It had a LCD touchscreen, a sliding keyboard, a web browser and an email client in addition to regular phone functions. Hailed as a great device that offered a relatively inexpensive way of accessing the Internet, it was the very first iPhone.
And it wasn’t from Apple!
Founded in 1995 with headquarters in California and an R&D center in Israel, Infogear was a small startup technology and services company that focused on creating uncomplicated internet applications. They launched two versions of “their” iPhone.
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On March 16, 2000, Cisco acquired Infogear and took over all the company assets including the iPhone trademark.
The Apple iPhone and trademark issues
When Steve Jobs unveiled “his” iPhone on January 9, 2007, Cisco announced that they were in negotiating with Apple for use of the trademark. However, they retracted their statement the very next day and filed a lawsuit against Apple.
The dispute was finally settled on 20th February 2007. As per the agreement, both companies could use the “iPhone” name in exchange for, amongst other things, “exploring interoperability” between the products and services of the two companies.
By the way, Apple also doesn’t own the trademark for iOS, their famous mobile operating system. That, too, belongs to Cisco!
And here are a few more facts about the names of some of Apple products.
Over the years, the company has spent a fair amount of money buying domain names for its products and services. For instance, in 2011, Apple purchased iCloud.com from a Swedish company for $4.5 million. iPhone.com was bought for seven figures a few years earlier. And the name “FaceTime” was purchased from FaceTime Communications who later changed their name to Actiance, Inc.
I didn’t know that! Thanks 🙂
Just goes to show how Apple products overshadow everything