iPhone nano rumours refuse to die: release in a few months

The iPhone nano rumours continue to gather speed, like a particularly plump penguin toppled down an icy bank, and now Apple Insider are quoting "extremely reputable sources" for their claims that Apple is planning a barrage of consumer electronics that not only includes the iPhone people are slobbering over now but a second, feature-limited handset following the same form-factor of the nano PMP.

Amid analyst tussles, patents for retro-looking cellphone dialers and talk of manufacturing agreements, word is that development of the entry-level device was making its final pass through engineering back in May or June on a roadmap that would see it released mere months after their first, ground-breaking cellphone.

The new interface, seemingly without a keypad either hardware or on-screen (since the device is not rumoured to have a touchscreen), is limited to the iPod and basic cellphone features analysts expect the device to sport.  Full-internet and email access would be absent.  Price, similarly, would be limited beneath the $499 original 4GB iPhone, although not so low as to cannibalise the iPod nano itself.

Further suggestion is that the handset would be made available not only through Apple and AT&T themselves but through third-party vendors, further differentiating between the high-end original model and this new, iPhone-for-the-populous nano.