Stefan over at Ring Nokia has an interesting post from Telecomportaal stating that Nokia and Apple worked together on the “iPhone” and that it’s basically a customized version of the N95, to be released 6 months after the N95.

Stefan calls farce, and I have to say I agree, though I think there may be a shard of truth to this. I have thought all along that Apple’s “iPhone” may be a Symbian device in disguise. Why?

1. Apple wants to get a chunk of market, and any way they can do that and pull it from Microsoft at the same time is a double-whammy.

2. Nokia needs another way to get into the US market. They’re struggling hardcore to get a phone out through their current distribution path (namely, Cingular). More…
3. Symbian phones garner something like 70% of the WORLD smartphone market. Not so much in the US.

I personally don’t think Apple will go through the trouble of creating an OSX Mobile. For the same reason that I hate WinMo5. It’s not a mobile phone operating system, it’s XP, shrunken to fit on a smaller device. And it’s awful. I think that the Symbian community is open enough for Apple to be comfortable encouraging and embracing it, but yet controlled enough for them to be comfortable on that front, as well. Also, Symbian phones are known to be multi-media focused.

I guess we shall see, though. Or not. I mean, the iPhone has been a rumor since what, 1995? Seriously. What do you think?