Gizmodo could be treading on pretty thin ice here.
As Gruber points out, Apple considers this unit 'stolen', not 'lost', and if you think they came down hard on ThinkSecret for a few pictures, consider how they may feel about what can easily be viewed as industrial espionage.
Doesn't really matter what Apple considers it. If it was truly lost, as in misplaced accidently, then it was, by definition, lost. Once Apple informs the party that currently has it, that it is Apple's property and requests that it be returned, then they can consider it stolen or misappropriated. Of course, that also would confirm it authenticity, so really, it is Apple that has to walk the fine line.
I doubt a company like Apple would make this kind of security leak! Dropping a prototype in bar by accident?!
The design in not something refined... it has too sharp edges and would not feel right in the hand. SJ is picky about this kind of think. The sharp edges, tacky design makes it look like red herring dropped on purpose.
Why would Apple allow the unit to go into a bar even for testing? Testing while drunk?
If the back were flat, you would have to look at the device in order to know which side is which. You would not know instantly by touch, but instead, you would have to use a second sense and actually look at the phone.
That strikes me as a design choice that is NOT the way Apple does things. It should be intuitive in every sense (pun intended, as that is the Apple way of design).
All in all, this doesn't strike me as the sort of device that Apple would release.
Hint: Only one side has the [HOME] button, and the controls (volume etc.) are situated on only one side of the device.
One would have to have some serious issue not to know which side was which
If the back were flat, you would have to look at the device in order to know which side is which. You would not know instantly by touch, but instead, you would have to use a second sense and actually look at the phone.
That strikes me as a design choice that is NOT the way Apple does things. It should be intuitive in every sense (pun intended, as that is the Apple way of design).
And a SMALLER screen? In this day and age of bigger and bigger cellphone screens? I doubt that Apple would go in the wrong direction WRT screen size. There have been countless comments on this forum pointing out that higher resolutions on smaller screens are a waste, and that the results are less than stellar, given the viewing angles and distances.
All in all, this doesn't strike me as the sort of device that Apple would release.
The two sides would still feel different. The front has a large home button, the back would have a small, off centre camera hole. Texture might also feel different enough to tell.
Or was it an Apple drop? It is hard to imagine Apple letting people run around with the new model.
It's also hard to imagine anyone with this device accidentally leaving it laying around somewhere. And harder yet to believe that this was "found" by someone who knew what it was, who didn't pawn it or turn it into the police. So I call it a drop as well.
BUT if it is a leak, holy crap!! Since Apple apparently did a remote brick on it, they must know who's supposed to have it.
I would not want to be in that person's shoes this morning...
I do think this looks a little HP-ish but I was never crazy about the existing model. There is limited design scope here, however, so for my money it looks good. I said before I want something with flat edges as I imagine this makes it easier to handle. Besides, the 3gs is beginning to look kind of old. Not sure how well this one will sit in my back pocket (the best think about the current shape) but I'm not gonna loose sleep over it.
I doubt a company like Apple would make this kind of security leak! Dropping a prototype in bar by accident?!
The design in not something refined... it has too sharp edges and would not feel right in the hand. SJ is picky about this kind of think. The sharp edges, tacky design makes it look like red herring dropped on purpose.
Why would Apple allow the unit to go into a bar even for testing? Testing while drunk?
Sharp Edges are reason for this not being an Apple design... Really?
Apparently you've never owned an iPod Nano 3rd generation, or any modern MacBook Pro on which the entire keyboard section is surrounded by a rather 'sharp edge', including right where one's palm rest in the front.
It's made a buying decision easy for me but I always feel a little sad when these things leak. Steve so loves his reveals.
ya..me to..
as annoying as it is, i love the tension created by Apple and the surprises at the keynotes..at every potential leak of the new iPhone im thinking "please let it be fake"..but there is so much evidence for this thing to be real..
It doesn't have to be the final version though! In my opinion its not unlikely that they have several different prototypes and haven't chosen the final one..its still a few months till release..
..so I think that..
1. ..somebody is gonna get his ass fired (I remember reading somewhere that they put marks on prototypes in order to find out who was responsible for it in case of a leak)
2. ..sooner or later we're gonna read something in the press about that
3. ..the Apple lawyers are currently working 24/7
4. ..Steve Jobs might be really pissed right now
5. ..eventually they're gonna change the design a bit and maybe get rid of the front facing camera just to punish the apple-rumor-communities
Wow! Those Droid adds have certainly had an effect on a very special sector of the population... I wonder what is wrong with them. What is it with that need to reinforce their "masculinity" at every turn of the road.
