According to an “unnamed friend” of Dvorak:

“The keyboard is a disaster, and people are going to return the phone in droves. I’m guessing 20% will go back.”

Surprisingly Dvorak does not think that this will be the case.

The touchscreen keyboard remains one of the top issues many of the iPhone naysayers regularly mention. Will it really be so hard to get used to that 20% of iPhones will be returned? I don’t think that will be the case. Only time will tell if the keyboard is as intuitive as Steve Jobs says. I’m sure we’ll know the answer in 22 days or so.

Time to short Apple? [via MarketWatch]

SlingPlayer – The ability to watch TV from home on your phone? Fantastic! Sure, this is already capable on smartphones like the Treo, but for the iPhone to not get this same functionality would be a real bummer. The biggest hurdle for proper functionality would likely be the speed of the EDGE data, but Wi-Fi would certainly be fast enough for TV placeshifting. The chances of this coming to fruition seem fairly good since SlingMedia has already expressed interest in porting their player to the iPhone.

Sirius/XM Widget – Once you listen to the commercial free glory of satellite radio it’s real hard to go back to old FM again. It’s also unclear if the iPod Radio Remote will be iPhone compatible. Whether Sirius or XM would develop these apps themselves remains doubtful since they already have devices available that can access their streaming content. Fortunately there are several apps and widgets already available that can tune in to your favorite sat radio provider, all of which are developed by dedicated listeners. Cross your fingers on this one.

VNC – For many IT guys VNC is an invaluable tool at work. Being able to troubleshoot a machine without leaving ones desk is highly convenient. How easy would it be to control a desktop without a fixed keyboard or mouse remains to be seen, but I’m sure we could see some rather creative solutions. Of course for this to be most effective there will need to be some sort of VPN client, which luckily is already rumored to exist.

Games, games, games – There is no doubt that we will eventually see a variety of games available for the iPhone. It has already been reported that both EA and Namco have expressed interest in developing for the iPhone. What sort of games could we potentially see? The possibilities are certainly intriguing. As long as I have my mandatory Tetris available I’ll be a happy camper.

What apps are on your list?

[flv]http://www.myitablet.com/videos/apple-iphone-how_to_640x496.flv[/flv]

Two more Apple iPhone ads after the jump!

[flv]http://www.myitablet.com/videos/apple-iphone-never_been_640x496.flv[/flv]

[flv]http://www.myitablet.com/videos/apple-iphone-calamari_640x496.flv[/flv]

Apple iPhone ads here!

• New iPhone Ads Now Available on Apple.com!
• Apple iPhone release date is June 29th, and new video of iPhone ad!

The video below from CNBC claims June 20th as arrival dates of the iPhone. As Brian of Gizmodo noted, the reporter is not sourcing an analyst but instead got the info from an AT&T phone store employee. Now how’s that a source for a mainstream media outlet such as CNBC?

June 20th isn’t the only date being thrown around. Thanks to an internal AT&T document denying any vacation period between 6/15 through 7/15, lead many of us to believe June 15th as the iPhone’s launch date.

[poll=28]

Now comes a twist courtesy of Gizmodo. The research team led by their fearless leader Brian Lam conducted their own field report and came up with June 11th as “the day.”

Yesterday Chen, Wilson, Scott Kidder and I tried to open up Cingular Business accounts for Gizmodo. You know, for the iPhone. One rep in the Business Marketing Group told us the phone could be ordered on Monday, June 11th, which would allow it to arrive on the 12th for phone and online orders. The 11th happens to be the WWDC keynote date, but the 12th is a Tuesday, which is when Apple usually releases stuff. We picture an announcement at the Keynote that “it will be available tomorrow.” I heard this with my own ears and had it confirmed by a reader who emailed the same rep and received a confirm electronically. I’d be irresponsible if I didn’t tell you that we called four other reps and no one else would confirm anything.

CNBC Says iPhone on June 20th (Plus Other Guesses with Unreliable Sources) [via Gizmodo]

• New iPhone Ads Now Available on Apple.com!
• Apple iPhone release date is June 29th, and new video of iPhone ad!

Update: 5/26/2007 Will the real iPhone release date please stand up?

AT&T sent out an internal memo advising all company owned retail employees that no additional vacation requests will be allowed during the iPhone launch period. This period extends from June 15th through July 15th. The company is referring to this timeframe as “the biggest selling period we have seen in a few years.”

There is no way to validate any of this information – but it does seem to fall in line with everything we’ve heard thus far.

Click over to read the memo.

To: All Company Owned Retail Employees

From: [Name removed]

Subject: iPhone Launch Period

Date: May 4, 2007

As previously announced, Apple and AT&T will soon debut the iPhone, which combines a mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and breakthrough internet communications into one small and lightweight handheld device. The new AT&T has a multiyear, exclusive agreement to
provide U.S. service for the iPhone.

