This Is Apple's Next iPhone 492
An anonymous reader writes "There has been some speculation about it. Not anymore: 'This is Apple's next iPhone. It was found lost in a bar in Redwood City, camouflaged to look like an iPhone 3GS. We got it. We disassembled it. It's the real thing, and here are all the details.' Judging by Gizmodo's reaction, it looks like a winner."
iPhone - NOT (Score:3, Interesting)
And not showing the UI? Shenanigans!
Reward (Score:2, Interesting)
> So I called around, and I now believe this is an actual unit from Apple -- a unit Apple is very interested in getting back.
If it's so important for Apple to get this phone back, I wonder why there's no reward...
Sounds like a strategy to hold others sells... (Score:4, Interesting)
Android getting too popular and want to create expecation Steve?
Re:FAIL! (Score:4, Interesting)
viral marketing ploy? (Score:5, Interesting)
$5 says its some wannabe iPhone killer, just waiting for everyone to say how great it is before they go "tada! we secretly switched your java with folgers" in hopes of generating hoopla...
iPhones aren't big news anymore so... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:iPhone - NOT (Score:1, Interesting)
The seams are perhaps the most surprising aspect of the new design. They don't seem to respond to any aesthetic criteria and, in terms of function, we can't adventure any explanation. But they don't look bad. In fact, the whole effect seems good, like something you will find in a Braun product from the 70s.
Only can a true fanboy turn the phrase "like a Braun product from the 70s" into a compliment. Because we all want to show off our new iEpilators.
How did it end up at Gizmoto? (Score:5, Interesting)
I find it really strange/coincidental that someone loses a device and it somehow finds it's way to a technology review website? We're not talking finding the Mona Lisa here where the average person would know what it is. We're talking someone in a bar finding a lost iPhone and then realizing that the best place for it would be in the hands of Gizmoto. Unless the Gizmoto guys were the ones that happened to find it. Again, like an employee of the Louvre finding the Mona Lisa.
I also find it odd that the bar would turn it over to a 3rd party, rather than holding on to it in case the original owner came back. Unless this bar has this behavior. For example, if you left your car keys there, they'd just give it to someone else.
I don't buy it. It might be a real iPhone prototype, but I think there's some shenanigans at work here. Maybe something along the lines of:
Apple: Hey gizmoto, we're going to "lose" an iPhone at a bar (really just hand it to you) then you write up a review of what you find as if you just happened to find it sitting at a table. If someone asks about it, we'll tell the media that "an internal source" has indeed lost a prototype.
Gotta love free advertising. I was wondering when the next iPhone/iPad /. frontpage article would take place. Also, the iPad does blend. [youtube.com]
Re:iPhone - NOT (Score:5, Interesting)
The original iPod's design was clearly heavily influenced by the design of Braun products - especially radios - from the 1950's and '60s. Braun's historic designs are widely regarded as some of the best examples of industrial design from the 20th century. Many Braun designs are on display at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan. Saying that something looks "like a Braun product" - if you're comparing it to one of Braun's traditional designs - is an enormous compliment.
That having been said, this new iPhone - if it indeed is an iPhone - reminds me more of Sony's designs from the early 1980's. Which isn't a bad thing - that's the period during which Sony reached its design peak, and influenced the rest of the consumer electronics industry.
I wonder if the seams are functional, though. If the case is all metal, perhaps the seams are there for the antenna to use.
Re:FAIL! (Score:2, Interesting)
It's camouflaged but still has an Apple logo on the back? I agree with some others - this strikes me as more of a marketing stunt than an accidental leak. Letting it run for long enough to verify that it's of legitimate origin, then remotely disabling it isn't inconsistent with this.
Though what I don't get is... this new design is ugly. Maybe it is just an easy access case used while the product is still being engineered (eg, trying several antenna configurations inside the case, etc). But if that's the direction design is going, I'm glad I got a phone in the generation when they didn't look like a cardboard box.
Re:Gizmodo, yeah, right (Score:3, Interesting)
Whether this is truly a new iPhone or not, Gizmodo's opinion doesn't count for much. They would adore Job's lunch kit if they found it in an alley
What you're saying is that Gizmodo tends to like Apple products, just like most people do, and that makes their opinion less valid?