Why the hell wouldn't they turn the lights on when making this video? Why wouldn't they turn it ALL around and show us the thing. IF this IS a leak, then they had guidance on what to show, and how.
I doubt a company like Apple would make this kind of security leak! Dropping a prototype in bar by accident?!
The design in not something refined... it has too sharp edges and would not feel right in the hand. SJ is picky about this kind of think. The sharp edges, tacky design makes it look like red herring dropped on purpose.
Why would Apple allow the unit to go into a bar even for testing? Testing while drunk?
It could be, and this is just a wild guess, that Apple actually field tests these in real world conditions. Labs and controlled external environments will never give you real world conditions.
The design is very different than the earlier iPhones, but is moresimilar to the industrial design of the other products. Ives has always been inspired by early Braun industrial design. This thing is nothing if not reminiscent of Braun.
This device (finalized design or not) offers something much more practical, less pretentious, and (again) much more masculine than anything Apple has done since the original titanium PowerBook G4.
Why would Apple want to play into the Droid's masculine aesthetic shtick? Will Steve proudly proclaim that the iPhone is no longer a "beauty queen", at the behest of Motorola's sexist advertising?
Are there any real complaints that the iPhone currently looks feminine? Would Apple really go for a "masculine" look, thereby making the device less appealing to half (or more) of their target demographic?
My guess is that Apple would never release something which looked like this.
Or was it an Apple drop? It is hard to imagine Apple letting people run around with the new model. Even JI or SJ would probably not use one in the wild. Now they have guaranteed page up and page down with free advertising, yet no-one is able to run the thing, so the important element (OS) are still hidden.
I tend to agree. The number of people entrusted with one of these, let alone entrusted to take one off the Apple campus likely numbers in the single digits. Double digits tops.
And it's not like these folks don't understand or appreciate the significance of what they're carrying around. In other words, the chances of it legitimately being forgotten somewhere are next to nil.
I think this is a plant by Apple to soothe the savage beast of the media horde, ws analysts, etc.
This sounds like it's the real deal. The question is if it's a mistake and we will hear of someone from Cupertino jumping out a window (sorry for bad taste) or a leak to keep people from buying other new smartphone that claim higher specs. For me this shows Apple has been learning and listening. Many things seam to show the benefit of iPad development. I did not see talk of the processor, but i would think it would be close to the A4 and that combined with a larger battery could really improve battery life will still boosting performance. Ad the camera improvements and a better case for radio signals it could really be the iPhone Killer. Well the old iPhone killer. That's why Steve wants you to upgrade, so all the old model complaints and issues go away.
Comments
Gizmodo could be treading on pretty thin ice here.
As Gruber points out, Apple considers this unit 'stolen', not 'lost', and if you think they came down hard on ThinkSecret for a few pictures, consider how they may feel about what can easily be viewed as industrial espionage.
Doesn't really matter what Apple considers it. If it was truly lost, as in misplaced accidently, then it was, by definition, lost. Once Apple informs the party that currently has it, that it is Apple's property and requests that it be returned, then they can consider it stolen or misappropriated. Of course, that also would confirm it authenticity, so really, it is Apple that has to walk the fine line.
The design in not something refined... it has too sharp edges and would not feel right in the hand. SJ is picky about this kind of think. The sharp edges, tacky design makes it look like red herring dropped on purpose.
Why would Apple allow the unit to go into a bar even for testing? Testing while drunk?
If the back were flat, you would have to look at the device in order to know which side is which. You would not know instantly by touch, but instead, you would have to use a second sense and actually look at the phone.
That strikes me as a design choice that is NOT the way Apple does things. It should be intuitive in every sense (pun intended, as that is the Apple way of design).
All in all, this doesn't strike me as the sort of device that Apple would release.
Hint: Only one side has the [HOME] button, and the controls (volume etc.) are situated on only one side of the device.
One would have to have some serious issue not to know which side was which
If the back were flat, you would have to look at the device in order to know which side is which. You would not know instantly by touch, but instead, you would have to use a second sense and actually look at the phone.
That strikes me as a design choice that is NOT the way Apple does things. It should be intuitive in every sense (pun intended, as that is the Apple way of design).
And a SMALLER screen? In this day and age of bigger and bigger cellphone screens? I doubt that Apple would go in the wrong direction WRT screen size. There have been countless comments on this forum pointing out that higher resolutions on smaller screens are a waste, and that the results are less than stellar, given the viewing angles and distances.
All in all, this doesn't strike me as the sort of device that Apple would release.
The two sides would still feel different. The front has a large home button, the back would have a small, off centre camera hole. Texture might also feel different enough to tell.
Looks phenomenal.
