Prepaid $99 iPod/phone is coming claims Analyst

Compared to this latest rumor, the "leaked" iPod dimensions look positively concrete.  Investment bank RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky has told investors that he expects Apple is working on an "entry level, low cost (less than $99 subsidized) prepaid iPod/phone" that would concentrate solely on music and phone calls. 

The device, Abramsky continues, would allow Apple to commercialize the entry level market currently unable to afford the iPhone 3G or its related monthly tariffs.  Describing such a strategy as to "capture an untapped global opportunity", he fingers the residual effect "boost[ing] iPhone's momentum by 50 to 100 percent" while also leading to eventual upgrades to the full iPhone 3G and even Mac computers.

Abramsky expects Apple to announce iPhone 3G sales at the September 9th event, with his prediction being 5.1 million 3G handsets in the September quarter and 14 million total iPhone units for the calendar year.  However he admits that his iPod/phone idea is unsupported by any hard evidence.