Oh, I see. You mean that Gizmodo's opinions are often different than yours and that's what makes them suspect. Got it.
Re:How did it end up at Gizmoto? (Score:2, Interesting)
I don't think it's that strange. There's only 2 models of iPhones. Worker at bar sees left phone, picks it up to turn it on to find a "home" number or "me" contact or whatever, and goes "weird, it acts exactly like my [buddy's] iPhone, but it doesn't look anything like it." my favorite bar here they announce nightly specials via Twitter, so I bet a bar that an Apple early tester visits might have bar staff intelligent enough to notice all that and then post a twitpic with #newiphone?!?! Attached. Give it 20 minutes for a follower of them to see it, email engadget/gizmodo, another minute for the editor to regain control of their bowels, and an hour for them or a good friend of theirs to drive to get closer or get a number to call the bar and leave instructions...
as I said earlier, though, I'm only gonna believe it when one of these guys gets sued.
Re:FAIL! (Score:3, Interesting)
Well the claim is that these were probably supposed to be camouflaged a bit to look like normal iPhones, and that the casing probably isn't what the final thing will look like.
Bah, who knows.
Re:FAIL! (Score:3, Interesting)
The iphone has a 3:2 screen aspect.
There certainly is something to see here. Namely that if you like the iphone platform, you can look forward to hardware that is competitive with other phones. That's pretty nice.
Comment removed (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:FAIL! (Score:5, Interesting)
I still call fake.
This whole bar story doesn't add up either. I've been to many bars with many cellphones and I've never lost one, how the hell do you lose a prototype iPhone at a bar? That's not just your $500 phone, THAT'S YOUR JOB IN YOUR POCKET.
What are the odds that a iPhone would just happen to be found by gizmodo and engadget? Of all the people in the world? And how much would a popular blog pay for a iPhone prototype? Imagine the hits you'd get with first real photos of the next iPhone! You could even put a no-name blog on the map with real photos. This prototype is incredibly valuable.
If anyone really found a prototype iPhone it would be on eBay until they pulled it, but not before it received thousands of hits and a few dozen bids up to several thousands of dollars, but someone would contact them outside of ebay and negotiate a deal anyway.
Let's not forget that there's not one photo of this prototype iPhone running. Why not? They couldn't charge it? The brains behind engadget and gizmodo can't charge an iPhone? Let me guess, they found a "broken" iPhone prototype at a bar. Yeah, that sounds reasonable.
Some people argue "Well Apple wiped it remotely!" Seriously? Wiped it so well it doesn't turn on at all? Not even a "charge me" screen? I don't buy it. I would be happy with seeing any photo of this thing running next to a regular iPhone, just so you can somewhat compare resolutions.
WHERE'S THE INTERIOR PHOTOS!? ONE photo of the interior, and not a good one. WTF? This is my biggest skepticism. Why not a dozen photos of various processors, the new cameras, the wifi chip, etc. We could piece together every feature of the new iPhone just by interior photos, but they only posted one which shows almost nothing. FTA: "it said it was XX GB, but since we were unable to get the phone to a running state, we couldn't see exactly how large it was." Well if you would have taken photos of the chips someone could probably find the size. FAIL
Changing design doesn't make sense either. Apple has 3 generations of iPhones shaped exactly the same, and now they go in a different direction? Of course Apple did the same thing with the Nano, 5 generations of Nanos and the 3rd and 4th are shaped differently from previous generations, but this is a phone, a lot of money and research has been spent making compatible cases and docks, to change it now would cost a lot of wasted time and money by hundreds of companies.... although that means new licensing fees for Apple.... ok, perhaps new design does make sense
This is either Apple's April Fools on Gizmodo/Engadget or a clever marketing by Apple
UPDATE: while I was writing this post I found this: Apparently Gizmodo did buy this phone: [computerworld.com]
"iPhone was stolen from Apple, then purchased by Gizmodo."
Re:Exactly - this is marketing (Score:3, Interesting)
I think even with older iPhones/iPods they've had funny serial numbers on chips that are similar to, but not quite the same as other off-the-shelf components, making it not entirely clear what they are.