The talks were going right up to the wire, when Jobs evidently decided that the show must go on.
As Jim notes above, Steve Jobs announcing the iPhone radically changed the power relationship in Cisco's favor. Which I assume both parties knew about.
Cisco was apparently making demands and holding out for "openness" that Apple is not known for, and for a joint marketing strategy. This would obviously not sit well with Jobs. It's possible that Cisco deliberately stalled negotiations on this one to push past the announcement in order to have more clout afterwards.
All in all, poorly played by Jobs -- he should have sewn this thing up months ago. I assume he didn't because either he thought he could get out of it for a few million dollars, or because he didn't want to give away too much advance info on iPhone to non-Apple players.
Let the hive mind of Engadget get that for you.
"I'm in the market for a new phone and money isn't a limitation. I'm also not partial to any particular US carrier, but here are some of the features I'd like to have: WiFi, GPS, good coverage in lots of places, push Gmail (a must!), physical keyboard (a must!), a touchscreen, decent battery life and a relatively slim body. And please, nothing that has a fruit logo on it. No offense to the fruit fans, though. Thanks!"
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As Jim notes above, Steve Jobs announcing the iPhone radically changed the power relationship in Cisco's favor. Which I assume both parties knew about.
Cisco was apparently making demands and holding out for "openness" that Apple is not known for, and for a joint marketing strategy. This would obviously not sit well with Jobs. It's possible that Cisco deliberately stalled negotiations on this one to push past the announcement in order to have more clout afterwards.
All in all, poorly played by Jobs -- he should have sewn this thing up months ago. I assume he didn't because either he thought he could get out of it for a few million dollars, or because he didn't want to give away too much advance info on iPhone to non-Apple players.