Press fooled by dummy iPod phone

Media reports that pictures of the rumoured iPod phone have been leaked are causing red faces as the purported pictures are nothing more than a mock up.

Reports in PDA France about a front cover picture of French title 20 Minutes magazine in, and some UK publications, are claiming that the pictures represent the final version of an iPod phone that will be launched by Apple at the forthcoming Apple Expo in Paris.

But the pictures are nothing more than a mock up designed for the cover of the UK's leading Apple title, MacUser, published in May this year. Even the phone number displayed on the front is for the publisher of MacUser.

There have been continual rumours of Apple's plans for an iPod phone but no such device has materialised. Apple did collaborate with Motorola on a Rokr phone but this was limited to 100 songs.