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Why the iWalk footage on SpyMac.com is not a hoax...

B

bongfish

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 4, 2002
5
0
I looked quite some time at both, the pics and the movies and now I´ll try to explain, why this is for real:

1.) On pic "iWalk_Still02.jpg" one can see the reflections casted by the environment and hey, look at the reflection of the thumb. You cant fake this - not even by using AW software like Maya or StudioFX.

2.) The other pix show a Powerbook power adaptor. The reflections of the light are drawn correct.
E.g. in pic "iWalk_Still08.jpg" You can see the TiBook, iWalk and the cover. The shadows and hilites are oriented as they should (not just like this 3d-graphics unnatural style).

3.) On pix that show screen-close-up´s you may find fine irregulaties and that comes because of certain production processes (moulding, stamping, ...). This can´t be faked that easy. Yust look at shadows and hilites at the grey frame around the lcd.

4.) A while ago (iPod intro), we could read articles, that the iTunes- & QuickTime-Dev-Teams worked strongly together to bring the new device (in this case the iPod) to life.
But this was a fake. Apple bought OS tech from Pixo Inc. to drive the iPod.
Just take a closer look at the screenshots. This is the real product of both teams. Looks like iTunes- and looks just like QuickTime-GUI. This is what they really did the last months...

Some notes:
Maybe this footage shows us some sort of prototype device - but - why should one brand a prototype (FCC-Regs, logo, claim ect.)?

What about the logo, signing the mysterious port in the middle? It looks like this --O-- (FireWire loks like this Y).
This is a serial port, I guessED.
NO, look! This could be an IrDA port (anyone remember the last MacOS X update? "New port detected" thing - TiBook only) .

Then there where people, guessing the shots where made in Germany. Wrong! See the power plug on "iWalk_Still01.jpg". Never seen any plug of that type here (Austria/Germany), because we have use SCHUKO-plugs (with earth) in our offices. So this material was not taken in Germany.

Got it? Thats it!

bongfish

 
D

dantec

macrumors 6502a
Nov 6, 2001
605
0
California
Some goot points but...

I definately don't think Apple would make a serial port on this iWalk... Unless they are trying to make it work with windoze!

I think iWalk sounds like a dumb name, but then we have iPod which isn't much better...

I think the quicktime team probably tried to make an OS but did it unsucessfully... The Quicktime team is probably now working with PiXo so when Quicktime 6 comes out we can have the new MPEG 4 audio work on our iPods!

But maybe... this thing was "made" artificially as a project..?
 
J

j763

macrumors 6502a
Nov 25, 2001
660
0
Champaign, IL, USA
bongfish...

your "proof" does not explain why:

a) The iWalk is so damn ugly. No apple famous ease of use design at all!

b) Look at that stupid wheel thing - apple would never put that there just for screen rotation. it sticks out and its in the way...

c) It's called iWalk - what a stupid name! apple would/could never come up with something that crap

d) In bootup.mov, when the guy turns the unit on he hardly touches it, that would cause a big problem if it was stored in a case with bumping and all

e) The "OS" looks nothing like Mac OS X. sure, it wouldnt *be* mac osx, but with a color monitor, why would you have greyscale icons instead of nice aquafied ones?

f) The browser that is demonstrated in one of the pictures, is USELESS unless you can access the internet wirelessly *wherever you go* and until 3G comes out, you can't do that. Using Airport with it dosen't serve any purpose, like great - you can use the Internet on your PDA if you have an airport base station. you may as well plug the pda into your isp direct into the wall instead of stuffing around with Airport

g) No word on other features. We've seen the useless internet browser and the handwriting recognition, but what else???

h) There ALREADY ARE infared modems. They've been around for a long time - Ericsson DI28 Modem, Nokia modems, inbuilt in some phones. Infared internet access only runs at 9600 baud in conjunction with a mobile (or cell phone or whatever you ppl call them).

i) Poor quality video + pictures. There's no good pictures or video... only crappy quality so it's hard to tell whether the device is real or not.



I hope that the above clears it up, bongfish. or you could write a response to every single point - that'd be fun to see.
 
arn

arn

macrumors god
Staff member
Apr 9, 2001
16,363
5,795
Re: bongfish...

Originally posted by j763
your "proof" does not explain why:

a) The iWalk is so damn ugly. No apple famous ease of use design at all!
Click to expand...


