

This Is Apple's Next iPhone - kylebragger
http://gizmodo.com/5520164/

======
gamble
I was very skeptical of the Engadget shots, but it's hard to argue with the
depth of detail in this article. If it isn't the final design, I can't see it
being too different.

OTOH, if the prototype is legit I wonder if Gizmodo will come to regret
publishing the article. Even assuming the phone was 'found' and not stolen as
Gruber implies in this morning's Daring Fireball post, the article seems like
a pretty clear violation of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act. Gizmodo knew it was
a secret prototype, who it belonged to, and that it had been lost or stolen.
I'd love to hear a lawyer's opinion, though.

~~~
bmalicoat
I think all Gruber meant was that Giz knew the seller didn't own it so it was
akin to knowingly buying stolen merchandise. Plus one Engadget blogger (who I
think is a lawyer) pointed out on twitter that CA requires the finder to remit
the property to the police or original owner, who in this case was fairly
obvious to the finder given that they knew gadget blogs would want it.

~~~
jasonlbaptiste
This is what Gizmodo wants. In order for Apple to get it back, they need to
state it's their property. If Apple doesn't state this, it could easily be
anybody's including a manufacturer in China who made a knock off.

~~~
tvon
I'm not sure that's a very wise tradeoff by Gizmodo. I think it's pretty clear
this belongs to Apple, it's just not entirely clear if it's an accurate
representation of the 4G iPhone.

Even so, couldn't Apple drag their feet and not actually confirm it's theirs
until two months from now when they unveil it, and then sue the pants off of
Gizmodo?

~~~
jasonlbaptiste
24 hours ago we all thought it was a fake, so it's not "clearly Apple's".
Until Apple claims it, it's not theirs. Could Gizmodo call and say: "hey we
think this is yours, if so, let us know, and well give it back" sure, they
could and probably will.

Yeah, Gizmodo might get sued, they know this. Gawker takes risks like this and
it's worth it to them.

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epochwolf
I wonder if Apple had an employee "lose" the phone on purpose. This is a great
way to stir up some press and give people a preview without being official
about it.

I like the new design.

~~~
kylebragger
Yeah, it's an interesting theory... but historically speaking they have always
had pretty airtight pre-launch situations, aside from the usual fake
photos/screenshots, right?

~~~
cmelbye
The leaked photos of the iPad that Engadget posted the night before the launch
were definitely not fake.

~~~
jonknee
Blurry pics in a case the night before and a physical device a couple months
out are quite different.

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WesleyJohnson
I quite like this design, much more so than the current and previous iPhones.
I think the hard edges and flat surfaces work much better on electronic
devices, especially if you're going to be interacting with it on a desk at
some point.

I think that design philospohy is one of the reasons I prefer the look of
MacBooks over pretty much any other laptop I've ever seen. Clean, hard lines
with an almost sort of industrial look. Laptops from Gateway, HP, Toshiba,
Acer and other manufacturers are starting to use this sloping angular look and
mixing of different textures and finishes and the resulting product just looks
cheap in my opinion.

I don't currently own any Apple products and my laptop is an Acer and while it
performs wonderfully, it's just not very attractive. I know that shouldn't
matter in something like a laptop, where you should be concerned with form
over function, but I'd gladly a slightly less robust machine if it appealed to
me more aesthetically.

If this is indeed a 4G protoyope, I'll be interested to see how much the
design changes before the production version.

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bmalicoat
We all knew this summer's iPhone would be better, faster, cooler so at this
point Apple's legal response is more interesting to me, especially since money
changed hands for this transaction. Is Gizmodo willing to commit suicide for
an exclusive? Based on Apple's response it might help determine if this was
deliberate or not as well.

~~~
hugh3
_Is Gizmodo willing to commit suicide for an exclusive?_

On the other hand, is Apple willing to eat the bad press it would get from
crushing Gizmodo?

~~~
bmalicoat
Good question. Lately, with the whole dev license agreement thing, it seems
like they couldn't care less who they upset. But I think that that instance
and this one (if Apple do choose to hurt Gizmodo) provide bad press to a
relatively small part of potential Apple buyers. It's obvious everyone at Giz
either loves or hates Apple so I don't think their readers' opinions would
change much.

I do think that Engadget took the high rode by passing this opportunity up.
Yea, it seems like a big scoop now but in 3 months it won't mean anything.

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ryandvm
Staged or not, expect a lot more Android phones with front-facing video
cameras...

