• PaidContent.org, Wednesday, June 13, 2007 10:15 AM

The iPhone is coming, and everyone's excited--but all those little "catches" that have been overlooked in the excitement are starting to surface. For example, Apple on Tuesday warned prospective users that the expensive new mobile device can't be all that it can be without an iTunes account.

And somewhat understandably--you can't imagine that too many new iPhone subscribers will purchase the device without previous iPod experience. For the few that do--most likely users of the Microsoft Zune and other competitors, it will require registering for (and thus downloading onto your computer) the Apple media store, which is required for syncing music and video on the iPhone. It also means always having a credit card at the ready, per the iTunes sign-up process.

PaidContent.org says this "would be the equivalent of requiring a Zune or Xbox Marketplace account before activating the abilities of Windows Mobile 6 on a smartphone"--sort of, but Apple's iTunes is a more robust media store than the Xbox Marketplace, and it doesn't necessarily require an iPod. Significantly, this would make the Apple iPhone something of a mobile virtual network operator "that isn't labeled as such." Indeed, but this operation is more of a partnership between AT&T and the consumer electronics giant aimed at the masses rather than a niche market--and the former doesn't want to miss out on a branding opportunity of this magnitude.

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