iPhone nano

According to a report from Kaufman Brothers analyst Saw Wu, Apple and AT&T are discussing the possibility of offering tiered data plans with the next generation of iPhone. In the report, he says Apple and AT&T are worried that an increasing number of customers will turn down the iPhone due to it's expensive mandatory $70+/month data and voice plans.

Despite Apple COO (and current CEO stand-in for Jobs) Tim Cook's insistence that there was no entry level iPhone in Apple's product pipeline, RBC analyst Mark Abramsky is continuing to insist that one is on the way. He defends his persisting prediction by arguing that an entry level iPhone would not necessarily have to be a crappy "iPhone Nano" as we've been hearing about, but could be the result of slightly more subtile cost reductions like no 3G access or GPS, a cheaper data plan at roughly $15/month with a usage cap, and a slightly lower quality camera.

Apple hosted their quarterly earnings conference call for Q1 of 2009, during which Apple COO (and current stand-in for CEO Steve Jobs) answered a lot of questions people have had about the iPhone and Apple's direction with the current state of the economy and Jobs not currently at the reigns. During the call they touched on topics including the possibility of a lower-cost iPhone, their move to get the iPhone at Walmart, and their stance on protecting their intellectual property rights.

Craig Berger, an analyst for Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co, reported earlier today that he believes Apple is getting ready to introduce a new "lower-cost" version of the iPhone. He doesn't think it will be ready in time to be rolled out at Macworld next week, but based on information from "checks" with Apple suppliers, he says it's on it's way eventually.

We just received word from a reliable source within Apple that they are in fact working on an iPhone Nano, and that it will be announced at Macworld. The source says that the iPhone Nano will most likely be similar in form-factor to the iPod touch, and will probably not include 3G.

These iPhone Nano rumors just keep coming. It seems to me that everyone and their mother is jumping on the Nano bandwagon. This latest little gem of an example was submitted by a Gizmodo reader (and in all-caps, no less) on Christmas.

Yesterday we saw that XSKN has posted a new section on their website for the iPhone Nano, lending a little credence to what were otherwise pretty shaky rumors. To follow up, they have now updated that section of their website with actual iPhone Nano case designs for sale.

We still have yet to see anything credible that proves the existence of an iPhone Nano, but rumors continue to fly around. Now a concept photo of what the device might look like if it did exist has been submitted by an anonymous party. The device depicted fits the descriptions and appears to be consistent with the images of case designs for the rumored device.

Another iPhone case maker is getting behind the rumors of an "iPhone Nano". XSKN has created a new product category on their website next to the iPhone 1st Gen and iPhone 3G for the iPhone Nano. They haven't posted pictures of the device. XSKN leaked new product information before when they began selling cases for the iPhone 3G before it was launched.

We've heard the rumor that there would be an iPhone Nano before, but there never seems to be any credibility to the claims. Now, with little else to talk about before Macworld 2009, the rumor has been revived by the questionably credible iDealsChina. They have leaked yet another set of 3D renderings showing a silicon case for what they claim will be the "iPhone nano", which they claim will be announced at Macworld '09.