; Cisco cashes in on the iPhone name, current VoIP products get rebadged to the new label, and we all rest easy knowing that our cellphone investments are still safe for at least another three weeks or so.

[Demi @ Dec 18th 2006 12:44AM]

Dammit!

Brian Lam fucked with us again!

[Elwynn @ Dec 18th 2006 12:45AM]

Funny...I thought apple owned www.iphone.org

[rob @ Dec 18th 2006 12:55AM]

Aaaah! everyone yell at cisco to give the name back to apple, even though they had the tm :)

[Sean @ Dec 18th 2006 1:13AM]

Funny enough, try searching for iPhone on google and hit "I'm Feeling Lucky". It takes you to what looks like apple.com, but, look at the url...

The iPhone looks to be real, but, it looks like it's called...

eWorld.

-S

[varun @ Dec 18th 2006 1:11AM]

iChat Mobile, anyone?

[chenry @ Dec 18th 2006 12:43PM]

quick, copyright it if it hasn't been already!

[doyouflip @ Dec 18th 2006 1:20AM]

One step further...eworld.com is registered to...

Registrant:
Apple Computer, Inc. (DOM-1423713)
1 Infinite Loop Cupertino, CA 95014 US

Domain Name: eworld.com

Registrar Name: Markmonitor.com
Registrar Whois: whois.markmonitor.com
Registrar Homepage: http://www.markmonitor.com

Administrative Contact:
Kenneth Eddings (KE557) (NIC-14211601) Apple Computer, Inc.
1 Infinite Loop M/S 60-DR Cupertino CA 95014 US
[e-mail] +1.4089744286
Technical Contact, Zone Contact:
NOC Apple (NA4189-ORG) (NIC-14211609) Apple Computer, Inc.
1 Infinite Loop M/S 60-DR Cupertino CA 95014 US
[e-mail] +1.4089961010 Fax- +1.4089741560

Created on..............: 1994-Jan-03.
Expires on..............: 2009-Jan-01.
Record last updated on..: 2006-Dec-01 04:08:07.

Domain servers in listed order:

NSERVER.APPLE.COM
NSERVER2.APPLE.COM

[Rob @ Dec 18th 2006 1:31AM]

im not exactly sure what you're getting at but if you search iphone normally on google then ~ the third link down is a company,
https://iphone.nuvio.com/html/
that i'm assuming is owned by cisco per ryan's article

its a bummer the applephone won't be called the iPhone

[jopari @ Dec 18th 2006 1:31AM]

a nice theory, but there's a logical explanation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EWorld

[Little Joe @ Dec 18th 2006 1:21AM]

So this is what Giz___ was talking about when they said the iPhone would be announced on Monday????

Arrrgggghhhhhh.

[Justin @ Dec 18th 2006 1:23AM]

Long live the ApplePhone! Maybe we should just all it the aPhone for short.

[Gabe @ Dec 18th 2006 4:16AM]

Just one problem: say I'd like aPhone for my birthday and you don't really know what you'll get.

[Sean @ Dec 18th 2006 1:52AM]

Note, the eworld name has been dead for some time. They still own the rights. They could absolutely re-use it at any time, whether it be the carrier for their new phone, or the new phone (more likely PDA) itself...

I'm not really hinting at anything, HOWEVER, I know that as of midnight tonight, here on the east coast, a google "iPhone" search directed me to eWorld.com (apple.com). Before midnight the iPhone search NEVER took me to apple.com and it certainly never took me to a page that LOOKS like apple.com but was called eWorld.com...

I don't think that's a coincidence.

-S

[aiken @ Dec 18th 2006 1:34AM]

Um, why would Apple dilute the iPod brand.

I always figured it was going to be officially branded as the iPod Phone. You know, Nano, Video, Phone.

[Matthew @ Dec 18th 2006 1:49AM]

Hmm... makes you think, do people really care? Seriously. Apple is a bad company. The worst warranty I've seen since warranty void.

[izopod @ Dec 18th 2006 1:59AM]

Why not call it the iPhonepod?

[GJP303 @ Dec 19th 2006 6:50PM]

do you listen to buzz out loud?

[ocelot67 @ Dec 18th 2006 2:00AM]

"the Applephone (which is what we'll henceforth be calling it)"

Not iTalk?

[Taylor @ Dec 18th 2006 2:07AM]

Either iPod or Mac. MacBook, MacPhone?

iPod Mobile... iPod Cell... iPod Talk?

[humpty @ Dec 18th 2006 2:16AM]

Yea, this sounds like that phone mentioned on Gizm*do... those guys are sneaky iFuckers.

[Jean-Michel Decombe @ Dec 18th 2006 2:18AM]

iPod Mobile? Or if it is indeed based on a lite version of Mac OS X, maybe it could be called MacPod or MacPhone? Now, I would not be surprised if Steve came up with a totally unexpected and totally cool new name that says "hey, this is so much more than just a phone".

[PPC @ Dec 18th 2006 2:21AM]

PWNED!

[cotdc @ Dec 18th 2006 2:24AM]

gawker sucks, this lame ass *joke* proves it

[Intrepid @ Dec 18th 2006 2:42AM]

Poor Apple... I laugh at them.

[BabyDinosaur @ Dec 18th 2006 3:19AM]

I quite liked the idea of calling it the 'aPhone' mentioned earlier. Perhaps we could call people who jump on the bandwagon and snap it up aHoles?

[Julian Bond @ Dec 18th 2006 3:55AM]

These things (and especially that base station) run Linux, right?

