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"Lost & found" iPhone 4... truth or hoax?

6K views 63 replies 19 participants last post by  Josh 
#1 ·
So the big story this week is that a couple of weeks ago, an Apple engineer who works on the baseband programming for iPhones "misplaced" his prototype next-gen iPhone at a bar. It was remotely killed by Apple the next day, but it's subsequently made its way into the hands of the folks at Gizmodo...

This Is Apple's Next iPhone - Iphone 4 - Gizmodo

... and it looks hot as hell!



I'm hoping this is the real thing, as i've been waiting for the iPhone to slim down a bit and get a lot less plasticky before taking the leap.

But i'm wondering... is this really what's going to be launched in the next couple of months? Is it a strategic leak by Apple to keep the iPhone in the news for the next few weeks, and keep iPhone lust high?

Or is it just an elaborate hoax? (note that the Gizmodo disassembly shots don't show ANY Apple-identified parts)
 
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#5 ·
Less distinctive, more functionality. I like it.

It's great publicity for Apple, intentional or not, real or no. This will just stoke the hype machine.
 
#9 ·
sounds like viral marketing to me. apple are so tight assed about pre release information I cant see them letting any hardware out of the Cupertino campus for fear of something exactly like this happening...

Front Facing camera so all the narcissists will have an easier time taking photos of themselves :lol:

And before one of you pro apple people jumps in and screams "ITS FOR TEH VIDEO CONVERSATION" yeah I figured that is what it is for :fawk:
 
#10 ·
It's either viral marketing, or Gizmodo are a bunch of unethical shitbags. Anything to increase the ad revenue, eh douchebags?

DISCLAIMER: I would feel that way about ANY company's device that was stolen, be it Apple, MS, Google, etc. If something is a prototype a company doesn't want shared, I don't think it's ethical to keep it and hold it after being asked for it back.
 
#11 ·
^ :agreed:

Although, like I said, this is great press for Apple (and Gizmodo) regardless of what happens.

Companies can be pretty unethical about this stuff though; I've heard from a friend in the industry that AMD has a ~$10k bounty that they offer for unreleased and prototype Intel boards and processors, and vice versa.
 
#14 ·
Gizmodo didn't steal the iPhone.

To the best of my knowledge, Apple did not send them the letter asking for the device back until after this story broke, and Gizmodo has complied.

They didn't even know it was a genuine Apple device until they disassembled it.
 
#18 · (Edited)
Wirelessly posted (Hivemind: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7E18 Safari/528.16)

Fuck being a vengeful boss though. What if the Dude does good work, other than this? Also, guess who'll NEVER make a mistake like that again. Punish him, sure, so this is burned in forever, but to fire him thinking you can't have anyone capable of making such a mistake is a foolish move, because you're kidding yourself for thinking their is anyone who can't
 
#19 ·
Still, that is a dramatic lack of responsibility. What if it had ended up in the hands of a competitor?

Also, if they can shut it down remotely I'd be surprised if they couldn't GPS locate the thing or find it via tower triangulation.
 
#20 ·
It's not about being a vengeful boss. It is a clear cut case of gross irresponsibility, and it exposed the company to an extremely high level of risk. If that is not a terminable offense, then what is? I guarantee you that his boss and his boss' boss are being grilled over this as we speak.

I'm sure they could not locate it by GPS after remote disabling it. The problem with GPS location is that it is not precise--are YOU going to try to locate it within a 10 meter radius in an urban environment--so they mitigated the risk the best way they could, by completely disabling it. I would not be surprised to find out that it was a complete wipe, rendering it completely unrecoverable.
 
#23 · (Edited)
Before Gizmodo even had the device, it was already FUBAR'd (presumably remotely by apple) and couldn't be turned on.

The person who found it said they could get into it initially, but then it stopped working.

Should have sent that shit to George Hotz. Mofo would have been in there and runnin smooth in about a day. :lol:
 
#22 ·
It really confuses me why Apple went this route design wise... I guess I can understand needing more room for more components, I get that, but completely square? I can't see it being very pocket or hand comfortable... It's like they just up and decided to throw out all of the ergonomics behind the iPhone... "Industrial"? Industrial may look cool, but ergonomics usually suffers... Otherwise, it looks to be a fantastical device... High res screen, 2 cameras, even a camera flash, the new OS having much better multitasking, it's the iPhone the 3Gs should have been...
 
#25 ·
One does wonder. It could just be hype machine fodder, and it certainly functions as such right now.
 
#27 ·
They were able to power it on and got the "connect to iTunes" screen.

Adam: The minimalist design language is very in keeping with the rest of Apple's product lineup. They've shrunk components to make room for more battery, but the overall package is slimmer, making it more pocketable (which is one of my criteria for any phone).
 
#30 ·
I disagree. When i'm holding my phone to my ear, i'm holding it by the edges. Square edges give me a good grip.

I don't want the "illusion" of it being thin. I want its maximum thickness to actually be thin. The iPhone 3G may look thin at the edges, but it's quite bulky in the middle, and the thin rounded edges and glossy surfaces don't make for a very "grippable" phone.

To me, the comparison is like a fresh bar of soap vs. a worn bar of soap. Which one's easier to pick up and hold?
 
#31 ·
The Droid is a really easy phone to hold, without being rounded, and without being square... Hell, the Palm Pre was rounded all over, comfortable to hold, and yet not hard to hold either. I'm sure I could think of more, theres really no reason to have a phone with completely square edges...
 
#32 ·
Wirelessly posted (Hivemind: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7E18 Safari/528.16)

And there's no reason not to, either ;)
 
#33 ·
I've had quite a few phones with square edges, and never had an issue holding any of them.

It likely makes far less of a difference than you think it does. ;)

But i will say that my wife's iPhone 3GS is a little awkward to hold (when it's not in its OtterBox case)... i find myself wishing it had more surface area around the edges.
 
#40 ·
The Sprint version is called the Evo 4G, and I should have fucking waited a couple of months. :wallbash:

 
#45 ·
My contract ended in feb but Ive been waiting for THE PHONE TO END ALL PHONES before renewing my contract or jumping ship to another carrier.

I might be jumping to Verizon - I really like the Devour only it doesn't run 2.1(yet....) and im waiting to see the new winmobile 7 phones.

I kind of like the squared design on the leaked iPhone and having a easily replaced battery is a huge plus.
 
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