Apple iPhone revealed! LOL J/K

Rumors of an Apple-branded smartphone, the so-called "iPhone," have been running rampant for years now. As the rumormill had continued to spit out choice tidbits, anticipation for the device has reached a fever-pitch. Ask various Mac zealots about the phone and you'll hear that it will be capable of just about anything--from WiFi calling to full-length movie playback, making it essentially the holy grail of mobile phones. With Apple widely expected to announce the device at the MacWorld Expo next month, excitement for the device has never been higher. So when Gizmodo made a cryptic post on Friday afternoon claiming that the iPhone would be revealed today, Apple fanboys and girls worked themselves into a frenzy.

As it turns out, Gizmodo wasn't bluffing, the iPhone was revealed today--but it's not made by Apple. Cisco has owned the iPhone trademark since 1996 and today announced a iPhone product line under its Linksys brand. The new Skype-compatible, VoIP phones--one mobile and one cordless--should be available soon. The only question that remains: What will Apple call their phone? "Applephone" seems viable until you consider the possibility that children's songwriter Raffi is waiting in the wings to claim infringement on his classic 1995 album Bananaphone.

For more on the "real" iPhone:
- see this Gizmodo post

ALSO: Check out this comprehensive timeline of iPhone rumors from 1999 to the present. Timeline