To ensure proper staffing during the product launch period, Sales personnel planning to take approved time off are encouraged to schedule their vacations before June 15 or after July 15 to participate in the iPhone launch.

Previously approved vacation will be allowed where voluntary rescheduling is not feasible

No additional vacation requests will be approved during the launch period (6/15 – 7/15).

I want to thank you in advance for your understanding as this is likely to be the biggest selling period we have seen in a few years.

Happy Selling,

[Name removed]

Apple iPhone to launch June 15th? [via The Boy Genius Report]

• New iPhone Ads Now Available on Apple.com!
• Apple iPhone release date is June 29th, and new video of iPhone ad!

ATT has gone through a lot of changes in the last year, most notably when they purchased Cingular. As part of the changes, ATT will be opening 11 new stores dubbed the “ATT Experience.”

These stores will focus on various entertainment services that ATT can offer. These will include stations for customers to test out various features on their phones such as Bluetooth headsets, and Satellite Radio for their phones. One other special thing about the store is that they will be selling selling the iPhone when it is released.

This is notable because earlier reports stated that the iPhone would only be sold in Apple stores and Cingular/ATT’s website. Granted, there are currently only 11 of these stores planned, but the more places that carry the iPhone the better.

ATT to open stores to sell iPhone [via looprumors]

• New iPhone Ads Now Available on Apple.com!
• Apple iPhone release date is June 29th, and new video of iPhone ad!

Apple’s CFO Peter Oppenheimer spoke in length about the forthcoming iPhone and Apple TV at the Morgan Stanly Technology Conference in San Francisco today. As usual, and not to be expected, Oppenheimer declined to provide specific unit sales forecasts for the new products but expects the numbers to be strong.

The audio webcast of Apple’s presentation at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference featuring Peter Oppenheimer can be heard on Apple’s website, a transcript is also available from AppleInsider, and a summary is also available on Macworld.

While Oppenheimer didn’t say anything we haven’t heard before, this particular question is more relevant to My iPhone readers:

Q: So lets shift focus to the iPhone. Morgan Stanley published or survey results last week, and that pointed to very high level of demand. But from Apple’s perspective, what are the barriers to adoption for the iPhone?

A: We believe the iPhone is a breakthrough product with outstanding features that years ahead of anything in the market today. We don’t think there is another product like the iPhone and we think the iPhone will redefine the cell phone market. The iPhone combines three products into one a beautiful, light, handheld device. We think it’s a revolutionary phone with visual voicemail. It’s the best iPod that we’ve ever done. And we think its breakthrough internet device with desktop class email, searching and web browsing. As an innovator, we don’t look at traditional market methodologies to think about how to develop products. Before we introduced the first iPod in 2001, we didn’t really ask ourselves what was the potential for the MP3 player market by looking at products that were over $399. We believe that people really love music and would appreciate a product like the iPod to listen to music while on the go. Though we’re new to the mobile phone market, we believe the addressable market will grow quickly for a product that delivers so much value and uncompromising functionality to customers.

The other interesting question had to do with future advertising plans for the iPhone beyond the recent Oscar ad, Oppenheimer states that Steve and the team have some great plans but I can’t share those with you in advance.

• New iPhone Ads Now Available on Apple.com!
• Apple iPhone release date is June 29th, and new video of iPhone ad!

The stunt pulled by MPhone.net is inexcusable. The online cell phone retailer claimed that due to a technical error, which lead MPhone webmaster to inadvertently post availability of the Apple iPhone in March.

Harry Novick, Sr. Site Manager for MPhone had this to say about the incident, No one could believe how quickly the information spread. While the error was contained within 24 hours, the misinformation traveled like wildfire across the web. There was a security breach; MPhone has no agreement with Cingular phones or any other carrier to carry the iPhone at this time. This was not meant to be released.”

[Vincent's take] This is a deliberate act on MPhone’s part in attempt to drive traffic to the company’s website.  It’s my recommendation not to do business with such company.  I cannot stomach the fact that the company was so proud of this action, they’ve even released a press release pouring salt onto open wounds of disappointing customers: “iPhone fans flocked to the MPhone site, only to be disappointed.”

iPhone Release Date Error — Will Not Be Available In March As Reported on MPhone.net

The first change you’ll notice is the Cingular image replaced with the at&t logo. Eagle eyes over at Gizmodo caught the time changed from 10:15 AM to 10:12 AM. Could these numbers have some biblical or personal significance to Steve Jobs?

Towards the end of the ad, it says Coming in June. So any rumors of an early arrival is SQUASHED!

Lastly, the ad was in very good taste, not to mention scoring brownie points with Hollywood. Could this possible be the beginning of a long, happy and prosperous relationship between Apple and Hollywood? I sure hope so for the sake of more movies on iTunes.

I wonder if this is a one-time air slot on the Oscars or whether Apple will run the ad in other slots throughout other TV stations.