American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu said Apple is close to revealing a cell phone of its own, quite possibly known as the iPhone. Because of his research, he encourages investors to bulk up on Apple shares as a sound investment strategy. Of course he has raised his target price and expectations for Apple to justify his advice.

"Our research indicates that an Apple-designed smart phone has moved from concept to prototype and recently has progressed to near completion as a production unit," analyst Shaw Wu wrote in a research note to clients.

He believes Apple has been working on the iPhone for nearly 12 months and has managed to overcome a lot of technical difficulties. Ya think?

Wu also said, “The design will be an iPod nano-like candy bar form factor and come in three colors (we are not certain of the exact colors but we suspect black, white and platinum, similar to Apple's current color scheme of iPods and Macs)."

So, I guess we’ll finally see an iPhone after all. You know what the best part is about the research report - Steve Jobs is finally happy with what the engineers have produced. Man, does it take a lot of work and time to impress that guy, but good for him and Apple. It’s nice to see the CEO become so involved in product development. Hint to other CEOs: you could do the same, you know.

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