Somebody was lucky enough to take a shot of someone who's holding what looks suspiciously like the much-awaited iPhone - and to think it hasn't (officially) launched yet. This picture was taken in a Caltrain, well-known for being used by Apple employees on their way to work.

If it's really the iPhone, then that guy must be an Apple employee. He should have been more careful in taking that baby out in public lest he wants Apple fanboys surrounding him like ants on honey. Even the existence of this picture may possibly get him into trouble at work.

Generating so much buzz even before its launch date, the iPhone is scheduled to be released in public in June 29.

Not content with just selling movies and music online, Apple is now engaged in talks with major movie studios about renting movies for a paltry amount of US$ 2.99 for a 30-day rental period.

This may be a challenge toward existing cable and satellite TV companies, most of them offering Video-on-Demand (VOD) which lets people download movies into their cable box or gain access to premium programs.

This move may prove to be advantageous to Apple, who already sells films through distribution deals with Walt Disney as well as Paramount. Other entertainment moguls are hesitant to make deals with Apple simply because of fear that online distribution may hurt optical media sales.

But because of the 30-day limit made possible by the Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology, DVD sales will unlikely get affected by Apple's proposed download-to-rent format, purportedly to be launched in autumn.

A studio executive has acknowledged that Apple's plan would most likely "compete against cable companies and anyone else offering VOD into the home". VOD and similar formats have already become a staple for the cable TV industry such as Comcast, DISH Network, and TiVo. Apple's edge over them, however, is that it has a larger customer base.

Currently, Sony Pictures Entertainment, 20th Century Fox, Paramount, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Warner Bros., and Disney have no comments regarding this issue, though the inside buzz have studios getting inwardly excited with Apple dabbling in the VOD market. Says one studio executive, "When you think about Apple customers they are so connected to the brand they will try anything to do with it."

 

A Gizmodo tipster was able to take a snapshot of what was curtained off in a section of New York City's Apple store. The layman wouldn't know what to make of the image so the tipster was nice enough to offer some insights. He writes:

Thanks to my cat like reflexes, I was able to snap a picture before the enigma that is the Apple store was shrouded in black velvet again. There's actually 2 curtained off areas, you guys only mentioned one before, this all happened at the one you guys didn't take a picture of before. Not to ruin any of the fun of guessing, but my genius told me they were just adding more genius bars, and thats what it looks like.

We hope you were able to decipher what the message was through the self-promotion. In any case, what do you think about the image? Post your insights below.

 

Apple just released a new video advertisement for its much-awaited product iPhone. So what? Well, we managed to notice something a bit different on the mobile phone's interface, possibly hinting at a yet-to-be-unveiled function.

As you've seen from all previous iPhone images, the screen has 11 different icons -  two rows with four icons and the last one with just three. To make this easier, the last row is comprised of functions Calculator, Notes, and Settings. However, the video ad revealed the last row having four different icons.

Furthermore, all above-mentioned features were still there with the addition of the Clock feature. Those who have been anticipating this product for so long know well that the Clock function is positioned on the third row. This means, folks, that another icon somewhere at the top pushed it to the last row.

Sadly, the mysterious function wasn't shown in the ad at all. Is this a slipped up or a subliminal tease from Apple? Well, we will find out when iPhone finally hit retail stores later this month. The Read link will take you to Apple's page where you can view the ad in question.

It may sound a tad tedious, but just to let you know, there is yet another rumored release date for Apple's highly-anticipated iPhone: June 29. This tidbit was mentioned by a source who works in a TV broadcasting company, who also said that Apple's new set of iPhone commercials have already been sent to them, which headlines - lo and behold - the date June 29.

Said commercials are supposed to be aired sometime next week, after June 11. So again, there's another date to be marked with a red "?" in the calendar. We've heard quite a handful of rumors about the iPhone to be launched on the 20th, the 15th, and god knows how many other dates; but hey, as long as it hits the stores before June ends, most of us Apple fans will be happy.

