According to a report from CIBC World Markets analyst Ittai Kidron, "Based on our checks, we believe the timing of Apple's iPhone commercial launch is around late first quarter 2007 to early second quarter 2007".

Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at Jupiter Research, believes the speculation is "starting to get out of hand", since Apple has never even acknowledged the device's existence. In a turn of events, the iPhone is getting more buzz despite the hype and massive marketing dollars being used to launch Microsoft's Zune. Even Steve Ballmer has been commenting that Microsoft would eventually create a phone-Zune combination in the future. Prudential analyst Jesse Tortora said the first model would be a "slim music phone" with a built-in camera, while the second would be a "smartphone" with wireless and video capabilities, and a sliding keyboard.

Thanks Sydney Morning Herald!