I reported a few weeks back that the iPhone would show up at CeBIT. Surprisingly, it did show up. Ok, ok, before you start hammering me with questions, let me clarify that it’s here at CeBIT but it’s really not here in a form that you can see or touch.

CeBIT puts on an annual award highlighting the best in show chosen and voted by CHIP editors. The selection process started back in January, at which time the iPhone was one of three nominees as CeBIT’s most INNOVATIVE product. Unfortunately, the editors of CHIP thought JOOST was more innovative than the iPhone and Intel Tera-Scale computing (the third nominee).

So there you have it, I’ve search high and low for the iPhone at CeBIT; and it showed up in the most unusual place. Who would have thought it would show up at an award event, even before hitting the market.

[Vincent's take on this] I think Apple was going to showcase the iPhone at lifestyle@CeBIT when it found out about being nominated for the CHIP award. However, Apple yanked the iPhone out of the event when it found out that the iPhone lost to JOOST. What do you think?

I'm still convinced the iPhone is roaming around the fair grounds, so I'l keep hunting for it.