the better..

for me

This must be an alternate model or something because why would they take such a great product and turn it into some frickin' pansy model. A smaller screen, my gosh. Who the heck here asked for a smaller browsing screen? How tiny is the virtual keyboard going to be? What is Apple thinking. I think this article is just a lot of FUD written by people that know nothing. A week back there was talk about the iPhone being thicker. How is Apple gonna get battery life out of some little case on a device that is supposed to be used for everything. These writers are nuts.

I don't see how this would replace the current model. This has to be a supplemental, low-end version if anything. A screen that small would negate all of the iPhone's strengths. And I have a hard time believing apple would switch to a platic body for it's flagship iPhone given all the bragging about using aluminum in it's prodcuts as a more environmentally friendly material.

If this report is for real, it must be another model. Perhaps one with only visual voice mail and a few widgets (maps, stocks, weather), but with no email or web browsing. I just don't see those on a screen that small (literally).

Well if it is true it means I'll be happy with the iPhone I have now and will not upgrade as planned. A 2.8 inch screen is a step down and using the screen keyboard will be a joke. I gave up the LG Voyager because the screen was too small and the iPhone only works well because of its screen size.

says 29 but all I see are 5.

If the screen is smaller, that's a big problem for me. I've been holding out for the 3G iphone, but my eyes won't deal well with trying to read the same amount of text in a smaller size. Unless a smaller screen is specifically for an additional smaller model of the phone, I suspect this is just a rumor, perhaps deliberately planted by Apple to confuse the competition.

Aluminum is not an environmentally friendly product to produce_

It's very abundant but you should go look up the process of extracting it from Bauxite Ore and then refining it_ =====================

Anyway - Apple will probably tweak the dimesnions here and there as they did with the different Generations of iPods over the past several years_ My iPod Classic has different dimension - thickness and screen-size and type than all previous models_

Also - unless Apple goes and retools all of it's Proline hardware with Plastic this ain't happening to the iPhone_

Seeing as they just migrated the iMac [which has not been a Proline Product] to a metal structure and they've migrated even the the low-end iPod Shuffle and Nano to metal Cases lately - this doesn't make much sense_

I wouldn't be too surpised before long if they migrated the low-end Macbooks to a metal body_

I have to agree - those folks that say they may be releasing a stop-gap product mid-level or low-end iPhone are probably more on target_

A smaller iPhone with less UI real estate might be great in some other world markets, but for me in California, it can't get any smaller,it's already at the minimum and the tedium of expanding or double-tapping or viewing in landscape to read Web pages or emails is already at the limit. Smaller? Why not just sign over the market to the next Blackberry -- it's already got a horribly smaller display.

I was watching FOX News and as they were panning the crowd, someone had a black iPhone raised taking pictures. I thought maybe it was a black case, but as they panned the crowed again, i saw that it was not a case, but in fact the phone was black. I could see the logo and the camera clearly and flush with the rest of the phone so im confident it was not a case over the phone.

Size seemed to be the same, but was hard to tell as i could not size the guys hand up.

This was on a video talking about some fire that was on a mountain??? I was just passing by and glanced when the phone got my eye.