Mac fans around the world are gathering today at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco, an annual trade show that highlights what the Macintosh platform has to offer.

A favourite pastime of Mac users is predicting what Apple will announce at the show.

In the past, we’ve seen announcements such as the $150 million investment by Microsoft into Apple, the introduction of the iMac and the switch to Intel processors. However, although it seems like I say this every year, the rumours leading up to this years conference are even more daring. Many have been predicting that Apple will converge its popular iPod music player into a cell phone. They’ve even gave us a hint at their last quarters conference call.

But the big question still remains…’Will Apple Release an iPhone?’

Let’s see what others are saying:

- The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Cingular will provide the wireless network in the USA and the phone could be announced as early as Tuesday.
- The New York Times says that the Apple Phone is expected to be unveiled Tuesday and include a ‘ceramic case and a transparent touch screen’.
- Gene Munster of PiperJaffray investment firm noted that the Apple phone could ship as early as Q1 2007.
- JP Morgan analyst Bill Shope says an Apple phone won’t be ready until after March

We’ve seen some very respected news outlets come out with some key information on whether or not the phone will be released. What we do know is that it won’t be called iPhone, because Cisco released a series of routers under its Linksys brand using the name iPhone.

Update: According to CNBC, Apple and Cisco have been negotiating for some time on the use of the iPhone name and it appears that Apple will be marketing its phone under the iPhone brand.

While the annual Macworld show is always interesting, and keeps Mac users guessing on just what Steve might pull out of his sleeve, we know that whatever Apple does release today, will inherit the sleek, easy to use, Apple brand….and people will buy it.

Oh, and one more thing….look for daily Macworld coverage all week.






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