Call history. Calculator. Multiple ringtones. Text Messaging. These are just a few of the features mobile phone users take for granted. At a glance, one may think that little by little, mobile phones are conquering the landline phone market.

But think again. Despite the booming technology of mobile phones (ever-increasing file storage space, increasing camera pixels and whatnot), more people and businesses still cling to their desktop phones.

Cisco Systems, Avaya Inc, as well as many other telephony companies have developed advanced mobile communications solutions, such as dual-mode phones that work with extension dialing that comes with PBX (private branch exchange) systems, even on the go. Another variant, which are softphones for laptops, are also adding more features and are decidedly more user-friendly than desktop and landline phones.

However, despite of all the improvements that mobile communications has to offer, many people still prefer using the more traditional landlines as well as their Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) counterparts. "People still relate to their physical phone. It's like their office space. It's very near and dear to their hearts," said a network administrator from a Canadian engineering company, who asked to remain anonymous.

There are more reasons beside mere sentimentality. There are the still-recurring issues that plague mobile phones, such as lesser sound quality compared to their more traditional siblings, and the softphones' dependence on PC performance.

With about 500 million users, desktop and landline phones can't be phased out that easily. "It would take about five to seven years for wireless phones to replace wired," according to Ken Dulaney, mobility analyst for Gartner Inc.

We've previously reported a few weeks ago that Cisco Systems gave the Cupertino-based Apple up to February 15 to respond to the Lawsuit that they've filed over the iPhone trademark. Well, here's an update to that situation, and from the looks of things, Cisco is one patient bunch.

Jennifer LeClaire of NewsFactor Network reports that Cisco is offering Apple yet another extension on its deadline to respond to a trademark lawsuit over the iPhone name.

The trouble between the two companies began when, on January 10, Cisco representatives filed a lawsuit at the District Court of Northern California "seeking to prevent Apple from infringing upon and deliberately copying and using Cisco's registered iPhone trademark."

Cisco apparently obtained the iPhone trademark in 2000 after completing the acquisition of InfoGear, which previously owned the mark and sold iPhone products for several years. That was around a day or after Steve Jobs introduced Apple's iPhone to the world.

Perhaps Cisco felt that this was the appropriate way to let Apple know that any negotiations they had before weren't settled. Just how long is Cisco willing to wait? How is Apple handling this? We'll update you as soon as more information is made available.

Uh-oh. Could it be that Apple is getting a taste of its own medicine? After its history of suing various individuals and companies left and right for various forms of copyright or trademark infringement, it looks like Apple is now being sued for the exact same thing.

Now, we've seen this looming over the horizon for quite some time now, and apparently, not even filing for rights to the "iPhone" trademark has saved Apple from the eyes of Cisco Systems. Tsk, tsk. And to think that everyone was so excited to just see Apple unveil its new toy.

On January 10, iPhone trademark">Cisco representatives announced that they have filed a lawsuit against Apple, Inc. at the District Court of Northern California, "seeking to prevent Apple from infringing upon and deliberately copying and using Cisco's registered iPhone trademark".

As explained on the company website, here's what happened, and why they should be considered as the true owners of the trademark, "iPhone":

Cisco obtained the iPhone trademark in 2000 after completing the acquisition of Infogear, which previously owned the mark and sold iPhone products for several years. Infogear's original filing for the trademark dates to March 20, 1996. Linksys, a division of Cisco, has been shipping a new family of iPhone products since early last year. On Dec. 18, Linksys expanded the iPhone family with additional products.

Moreover, according to Cisco's senior VP Mark Chandler, they have "entered into negotiations with Apple in good faith after Apple repeatedly asked permission to use Cisco's iPhone name", but that Apple "should not be using our trademark without our permission".

Thanks to zerox for the tip!

WiFi Alliance, which has Cisco, Microsoft and Intel as members, plans to have a two-part certification process for 802.11n products starting next year. The move was due to the emergence of super-fast WiFi technology that allows download of web pages at a rate of 100 Mbps. The current technology only has a 25 Mbps download capability.

According to Wi-Fi Alliance Managing Director Frank Hanzlik, the first certification will involve pre-standard products at the first half of 2007. The second phase then finalizes everything as the standards are expected to be ratified by March 2008. Eminent concerns such as backward compatibility quickly arose but the alliance was fast to rcomment: "We will drive toward having a goal of backward compatibility. But it's irresponsible to make absolute guarantees."

Hanzlik doesn't prevent consumers though from buying WiFi-enabled products built in advance of the certification. He just cautioned a little, "These people will have to be prepared to change out their routers in a year and a half or so if they want to match the standard when it comes out. But for most home and small businesses, changing out a router every 18 months is not a big deal."