MacRumors.com

Following a contested JP Morgan analyst report that a cheaper iPhone "Nano" was in the works, AppleInsider says that such a possibility may indeed be in the cards, with a release perhaps by the 2007 holiday season.

Citing their own "extremely reputable" sources, AppleInsider claims that development of the second iPhone model was practically concurrent with the first iPhone, with it emerging from engineering labs just as the first iPhone was heading to production.

The second model may indeed fit a "Nano" moniker, as it is said to hold a smaller form factor and simply marry iPod functionality with basic cellular functionality.

Interestingly, it would appear that Apple will stick with its venerable click-wheel interface (perhaps due to the model's size), a proposition that CEO Steve Jobs had mocked when initially introducing the iPhone at Macworld in January. To dial, AppleInsider suggests Apple will use a rotary-dial click wheel patent that Apple recently applied for (via MacNN).

While pricing details are not yet known, the site expects the phone to be much cheaper than the current iteration, but still more expensive than the iPod Nano to resist cannibalization of sales.