Well... I'll write a response... since I don't think these are really good arguments...

a) that's what people said about quicksilver

b) Look at that stupid wheel thing - apple would never put that there just for screen rotation. it sticks out and its in the way...
Click to expand...

yeah - this looks odd, but not "proof" of course

c) It's called iWalk - what a stupid name! apple would/could never come up with something that crap
Click to expand...

er.... ipod?

d) In bootup.mov, when the guy turns the unit on he hardly touches it, that would cause a big problem if it was stored in a case with bumping and all
Click to expand...

Again... doesn't prove anything.

e) The "OS" looks nothing like Mac OS X. sure, it wouldnt *be* mac osx, but with a color monitor, why would you have greyscale icons instead of nice aquafied ones?
Click to expand...

Of course it doesn't looke like Mac OS X. That's because it looks very much like an updated Newton OS.

f) The browser that is demonstrated in one of the pictures, is USELESS unless you can access the internet wirelessly *wherever you go* and until 3G comes out, you can't do that. Using Airport with it dosen't serve any purpose, like great - you can use the Internet on your PDA if you have an airport base station. you may as well plug the pda into your isp direct into the wall instead of stuffing around with Airport
Click to expand...

I don't think there are enough details to know one way or another

g) No word on other features. We've seen the useless internet browser and the handwriting recognition, but what else???
Click to expand...

Again... lack of info doesn't mean anything.

h) There ALREADY ARE infared modems. They've been around for a long time - Ericsson DI28 Modem, Nokia modems, inbuilt in some phones. Infared internet access only runs at 9600 baud in conjunction with a mobile (or cell phone or whatever you ppl call them).
Click to expand...

ditto

i) Poor quality video + pictures. There's no good pictures or video... only crappy quality so it's hard to tell whether the device is real or not.
Click to expand...

Again... the quicksilver pics were also poor quality.

I hope that the above clears it up, bongfish. or you could write a response to every single point - that'd be fun to see.
Click to expand...


Look people.... just because you personally don't like it, think it looks a bit off, or there isn't a perfect explanation for it.... these are not "proof" that something isn't real.

An example of some of this is the following posted on Go2Mac for all to see from someone who sounds like he thinks he knows what he's talking about:

Lastly, the unit would not handle cursive handwriting (rather than printing) that well, especially having no time to 'learn' the handwriting of the user in the video. The dot written over the 'i' is also unlikely, as is the prototype's ability to recognize the end of each word (and written anywhere on the screen).

Huh? If this person had ever seen a Newton 2.1 machine in action would know this is _exactly_ how it works. And this was 4 years ago.

arn


 
J

j763

macrumors 6502a
Nov 25, 2001
660
0
Champaign, IL, USA
More for those of you who aren't convinced:


The port icons circled below on the right are on the back of the unit a clear sign that this is not real. Apple wouldn't make this mistake because it would make those much needed port icons an inconveinence on the back. Another of several problems is this "iWalk" is huge, the Apple logo is off centered on the back.


iWalk2.jpg
 
arn

arn

macrumors god
Staff member
Apr 9, 2001
16,363
5,795
Are you guys reading what you are writing?

Take a look at this:

http://web.archive.org/web/20001019021516/http://www.themacjunkie.com/archives/7.18.00.cube.html

This is criticism about _actual_ product photos of the G4 Cube that were leaked...

1. In this form, the machine would be very much top-heavy. I mean, consider its base - there's nothing. What's with all the empty space?

2. Look at the size of those air vents. You could drop a pencil through there, or spill a cup of coffee, and there would be no protection against internal damage. This would be a major design flaw.

4. There are no handles. Apple loves handles, and furthermore, anyone who expects to get a good grip on a computer with plexiglass sides has got another thing coming.
Click to expand...

These arguements are about as credibile... oh - and they were wrong

I'm not saying the iWalk is real... but I find the arguments against it ridiciulous.

arn
 
G

greg godwin

macrumors member
Jan 2, 2002
36
0
I've been told from people inside Apple that this iWalk video is not a fake. What you see appears to be a prototype design for an upcoming "digital hub device". It is not Apple's big announcement for MWSF however.
 
B

bongfish

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 4, 2002
5
0
Re: bongfish...

