No "i" on Apple mobile phone and iTV definitive names?

For months now, all of the IT ecosystem is waiting for Apple to release a mobile phone and a living-room entertainment appliance. The last one has already been officially announced under the temporary "iTV" name back in September 2006. But if the latest report MacScoop obtained is true, then it looks like no one has guessed the definitive names that Apple will give to these devices yet.

The first disappointment came from the announcement of the iPhone by Linksys in December. The consumer networking devices maker announced a VoIP phones line-up under the iPhone trademark, shocking a lot of Apple enthusiasts and analysts who have given this name to the long rumoured Apple mobile phone.

Everyone is still expecting something starting with an "i" for the name of both devices, but a report MacScoop has obtained suggests that the company will drop the "i" on the name of these new devices. A quite surprising move, considering the fact both the iTV and Apple's mobile phone will be consumer products.

That would mean Apple will not make use of the iPhone, iPod, iChat and iTV brands or whatever starting with "i" for its mobile phone and living-room appliance. Or at least, it will omit the "i" character to any of the listed above. We won't try to guess the iTV's definitive name but the most likely possibility for Apple's mobile phone would be something like "Pod Pro".

Despite the fact that the iPod should not be called "iPod something", another earlier report on which we're still seeking confirmation, claims that the new mobile phone has been developed and will be handled by the iPod division.

While sources didn't want to provide technical details on either of the devices, we've been told that the company's executives were really enthusiastic in terms of handheld product announcements and sales expectations for this year. Internal predictions at Apple are that the company's forthcoming mobile phone will see even higher sales than than the iPod itself during 2007.

Meanwhile, analysts, who have been predicting the release of an Apple mobile phone for years, believe that the company will sell 13 to 16 million mobile phones and nearly 50 million iPods in fiscal 2007, compared to nearly 40 million iPods sold in fiscal 2006.

The reports MacScoop has obtained implicitly and partially confirm rumours that Apple will announce its much anticipated mobile phone during MacWorld SF 2007. Not surprisingly, these reports also bring certainty that the ITV will be released during the event.