Apple and Cisco pucker up and kiss

We'd give almost anything to see these guys walking down the street, gazing into each other's eyes, holding hands.

Apple and Cisco will have products on the market called "iPhone" at the same time, without suing each other. Instead, they are going to work towards interoperability in other areas to prove they are now best friends.

The announcement came last night in a joint statement, with Cisco giving up its claim that having two products with the same name would cause "confusion, mistake and deception among consumers".

Actually the use of the same name is only a problemo if the products are ever likely to complete, and this was the point of contention between the two companies. Cisco's iPhone is a VoIP product which works over Wi-Fi, while Apple's device is (apparently) a "revolutionary way to manage your life" - or, more accurately, a mobile phone. Apple had dismissed Cisco's claim as "silly" on the grounds that the devices would never compete. Cisco held the opposite view.

But now it seems Cisco has dropped its claim in exchange for promises of working with Apple towards interoperability in other areas, the details of which have not been made public.

Both companies have their eyes firmly fixed on getting their crap out of the spare room and into the living room, so they should have plenty to talk about.

http://www.theregister.com/2007/02/22/iphone_to_be_shared/