Apple Goin' Mobile?

Indeed, a number of analysts and Apple watchers expected the company to announce its own mobile phone at the MacWorld conference this week. Instead, the only new hardware-related announcements the company made at the conference was that it is putting Intel (INTC) chips inside of two of its computer product lines.

Apple's "Mobile Me" trademark applications -- there are four of them -- do little to settle the debate over whether or when the company will enter the mobile phone market directly. The claims made under the applications certainly include mobile phone services and the ability to download music over mobile phone networks. They also cover what might be considered smartphones, namely handheld devices that can receive and transmit email and instant messages wirelessly and synchronize with online databases.

But the claims go beyond those that might be strictly related to mobile phone handsets or services. They cover the transmission of antivirus software over Internet or mobile phone networks, for instance, as well as computer help desks.

Furthermore, Apple has been known in the past to pursue patent or trademark protection for products that never see the light of day.

In their note, Wu and Lin acknowledge that Apple's ambitions, indicated by the trademark applications, go beyond -- and may not necessarily include -- the mobile phone market.

"We believe "Mobile Me" could also be related to location profiles that could be stored in dongle-type keychain devices or perhaps a future iPod or cell phone that would carry user profiles, including bookmarks, cookies and preferences that would allow people to carry their personalized computing experience wherever they go. We believe this information could be transferred through USB and/or Bluetooth to the host client," they said.

Still apparently riding the enthusiasm generated at MacWorld, shares of Apple were up 65 cents, or about 1%, to $84.55, in late afternoon trading on Thursday.

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