Rumor has it that the iPhone will be available earlier than expected. Although the mobile phone is scheduled to start shipping to Cingular in June, according to some rumors, the iPhone may become available much earlier than that, maybe even as early as April.

Apple has in fact delivered products earlier than expected before. However, without any proof supporting an early iPhone release, we can't really rush into believing this.

If at first rumors were spread by unproven sources, most citing information inside Cingular, other more reliable tipsters have in fact suggested that an April release might be possible.

Now I know that the iPhone hitting the shops is something that many people are waiting for, and it's also true that the mobile phone is to a certain extent innovative and appealing.

It would be nice not to have to wait until June for it, but simply because everyone would like to see it in the shops sooner that does not mean it will happen. Even if Apple is planning an early release we'll probably not know for sure if it's going to happen until it does.

We're talking about the same Apple that kept the public in the dark for over 30 months and never slipped any information regarding the iPhone until its presentation by CEO Steve Jobs in January. Not one single leaked photo of the phone proved to be anywhere near what the phone looked like in the end.

Apple didn't even show the prototype of the iPhone to Cingular until just a few weeks before the announcement and even went as far as to craft bogus handset prototypes to show to their own workers. In the meantime, we can only hope that the rumor proves to be true and that we'll actually get to see the iPhone in April.