Apple rumored to be evaluating 3 new iPhone prototypes, one with slideout keyboard

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 94
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hismastersvoice View Post


    I just read on macrumors theres an ninth prototype that boots off cassette.



    You seem to want to equate an outdated piece of technology with something that is still very much in common use. Worst you seem to think that any design Apple comes up with will be modeled on current approaches. Frankly I'd rather expect that Apple would continue to innovate here. It doesn't take a lot of effort to imagine Apple putting a spin on a slide out keyboard that would be a big win for heavy iPhone users. Done right it keeps iPhone compact while expanding usable screen real-estate. That is no joking matter.
  • Reply 22 of 94
    blursdblursd Posts: 123member
    Well I heard from a reliable source that Apple is making a new iPhone that is made out of ground up unicorn horns, and runs on dreams ...



    Doesn't take much to start a rumor ...
  • Reply 23 of 94
    a_ka_k Posts: 32member
    The only model that matters: Edge-to-edge screen iPhone!

    That's the direction of the future. It's all about the display.
  • Reply 24 of 94
    poochpooch Posts: 768member
    11th prototype that electrocutes anything named gizmodo chen.
  • Reply 25 of 94
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by VanFruniken View Post


    Given how fast one can type on an iPhone keyboard it seems extremely unlikely that Apple would spend any energy on such a project.



    You must not know a lot of people.
  • Reply 26 of 94
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sflocal View Post


    I doubt Apple would ever seriously consider a slide-out keyboard. It's not their style. That's not to say that Apple would not submit that request to vendor "A" to see if they can keep their mouth shut.



    I agree completely, anyone who has followed Apple for any length of time knows they would not consider a slide-out keyboard. They made that prototype to expose a leak (or else it is just chaff).
  • Reply 27 of 94
    phizzphizz Posts: 142member
    Another in-development prototype involves a clever iPhone interaction system in which the controller is ... wait for it ... YOU.



    One simply has to set it on a surface with appropriate physical calibration, stand back, and well ... go for it!



    I hear you can like pet tigers and shit! I can't wait.
  • Reply 28 of 94
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Wurm5150 View Post


    You must not know a lot of people.



    How about a floppy drive or an ADB keyboard?
  • Reply 29 of 94
    If it means I can halve my ATT bill or go to another carrier, I'm in favor of this.



    I'm thinking this new iPhone and a second gen. iPad (if it can print) and I'm good to go.



    Don't get me wrong, I love my iPhone 4 but ATT is killing me. I



    I'm loving the TomTom GPS, but if that was on the iPad-Problem solved! I never use the video cam on my iPhone. I do use the Nike+GPS for running though but its not a critical App.



    I like the camera with flash. Seriously, All I want is to pay $79/mo to ATT to run my iPhone 4 and I'd be cool



    best
  • Reply 30 of 94
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by starnyc View Post


    In 1949 Huffy invented training wheels - an extension bolted onto the rear axel of a bike so that 3,4 and 5 year olds could now learn to ride a bicycle years before their old siblings, greatly expanding the market for an existing product category that had become saturated.



    Funny but in my case we were given a box of used parts and told to make a bike out of them. Training wheels are just one approach to bike riding, one that appeals to overly protective and sheltering parents.

    Quote:



    Adding a keyboard is a marketing move, not a design move, to provide training wheels for people who would like to use an iPhone but don't think they can type on a virtual keyboard.



    The desire for a slide out keyboard has nothing to do with the virtual keyboard. In fact if Apple goes this route I would not be surprised at all to find that the slde out keyboard is virtual.



    Think about it, if you slide out a virtual keyboard that keyboard can be anything. It can be a QWERTY keyboard or something defined for another language. It could be a special purpose keyboard for a calculator or any number of other custom input screens. This would include the slide out "keyboard" becoming a game controller.



    Think just a bit about having a slide out keyboard that can be defined at run time for the specific game in play. The app tailors the input device to the game not the other way around. It actually makes a lot of sense in this context because all of the screen is there for the game yet you have touch controls specific to the game in play.

    Quote:

    The iPhone on Verizon with a keyboard should have moto and rim very scared...



    Possibly but that isn't really the competition any more.



    Personally I've seen a lot of knee jerk reactions in this thread. Maybe that is to be expected, but I think if a little thought was put into it you would see some real positives here. A big positive being that you gain realestate while not growing the size of the device. That is followed closely by the ability to expand the usefulness of the slide out keyboard.
  • Reply 31 of 94
    Doesn't apple build proto's in their ID facility in Cupertino? Why would anyone in Asia have a clue if they have not gone to production?
  • Reply 32 of 94
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wizard69 View Post


    A big positive being that you gain realestate while not growing the size of the device.



    How do you reconcile that with the years of evidence that show Apple values thinness very highly?
  • Reply 33 of 94
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ascii View Post


    I agree completely, anyone who has followed Apple for any length of time knows they would not consider a slide-out keyboard. They made that prototype to expose a leak (or else it is just chaff).



    I don't think they will come out with it, but anyone who's followed Apple will also know that they will make complete u-turns on there statements. Bit like Steve jobs saying smartphones arnt the future a year before the iPhone.



    An option to have a slide out keyboard could be good though, in landscape mode the keyboad is basically useless as it takes up the whole screen.
  • Reply 34 of 94
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by NotScott View Post


    a fifth prototype was said to have a mouse.



    hahahaaha
  • Reply 35 of 94
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bobrk View Post


    A 6th prototype had a rotary dial.



    hahahahaha
  • Reply 36 of 94
    I don't think the "training wheel" idea has much to stand on. The iphone/ipod keyboard destroys every other touch interface keyboard. I support many "low end" users that barely can use a keyboard and they have no issues on the iphone touch screen.



    Don't think production of that model would be worth it's while.
  • Reply 37 of 94
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Hal 9000 View Post


    How about a floppy drive or an ADB keyboard?



    Hell no, way to young stuff!



    Wait until an iPhone can handle texas instrument magnetic strips or even the punch cards used in 70's. Or maybe Steve O'Mighty may have apps loaded on to a jesusPhone from papyrus scrolls!

  • Reply 38 of 94
    Slide out keyboard? What crap is that, what, did Apple start walking backwards or something?
  • Reply 39 of 94
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tlevier View Post


    A seventh prototype was said to have a dial controller styled after the original Pong.



    bwahahahaa
  • Reply 40 of 94
    I saw a report on Fox that the 12th iPhone prototype has a slide-out muslim from kenya. And it's all an Egyptian/AOL conspiracy to restore the caliphate. Or something like that, I was just flipping channels waiting for American Idol to come back on.
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