Okay, so apparently we totally misunderstood: back when Apple and Motorola announced that they were teaming up to make certain Motorola mobile phones capable of playing songs purchased and downloaded from the iTunes Music Store, we certainly never took that to mean that there'd actually be some sort of "iPod phone"--possibly even an Apple-branded one-- eventually hitting the shelves. But hey, don't blame us; if you go back and read the press release again, you won't find even the slightest hint of any Apple-related phone development other than the creation of a phone version of iTunes-- all references to the hardware are to "Motorola's next-generation mobile phones." So what's with these reports of Apple's nonchalant comments to the press about some iPodesque cell phone slated for an early 2005 release? Did we miss a memo or something?

Check it out: an anonymous viewer passed along an Engadget article claiming that Apple has now "officially announced" a phone that's not just "iTunes-capable," but actually "something users could call a proper 'accessory' to their iPods," complete with an industrial design and human interface hatched in Apple's labs, not Motorola's. And Mac OS Rumors adds that it'll have "full Bluetooth wireless connectivity support" to allow it to sync with a slew of standard Mac OS X applications, and also to grant super-speedy Internet access via its mobile phone network to any Mac connected to it. If any of this is true, it certainly sheds some light on the Mysterious Commuter Dude whom TreoMac recently claimed spilled the beans about a prototype Apple-branded phone making the rounds at Motorola headquarters.

Then again, is any of it true? Because we're having trouble finding this alleged "official announcement" anywhere; faithful viewer Goliath Pudding tipped us off to the Forbes article that seems to be the source of all of these "Apple said" reports, and it's not nearly as clear on the matter as we'd hoped. Yes, it does contain a few nice quotes by Apple appveep Eddy Cue, but he never once says anything about the phone's design or whose logo it'll pimp. Indeed, when he says "we've said we'll have something coming on this in the first half of 2005 and we're definitely on schedule for that... hopefully you'll be able to see more about it soon," that doesn't even imply that Apple's involvement in the project goes any further than dumbing down iTunes for a mobile phone platform.

Still, following that TreoMac report, our hopes are running high that these latest rumors of a more-Apple-than-Moto cell phone really do have some heft to them. After all, doesn't it strike you as somewhat likely that if Apple had agreed to bring iTunes to someone else's phone, Steve would probably have insisted on having a little influence on the device's overall user experience? And given how the public is currently snapping up any and all things iPodian, Motorola would be smart to make the phone guts, write Apple a blank check for the look and feel, and get the heck out of the way. We can't say for sure, of course, but if Apple's already talking publicly about the project and saying "first half of 2005," then an iPhone guest stint onstage during next month's Stevenote doesn't sound out of the question.

Or are we just setting ourselves up for more disappointment? Actually, don't answer that.