Friday, May 25,2007 @ 1:25pm
iPhone on June 20, head-on vs Prada?
The iPhone may have an official ship date of June 20th, according to CNBC's Thursday evening episode of "On the Money." The financial TV show claims to have received confirmation from an AT&T store manager that the device will be shipping on June 20th, arriving early in Apple's stated late June timeframe. While such reports are potentially inaccurate as the retail channel doesn't always have access to official release dates, the specificity of the date along with supporting claims from Bloomberg have garnered extra attention for the claim.
Experts brought to the show also noted that AT&T's primary rival Verizon has said it would offer its own challenger to the iPhone in late summer. While the provider declined comment on which device it would offer -- asking only that those interested "stay tuned" -- the commentators believed the device would be a variant on the Prada phone by LG released earlier this year in Asia and Europe.
LG itself had denied that it would bring the standard edition to the US, the show guests said. However, the Korean firm has also developed at least one alternative with the same core touchscreen concept applying to the Chocolate-themed KC1 handset. LG's devices have generally focused attention away from music, relying primarilyly on a microSD card slot for storage and emphasizing calling features instead.
Apple has yet to comment on the claim.