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Update:  It's already confirmed - the iPhone's launch is on June 29. You can view the three commercials at the the "read" link.

It's not far from happening. The buzz is that AT&T is working in close collaboration with Apple to install IPTV capabilities for the Apple TV.

If this pushes through, then we just might find Apple TV fully supporting IPTV come 2008. There are still no details on this (and in fact there is no confirmation yet from the involved parties), but speculations are running that it just might be something like AT&T's U-verse TV service.

But if ever that does happen, it's interesting to see just how much breadth Apple TV will soon have over your home entertainment. Will it be strong enough to replace your cable/satellite service. Hmmm... Apple TV just might be the next step in the ever evolving home entertainment, then. We shall all soon see.

Keep it posted here for more updates.

It seems that when it comes to all things tech - and to be a bit narrower, all things Apple - the recent talk of the town is the supposed data plan for Apple's much awaited iPhone. Well, Gizmodo's Brian Lam has something to add to all the speculation, and what's nice about it is that it's specific. It concerns the plan's cost, which is about US$ 30.

See? No estimates. A specific, closed US$ 30 price.

Where did that number come from? Lam cites a Cingular business sales rep as an informant. In addition to the pricing, the release date was also a specific:  June 11. (Others feel that June 20 is a more apt release date) He also speculates  this data plan should include either/both EDGE data or/and Wi-Fi. Well, that's the rumor so far.

Given that a Blackberry Personal Plan plan costs around US$ 35 (or so says their site) a price of US$ 30 for the iPhone's data plan does seem appropriate. Given the other prices available, this rumor does seem plausible. Of course, the US$ 599 iPhone price-tag that everyone's expecting does make that extra 30 bucks seem a little steep.

Electronista has reported that according to "French sources familiar with negotiations for multiple online music stores", Apple is preparing to launch EMI's DRM-free music library on iTunes this week. It could meet Apple's regular Tuesday update schedule, but nothing's sure yet.

According to Electronista, their contacts reportedly said that the companies' technicians are now "in the later stages of encoding and hosting the files before they go live".

The terms of the Apple-EMI deal require that whole albums are will be offered as "a second tier of 256Kbps AAC files without the iTunes-only FairPlay copy protection scheme."

The relatively late debut may be attributed primarily to the decision to release the whole catalog at once, as opposed to a gradual rollout. Another possible reason according to Electronista is legal issues. Apple and EMi reportedly signed a final deal just last week following negotiations of similar contracts with both the new Amazon Store and Europe's VirginMega service.

Media conglomerate CNBC recently had a report concerning Apple's much awaited iPhone. All of their details are fairly accurate, from the AT&T exclusive deal to the documentation of the whole iPhone journey.

Then the bomb was dropped: iPhone will be released on June 20. We really got excited about the announcement until we heard CNBC's source. According to the announcer, they got it from a Cingular phone store employee.

We are all familiar with how things are around the gadgets and games industry: employees are always giving release date and info leaks here and there.

It should be remembered that it was only yesterday when we ran a report how it is very unlikely for Apple to showcase the iPhone at the upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference much more a June 20 release date.

Until we get more confirmation, were tagging this bit under our Rumors section. The Read link should take you to CNBC's official website where you can see the report's video version.

Investment banking firm PiperJaffray analyst Gene Munster recently commented that it is very unlikely for Apple to showcase the iPhone at its upcoming event Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).

In lieu of it, Munster added that the show will be highlighted by new MacBook Pros and quite possibly new iMacs. Munster's basis for this observation is Apple's update history for its products. According to the analyst, professional notebooks are updated every 182 days on the average.

The most recent generation of MacBook Pro was launched around 210 days ago. Likewise, an iMac update is also long overdue as the last time Apple had it was 257 days ago. The average release date for every generation is usually around 168 days.

While the above mentioned products are yet to be confirmed, Apple has promised in the past that a full-featured version of OSX 10.5 Leopard will be demonstrated and handed out at WWDC.