As we reported on August 3rd, the UK’s Daily Mail Online had gone on record after speaking with an industry source, claiming that Apple will unveil an “iPhone nano” in time for the holiday season for the pay-as-you-go market of O2 telecommunications. In Lehman Brother analyst Ben Reitzes’ August 5th research report, he observes that while it is believed that Apple is working on a lower-end iPhone form factor, Reitzes doesn’t think it would arrive until Spring 2009.
Many believe that the device will inevitably surface, and it will all just be a matter of when. I am certainly not here to dispute such claims, as an iPhone nano would seem plausible. And to add more fuel to the fire, it appears as though Apple iPod and iPhone accessories maker, Digital Lifestyle Outfitters (DLO), has been tinkering away on a nano-styled iPhone dock since 2006.
DLO’s 2008 patent documents even contain detailed illustrations of front elevation views of a mysterious telephonic portable digital media storage and playback device…That looks eerily like the current iPod nano with similar dimensions and proportions, even harboring a familiar touchwheel. The remainder of the patent details a docking station that is fit to hold this nano-sized device as well as some sort of TV remote.
As of now we remain in the dark as to whether DLO’s concept is merely a coincidence or whether Apple may have given them a bit of a heads up to begin designing around what may ultimately be an iPhone nano. While release dates for the iPhone nano are still a mystery (Christmas, Spring…who really cares?) we now feel comfortable assuming an iPhone nano release is immanent.
[via MacNN]
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