In the battle of iPhones, Apple will wind up as king of the hill

Category iPhone | Permalink | 25. February 2007

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Well, it looks like Apple Inc.’s new fancy phone will be called the iPhone after all. After a short trademark fight, Cisco Systems Inc. and Apple have reached an agreement, but there is a catch.

Cisco will also be able to use the iPhone name. So consumers will have iPhone choices from two different companies.

As you may recall, Apple announced the iPhone in January, and Cisco was quick to say not so fast. A couple of days later, Cisco filed a lawsuit against Apple for Trademark Infringement and said it has had the iPhone trademark since 2000.

WE HAVE A DEAL

On Wednesday, the companies announced they had resolved their dispute over the iPhone trademark and said they will “explore opportunities for interoperability in the areas of security, and consumer and enterprise communications.”

A lot of us can’t wait to get our hands on Apple’s iPhone, but little is known about Cisco’s iPhone. A little digging turns up a family of iPhones manufactured by Linksys, which is a division of Cisco.

IPHONE VS. IPHONE

What I found looks like an ordinary cell phone in terms of design and features. But it claims to use wireless access points or Skype software to make cheap, or in some cases, free calls over the Internet.

The Skype software for the Linksys iPhone installs on your PC and you must connect a Linksys iPhone base station to the PC via a USB cable. The Linksys version of the iPhone is cordless and communicates with the base station. So you’re free to make calls from around the house, without being tethered to your PC.

There are a few other hoops to jump through in making calls, based on whether you’re calling another Skype user, which could be free, or just one of your friends with a regular phone. The latter will cost you about $30 for a year of service.

But there is one word of warning for this particular technology. The Skype Web site says this service is not for emergency calls and should not be considered a replacement for a land line.

WHICH IS WHICH?

If you’re going to be name shopping, Apple’s iPhone will not be able to compete with the Linksys version on price. You can pick up a Linksys model for about $90, compared with about $500 for Apple’s cheapest model when it’s released in June.

I predict there probably will be little confusion on the shelves about which iPhone is which. Although they’ll both have the same name, Cisco has a tough road ahead to draw some attention. Its iPhones have been below the radar screen at this point.

When someone mentions an iPhone around the water cooler, I’ll bet Apple will come to mind. It seems as if Cisco has been hanging on to the iPhone trademark all these years, without much marketing behind it. But Apple changed everything with its iPhone announcement and forced Cisco to fight back.

As for cell service on the iPhones, Apple will use Cingular and Cisco will use the calls-over-the-Internet technology. But sorting out the confusion is not be going to be about who has the better service or the cheaper price.

It’s going to be about innovation, cool features and good looks.

And I have a hunch Apple will become King of the iPhones. clarionledger.com

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