As the euphoria over the iPhone subsides, the fireworks begin.

Firing the first salvo, and as expected, Cisco sues Apple over the iPhone trademark. This will probably end up in settlement (and with Cisco leaving the battle a few bucks in its corporate wallets richer, few bucks=million dollars), or it could slug it out and win (as what had happened with its perennial war vs. Apple Corp). Nokia’s reaction is subdued, calls iPhone “interesting“. Japan, the home of the most advanced mobile phones, barely even took note of the news.

It will be interesting to find out the comments by other mobile phone manufacturers. BTW, what will happen to Apple’s tieup with Motorola?

Meanwhile, I think of the exclusive tieup with Cingular with mixed feelings. Either it can help iPhone gain market share that fast, or it can alienate non-Cingular users in the US. It’s like being exclusive to Smart.

Also, being a non-3G phone defeats the function of the iPhone as a mobile Internet device (maybe that’s why Japanese scoffed at it). Sure, it has Wi-Fi, but what about using it in non-Wi-Fi places? Would you want to download a 3MB music or podcast on the go from iTunes using only GPRS? I use GPRS from time to time, and I tell you, it’s like dialup (and I am on dialup at home). It’s ugly. It’s slow. And did I say dialup is slow?

But on the plus side, it is touchscreen. I am currently using Nokia 7710, a touchscreen phone. It can be tough if you were used to keypads, and you have to get used to sending SMS using a stylus. However, I am not sure if iPhone has handwriting recognition (it is not stated in the iPhone Web site). If so, it’s a big negative for me. Most of the time I use the handwriting instead of QWERTY, specially when I’m on a moving vehicle.

Anyway, iPhone is a promising gadget, and until the units are in consumer’s hands, any comments on its real capabilities are just speculations. We will know more for sure in June.

UPDATE: AT&T is set to phase out the Cingular brand name, uses single name across all products and services. Ma Bell consolidating its reclaimed power.