Rumor Mill: Apple working with Softbank on iPhone

Rumors of Apple teaming with Japan's Softbank for the iPhone late last week have already been met with a soft denial from the Japanese company. The rumored partnership saw the companies developing mobile phones capable of downloading and playing music from the iTunes music store. Motorola had a similar deal with Apple last year when it released the Rokr music phone, which had that same capability. The handset did not live up to the hype. The original Japanese newspaper report about the Softbank/Apple partnership claimed that Apple's logo will appear alongside Softbank's on the handset, which would indicate that Apple will have a larger role in developing this handset than it did with the Rokr.

For more on the latest Apple iPhone rumors:
- see this blog entry from Engadget