Originally posted by j763
your "proof" does not explain why:
a) The iWalk is so damn ugly. No apple famous ease of use design at all!
Click to expand...
I don´t think this is ugly. It´s sleek, there are 2 options 4 navigating (wheel & pen - "what if u loose Your pen")
Ease of use comes through a perfect handwriting recognition. The design is, as always simple. I don´t like the iPod´s back (steel thing) either - but it works. You can´t always get what U want...
b) Look at that stupid wheel thing - apple would never put that there just for screen rotation. it sticks out and its in the way...
Click to expand...
Is mentioned above: "What if u loose Your pen". The wheel is a convenient way to do simple things in just seconds. Maybe a bit clumsy, but certainly intelligent.
c) It's called iWalk - what a stupid name! apple would/could never come up with something that crap
Click to expand...
I don´t like Apples naming strategy (see the iPod´s).
Let´s get rid of this "i"-thing...
seconds. Maybe a bit clumsy, but certainly intelligent.
d) In bootup.mov, when the guy turns the unit on he hardly touches it, that would cause a big problem if it was stored in a case with bumping and all
Click to expand...
We know, Apple uses a special type of polyacrylic material. This should help avoiding scratches. Did I get this one right?
e) The "OS" looks nothing like Mac OS X. sure, it wouldnt *be* mac osx, but with a color monitor, why would you have greyscale icons instead of nice aquafied ones?
Click to expand...
Well, I think it looks good. I like the UI-Design. And it works (se iTunes, QT, iMovie ect.). Buttons and Icons just look as pretty as those designed for X (if they are not the same...). Grayscale? X does it the same way, I guess. Maybe the OS was Beta at the time of grabing the movie? Maybe someone turned "colorized buttons" off? Who knows...?
f) The browser that is demonstrated in one of the pictures, is USELESS unless you can access the internet wirelessly *wherever you go* and until 3G comes out, you can't do that. Using Airport with it dosen't serve any purpose, like great - you can use the Internet on your PDA if you have an airport base station. you may as well plug the pda into your isp direct into the wall instead of stuffing around with Airport
Click to expand...
That brings me to the port at the middle of that device? Maybe its IrDA or a PCMCIA-Plug. It could sport a internal cell-phone feature (UMTS or GPRS) (answers the question: "Why audio I/O?)
g) No word on other features. We've seen the useless internet browser and the handwriting recognition, but what else???
Click to expand...
I think, this thing is real. Let´s hope they roll it out soon. Features will be breathtaking...! O.K. SpyMac.com grabed some undercover design work. That´s all! Features are - in this case - more important than style. It´s up to Steve to demo the features... He certainly will!
h) There ALREADY ARE infared modems. They've been around for a long time - Ericsson DI28 Modem, Nokia modems, inbuilt in some phones. Infared internet access only runs at 9600 baud in conjunction with a ...
Click to expand...
How ´bout inventing a new IR tranfer method (@ higher baudrates)? Apple could...
i) Poor quality video + pictures. There's no good pictures or video... only crappy quality so it's hard to tell whether the device is real or not.
Click to expand...
You are right... It is hard to tell. But, from what I can see and know, this is not a fake. I´m working as a 3D-designer using Maya, SolidWorks... None of this Software could simulate the radiosity (+ shadows & hilites) that simple. You´d need a team and a bunch of weeks to produce VR at that level of quality. Nobody would do such a stupid thing and invest time & money for nuts!

I hope that the above clears it up, bongfish. or you could write a response to every single point - that'd be fun to see.
Click to expand...

Most wanted feats (just dreaming):
1) Superior handwriting recog.
2) Eeasy 2 use and code API (gives us more Apps)
3) Battery lifetime at a Pod´s level
4) Some sort of HardDrive or optical storage media
5) RAAAAAAM (128Megs)
6) iTunes & iMovie (iWalk compatible)
ect. ect. ect.

Hava a nice day! See U again by using the device... hopefully!

bonfish
Click to expand...
 
A

agreenster

macrumors 68000
Dec 6, 2001
1,896
11
To clear ONE thing up, it IS possible to fake reflections, especially using Alias|Wavefront's Maya. Hell, first year animation students can do that.

But, I think you are right on one point: It could be a prototype. I cant explain why there would be fine print on the back if it were a prototype, maybe they even copyright THEM. My guess was always that it is a prototype for iPod, or iWalk (if that is the name).

Who knows? Im keeping the possibility open.

Oh and hey Bongfish- I am a 3D animation student using Maya and Cinema4D, Renderman, etc. Cool to have another 3D-er in here. I think that makes 3 that I know. WHo do you work for?

PS: Burton? Tim Burton? Love his work.

[Edited by agreenster on 01-04-2002 at 09:02 AM]
 
J

j763

macrumors 6502a
Nov 25, 2001
660
0
Champaign, IL, USA
Re: Response to arn's comments.