~~~
jonknee
There have been hundreds of phones with front-facing cameras and yet actually
using video conferencing still hasn't caught on. People like the idea more
than actually using it.

~~~
ryandvm
True. But nobody can legitimize a product/feature like Apple.

Media players, smartphones, tablets, etc. were all around before Apple's take
on them, but once King Jobs lets loose with the golden touch all of the sudden
the entire product space comes alive. It's a little creepy.

~~~
jonknee
Fair enough, but the addition of video to iChat in 2003 hasn't set off a video
call revolution. It's used, but not too frequently in most circles.

~~~
wdewind
Actually from a 20 year olds's perspective it really HAS set off a video call
revolution. Video chat is way bigger than it's ever been and I think you can
pretty easily draw the line directly to MB owning college kids. iChat was the
first time video chat was easy and didn't look and sound like total crap.
Skype's is still a disaster in comparison.

------
there
while the new design is nice, i'm kind of disappointed that now it won't be a
surprise when it's formally unveiled.

~~~
flyosity
I'd say this is a prototype hardware unit. The sides don't look finished, not
with large, visible creases. There's no way they'll go from the smoothness of
the MBP & iPad to something far less elegant with large visible gaps.

~~~
weaksauce
Very true. I don't think that Mr. Ive would approve of this design for a final
build.

~~~
flyosity
If you look at the full-size images at Gizmodo the entire side metal area all
the way around sticks out from the flush casing pretty noticeably. I think
it's a prototype case or some kind of unfinished disguise. I forget where Ive
was interviewed (perhaps in Objectified?) but he mentioned how much he
stresses over the tightness of two joints and how perfectly flush he always
wants them to be. I'd really be surprised if this were the final design, I'd
guess that the top and bottom are final versions but the side wrapper will be
a unibody-style, fully aluminum case.

~~~
alanl
I agree, it just doesn't look finished IMHO and while the design is nice
design it's a bit of a step backwards from the extreme minimalism apple have
used in previous iphones and MBP

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cpr
Boy, I feel real pain for the person who lost this.

(And it'll be obvious who did, if it were truly an accident.)

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martythemaniak
That screen will most definitely be 960x480. Apple prides itself on keeping
the iPhone dev simple, so the simplest thing to do is simply upscale
everything 2x. Apps with old bitmap resources will still look ok and in order
to take advantage of the new screen, developers will simply have to update
their apps with higher-res images.

Edit: Sorry for the brainfart, I did mean 960x640 (current screen x2).

~~~
proee
I wonder if new apps written for 960x480 be backwards compatible then?

~~~
roc
I'd imagine it's up to the developer to support different resolutions; like
with iPad apps.

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steadicat
Looks like they tried to unify the design with that of the MacBooks and the
iMacs, but to me it ends up looking decidedly less Apple. It reminds me of a
generic digital camera design, or even an external hard drive.

My guess is that making laptops and desktops look like digital cameras makes
them stand out as sturdy and simple, while designing a phone with similar
goals just makes it fit in.

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ivanzhao
"... the new iPhone is so miniaturized and packed that there's no room for the
tapered, curved surfaces... "

Where is Apple's Human Factors guy? Tapered end is one of the best ways to
deal with the variates in hand sizes, reducing hand strain after long period
of holding, and making it appear to be much thinner (and sexier).

Tapered ends is a "feature" not just a look.

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jsz0
I bet the volume buttons are going to be multi-fuction. They appear to be
spaced far enough apart to be useful as action buttons in games. If you hold
an iPhone in landscape you can get a pretty good feel on how that could work.

~~~
davidhperry
Agreed. They look really handy for zooming the camera lens, for example.

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Avenger42
Previously posted at:

<http://news.ycombinator.org/item?id=1276732>

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sharan
I like the larger battery and potential noise cancellation, but my 3GS wins on
design.

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gojomo
If I find a secret prototype, should I put it in airplane mode ASAP to delay
the remote-wipe as long as possible?

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hanuman
Desperate attempt by Apple to stem the Android tide ;)

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antidaily
No way - way too many seams for an Apple product.

~~~
mattparcher
Keep in mind that we still have a few months before the official announcement,
if the past three releases are anything to go by. Also, this unit was found in
a case to disguise it as a regular 3GS iPhone, and the seams may help it fit
better in such a case.

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towndrunk
So do we know what processor is in this thing?

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BenSchaechter
Now if only someone could leak Steve Jobs' reaction to this...

~~~
bozmac
Normally, I'd say he'd be pissed as hell but given his recent abnormal
behavior, it's hard to tell. I'm more interested in seeing the person who lost
this prototype's reaction.

~~~
ryandvm
If he's honorable, he'll fall on his own sword for the Dear Leader.

