Apple's eagerly anticipated 'iPhone' may have made an unscheduled appearance in public this week - on the front page of a Paris newspaper. French publication 20 Minutes on Tuesday splashed a picture of the device on an edition of the paper timed to coincide with the opening of Apple Expo Paris.

French phone-oriented website PDA France snapped the cover, revealing a black, iPod-like handset with numeric pad, call make and break keys and an iPod Shuffle-style clickwheel-esque navigation control. There's what appears to be a memory card slot - Mini SD? - on the device's left-hand side.

Question - Are apple trying to soften up the french on their new device now itunes just got slaughtered in the french courts?

Image courtesy PDA France