[Jonathan Baldwin @ Dec 18th 2006 4:00AM]

I suspected it would be called iPod Phone or something. As someone else already mentioned, it makes no sense to ignore the already successful brand...

[Erik Childs @ Dec 18th 2006 4:21AM]

new names for the Apple Phone:

PhonePod
CellPod
iCell
iTalk
iPod Talk
PortaPod?

[Tech^Cellfish @ Dec 18th 2006 4:59AM]

ApplePhone is the worlds longest word. I'm sure they'll find something shorter.

[nick botulism @ Dec 18th 2006 5:18AM]

iPwned!

i like applephone, because it makes me think of BANANAPHONE.

[Tom Robinson @ Dec 18th 2006 5:20AM]

Too bad there aren't like "regular expression trademarks"... then Apple could have trademarked i[A-Z][a-z]+

But then what's stopping someone from trademarking [a-zA-Z]+ ...

[3rdsun @ Dec 18th 2006 5:32AM]

Apple bitches are in a pansy cus Cisco struck a blow to thier iPhone. Hahahaha. Get a life losers.

[Tom Robinson @ Dec 18th 2006 5:35AM]

By the way... anyone else notice a strong resemblance to the Sony Ericsson T610/T630 phones...

http://img166.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ciscovssonyericssonrz0.jpg

[Archietype @ Dec 18th 2006 8:50AM]

I would have though the more obvious parallel was the second white phone being a dead ringer (no pun intended) for the Sony Ericsson w800i. Whats next Cisco...'Talkman' branded phones with a Pear logo?

[Chris C @ Dec 18th 2006 7:53AM]

IS it gonna be a linksys or a cisco...

also i found this a few weeks ago

It seems like comwave already has trademarked the iphone name with one of their products:

http://www.comwave.net/US/iPhone/whatisiphone.htm

Anyone know anything about this?

[Carlos @ Dec 18th 2006 8:39AM]

I have to ask…has Apple ever called this project the iPhone? Wasn’t this just made up by the blogosphere and then used by reports from WSJ and then it trickled to everyone else?

I never thought Apple would ever name it somethin as unimaginative as iPhone.

Am I totally off here?

[wahoo scott @ Dec 18th 2006 8:55AM]

the device: iCall
the software: iDial

i'd love to see apple offer a voip option that uses leftover 1g shuffle casings (like the vonage usb device) in addition to a regular 3g phone.

[Cap @ Dec 18th 2006 9:00AM]

Congrats, Engadget.. for not building up a run-of-the-mill story just to get people to visit your website, you are now the main tech blog I'm reading. All thank you e-mails should be sent to Gizmodo, care of Brian "My Journalistic Integrity Is Non-Existent" Lam.

[Ian Smith @ Dec 18th 2006 9:35AM]

Guys, seriously.

"Don't call us a phone company, don't call it a phone..." --Helio commercials

What the hell makes you guys think Apple's gonna call it an iPhone? Not like we have iMusics, iLaptops (RIP), etc. But you get my point? It'll probably be called like iPod Mobile or iCell (doubtful, but you get my point). Hell, MacPhone maybe. If I knew what the damn thing looked like I would have a better idea but it'll probably be named somewhat for it's shape or design.

[fgdfgdfdfgdfg @ Dec 18th 2006 9:47AM]

Cisco probably thought that iPhone would be a really lame name... But then some Apple fanboy within Cisco annoyed the hell out of everyone until they finally created a product by that name.

[Ian Jardine @ Dec 18th 2006 10:02AM]

Maybe I am missing something but I don't get these offerings from Linksys.
All the wireless phones come with some sort of base station WiFi controller (or so it seems). Why? A lot of us have a WiFi set upo already so the best Slype solution is something like a rival to Netgear's more simple WiFi phone that connects thru ANY wifi and does not need a new base station. So what's so clever about these new Linksys offerings? What am I missing?

[Mike Uram @ Dec 18th 2006 10:46AM]

This is why I only read Engadget now.

[Jeff @ Dec 18th 2006 11:39AM]

Sweet lookin' phone. Has Logitech ever made anything that wasn't gorgeous? Seriously.

[Jeff @ Dec 18th 2006 11:40AM]

...except that isn't Logitech. Duh. So, uhm, yeah, those were just two unrelated comments which are perfectly valid if taken seperately.

Oops.

[tnriverfish @ Dec 18th 2006 11:55AM]

what about "The Bannana" by Apple?
First run would all be yellow. I like it.
Of couse if it isn't any good it will be dubbed the rotten bannana. I think the whole "i" thing is run its course anyways. iDon't pay attention to it anymore.

[Liqwid @ Dec 18th 2006 12:02PM]

You know... Apple doesn't have the 'i' on everything. What if they just dropped the 'i' altogether and simply called it 'phone', or, if needed, 'iFone', just for the "fun factor".
But, I highly doubt that iPhone would've ever had been used. It's highly unoriginal. The only one with the 'i' branding that I've liked is iSight, because it sounds relevant. iSight = eyeSight
But, if they did have that unoriginal idea of iPhone, then I agree with 19. PWND!

[ange @ Dec 18th 2006 12:20PM]

I agree with the line of thinking someone posted earlier:
iPod:
Video
Nano
Shuffle
Phone

[Fernando @ Dec 18th 2006 1:42PM]

Those Giz**** iFuckers!!

[sanjay shankar @ Dec 18th 2006 1:47PM]

47 comments!!! and not one thought of 'iPhod' ?

[3rdsun @ Dec 18th 2006 4:43PM]

how about inotevergonnacomeoutwithaphoneanytimesoon.