Apple COO Tim Cook, CFO Peter Openheimer, and Marketing VP Phil Schiller gave an analyst briefing recently, according to Barron's, which said, among other things:

• The trio was “most bullish about the iPhone business,” seeing a chance to gain share, with its software as the principal differentiator.
• In iPods, Apple is pushing the iTouch, which benefits from its ties to the App Store.
• Sacconaghi says the company does not appear to be pursuing his idea of an “iPhone Nano,” and that any new phones will likely include both a browser and ties to the App Store.
• Apple said “emphatically” that it did not believe in fixed keypads for phones, since the touch screen provided more flexibility for alternative keypads and for various App Store offerings, and that it is portable across geographies and languages, providing significant scale economics.

So there we have it, software is king, the nano is a no-no, and the hard keyboard just ain't happening.

(Thanks to The Reptile for sending this in!)