iPhone News Roundup - Honey I shrunk the iPhone, blew up the music

In today’s news roundup, we look at an interesting Apple patent that seems to show a new, smaller iPhone in the form of a clamshell design. Take a look at the sketches in the patent and decide for yourself. Is this the iPhone nano, or something else? We also hear strong indications from Adobe about a new version of Flash specifically created for the iPhone and iPod touch. There’s also talk of another huge deal between Apple and the big music companies which would give customers unlimited access to the entire iTunes library for a subscription fee. And finally, Gartner reverses its stance and tells enterprise IT that the iPhone 2.0 is enterprise-ready for the big company mobile work force. Read on to get all the details on this story and more.

Is iPhone nano on the horizon?
Is Apple coming out of its clamshell about a new iPhone nano model? Perhaps. This week Apple applies for an interesting patent that hints at just that; a smaller iPhone model with a clamshell form factor. Text input may be a casualty here because we can’t imagine tapping out text on a virtual keyboard that’s even smaller than the iPhone’s.

Flash coming to iPhone and iPod touch
It wasn’t long ago that Steve Jobs broke off romantic advancements from Adobe declaring Flash was a resource hog and would not run well on the iPhone, and Flash lite was just too wimpy to meet the needs of consumers hungry for rich media on their mobile devices. Adobe now says they are working on a new version of Flash specifically optimized for the iPhone and iPod touch. Can you say Flash video? VoiP? Games galore? We can’t wait!

Unlimited music downloads through iTunes
Steve Jobs possesses incredible business acumen, but c’mon, he must’ve been born with a horseshoe up his ass. He continues to break the barriers between old stodgy media moguls and new digital media distribution models. First it was music downloads, then movies. Now it looks like Steve has rubbed his Hollywood genie bottle again to ask his magic slave for another wish. This time, unlimited music downloads from the iTunes library for customers willing to pay a subscription fee. Will it happen? We think so.

It’s official, you can expense your iPhone for work
Today, Gartner officially blesses the iPhone as an enterprise-ready appliance that matches up against BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, and Symbian Series 60. What does this mean, exactly? It means that Gartner, the soothsayer that IT bigwigs look to for guidance when spending millions of dollars on mobile devices for huge companies, has proclaimed the upcoming iPhone 2.0 a worthy device for work. iPhones will soon show up on expense sheets everywhere.