Already the worst-kept secret in mobile technology, Apple's iPhone inched even closer to marketplace reality this week when Taiwan's Commercial Times reported Apple has already ordered 12 million handsets from contract manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry, with plans to launch the multimedia device in the first half of 2007. Both Hon Hai Precision and the circuit board manufacturer declined comment, the latter citing nondisclosure agreements. As much an inevitability as rapper Jay-Z's return from "retirement," the iPhone is already setting analyst tongues wagging--Bear Stearns analyst Andy Neff forecasts the device could generate as much as $6 billion in new sales.

For more on the new iPhone rumors:
- read this CIO Tech Informer article [1]

Related article:
- Disney filing hints [2] at wireless iPods