Or was it an Apple drop? It is hard to imagine Apple letting people run around with the new model.
It's also hard to imagine anyone with this device accidentally leaving it laying around somewhere. And harder yet to believe that this was "found" by someone who knew what it was, who didn't pawn it or turn it into the police. So I call it a drop as well.
BUT if it is a leak, holy crap!! Since Apple apparently did a remote brick on it, they must know who's supposed to have it.
I would not want to be in that person's shoes this morning...
That thing is way too FUGLY to be authentic.
I do think this looks a little HP-ish but I was never crazy about the existing model. There is limited design scope here, however, so for my money it looks good. I said before I want something with flat edges as I imagine this makes it easier to handle. Besides, the 3gs is beginning to look kind of old. Not sure how well this one will sit in my back pocket (the best think about the current shape) but I'm not gonna loose sleep over it.
I doubt a company like Apple would make this kind of security leak! Dropping a prototype in bar by accident?!
The design in not something refined... it has too sharp edges and would not feel right in the hand. SJ is picky about this kind of think. The sharp edges, tacky design makes it look like red herring dropped on purpose.
Why would Apple allow the unit to go into a bar even for testing? Testing while drunk?
Sharp Edges are reason for this not being an Apple design... Really?
Apparently you've never owned an iPod Nano 3rd generation, or any modern MacBook Pro on which the entire keyboard section is surrounded by a rather 'sharp edge', including right where one's palm rest in the front.
Let the paranoid conspiracy theories abound!
Its clearly real and somebody's fucked up.
It's made a buying decision easy for me but I always feel a little sad when these things leak. Steve so loves his reveals.
ya..me to..
as annoying as it is, i love the tension created by Apple and the surprises at the keynotes..at every potential leak of the new iPhone im thinking "please let it be fake"..but there is so much evidence for this thing to be real..
It doesn't have to be the final version though! In my opinion its not unlikely that they have several different prototypes and haven't chosen the final one..its still a few months till release..
..so I think that..
1. ..somebody is gonna get his ass fired (I remember reading somewhere that they put marks on prototypes in order to find out who was responsible for it in case of a leak)
2. ..sooner or later we're gonna read something in the press about that
3. ..the Apple lawyers are currently working 24/7
4. ..Steve Jobs might be really pissed right now
5. ..eventually they're gonna change the design a bit and maybe get rid of the front facing camera just to punish the apple-rumor-communities
much more masculine
G4.
Wow! Those Droid adds have certainly had an effect on a very special sector of the population... I wonder what is wrong with them. What is it with that need to reinforce their "masculinity" at every turn of the road.
it doesn;t look like a microsim
good news!
I doubt a company like Apple would make this kind of security leak! Dropping a prototype in bar by accident?!
The design in not something refined... it has too sharp edges and would not feel right in the hand. SJ is picky about this kind of think. The sharp edges, tacky design makes it look like red herring dropped on purpose.
Why would Apple allow the unit to go into a bar even for testing? Testing while drunk?
It could be, and this is just a wild guess, that Apple actually field tests these in real world conditions. Labs and controlled external environments will never give you real world conditions.
The design is very different than the earlier iPhones, but is moresimilar to the industrial design of the other products. Ives has always been inspired by early Braun industrial design. This thing is nothing if not reminiscent of Braun.
Gosh say if this is the next gen iPhone.... What will the iPod touch be like? Hmmmm
4mm thinner is my best bet
This device (finalized design or not) offers something much more practical, less pretentious, and (again) much more masculine than anything Apple has done since the original titanium PowerBook G4.
Why would Apple want to play into the Droid's masculine aesthetic shtick? Will Steve proudly proclaim that the iPhone is no longer a "beauty queen", at the behest of Motorola's sexist advertising?
Are there any real complaints that the iPhone currently looks feminine? Would Apple really go for a "masculine" look, thereby making the device less appealing to half (or more) of their target demographic?
My guess is that Apple would never release something which looked like this.
Could this mean that something inside is user replaceable... like the battery maybe?
Or was it an Apple drop? It is hard to imagine Apple letting people run around with the new model. Even JI or SJ would probably not use one in the wild. Now they have guaranteed page up and page down with free advertising, yet no-one is able to run the thing, so the important element (OS) are still hidden.
I tend to agree. The number of people entrusted with one of these, let alone entrusted to take one off the Apple campus likely numbers in the single digits. Double digits tops.
And it's not like these folks don't understand or appreciate the significance of what they're carrying around. In other words, the chances of it legitimately being forgotten somewhere are next to nil.
I think this is a plant by Apple to soothe the savage beast of the media horde, ws analysts, etc.