iPhone is go on June 29

Cupertino (CA) - The iPhone has been given a solid release date of June 29, according to a commercial that made its global debut last night.

TV commercials for the iPhone first popped up during this year’s Academy Awards in February, before the device was officially given its name. Last night, before and during primetime, a new ad appeared on various networks that added the short message "Coming June 29" at the end.

The iPhone, which replaces a traditional keypad with a full touch screen interface, will be available in $499 and $599 configurations. Its flagship service provider partner will be the company formerly known as Cingular, which parent company AT&T is currently trying to re-brand.

Last month, several media outlets reported on a rumored release date of June 20. It’s a fairly quick move for Apple, which unveiled the phone earlier this year at January’s Macworld conference. It will be the first new product for the Cupertino-based electronics company since the Apple TV, which went on sale in May to critical reviews and slow sales.

Apple faced a legal challenge with the iPhone as well, due to a same-name trademark owned by Cisco. After a prolonged out-of-court dispute, the two finally reached an agreement wherein Apple promised to add some degree of interoperability between the two products.