Okay, to avoid clogging up the thread with repeats of info, i'll make reference to my points and arn's responses by letter (see above).


Point a + response: Your point is fair, however according to Steve Jobs, part of Apple's goal with "digital hub" is to make cleanly designed and easy-to-use digital devices.

Point b + response: Indeed, it does look odd. If we go by the video "evidence", the only use of this huge wheel sticking out of the unit is to rotate the screen - which is undoubtably a really stupid design. Stupid design is not typical of apple (to state the obvious)

Point c + response: I can see where you're coming from there but Apple would probably want to incorporate the name Newton into it.

Point d + response: I'm suggesting that this makes it easier to doctor that video. If he was to move it, it'd be harder to impose a screen on top

Point e + response: Again, why would you put a color screen on a device and then use greyscale icons. They could easily keep the newton feel but add color.

Point f + response: Exactly, no details to know how that "feature" would be used. If they can post pics, they can explain or outline some of the features. After all, SpyMac.com said that they got their hands on it so they would surely be able to test some of the features.

Point g + response: Lack of info does mean something, SpyMac.com had their hands on the "iWalk" (according to their site) so there is absolutely no reason that they couldn't talk about what the device can actually do. If you note, the only feature demonstrated on the videos is the handwriting recognition, which could easily be added - especially with the hand covering up the pen making contact with the "iWalk".


Point h + response: I think that you missed the point here, bongfish was referring to the fact that with one of the OS X updates, the tibook tries to find infared modems. This was originally posted at MOSR. Bongfish was saying that this is reason to further the argument that the iWalk exists (because he + MOSR had never heard of infared modems apparently). So I pointed out that a) there are already infared modems to clear up the rumormill and b)utilising an infared modem for the iWalk would be stupid - what would it be using infared to communicate with?


Point i + response: My point here was that SpyMac.com say that they had their hands on the device. This means that they could have recorded a video with either a) a better quality video camera or b) taken still pics with a good quality digital camera.


...But also, some more for you to think about:

- When has SpyMac.com's sources ever been right about anything BIG?

- SpyMac.com are now claiming that they've recieved notice of legal action/threat against them. No evidence of this whatsoever

- What does the iWalk actually do?? Great, there are some ports stuck on it but what features does it have?

- We've already seen a iWalk that was posted on SpyMac.com that has since been taken down because SpyMac made the **horrible realisation** that it was fake!

- Would you be willing to have a wager over the iWalk - $50 say...

- Steve Jobs said that he wouldn't get into PDA again. Why would he change his mind?

Oh yeah, and there's some other points & evidence in the previous post as you've no doubt seen.



Thanks,
j763
 
B

bongfish

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 4, 2002
5
0
Not only do I know IrDA Modems, but...

...I used them extensively a while ago.
Why not IR? Most (EU) cellphones have the ports. TiBook has one too. You can afford one for a desktop system... The only thing is baudrate... O.K. but that could be solved.

O.K. Let´s take this one serious just for the fun of it:
What could the Symbol "--O--" mean? If FW uses "Y"?
The icon says"I´m a serial port! isn´t FW in a way a serial port too?
So what could it mean. Anyone out there who knows the Apple icon for IrDA ports?

Blow it up...


bongfish
 
krhodus

krhodus

macrumors member
Dec 16, 2001
75
0
Dublin, OH
Unknown Port

Mabey that port is gigawire. A while ago their was news about gigawire as a new connection. So, Apple wants it on the iWalk to make it super fast. Gigawire could also be a different name for Firewire 2.
 
J

j763

macrumors 6502a
Nov 25, 2001
660
0
Champaign, IL, USA
Re: Re: bongfish...

OK... This is getting really complicated - but I feel that I do need to respond to what bongfish has said here...



j763: Here's why I think the iWalk is fake:

a) The iWalk is so damn ugly. No apple famous ease of use design at all!

bongfish: I don´t think this is ugly. It´s sleek, there are 2 options 4 navigating (wheel & pen - "what if u loose Your pen")
Ease of use comes through a perfect handwriting recognition. The design is, as always simple. I don´t like the iPod´s back (steel thing) either - but it works. You can´t always get what U want...

j763:
This is not about what I want in the "iWalk" - it's about what Apple if they did in fact design it would do. They would not have a huge clunky wheel sticking out and they certaintly would not have the logo off-center either. If you loose your pen - you're pretty careless. Who wants to see a huge clunky wheel just incase of pen loss??
[/QUOTE]
j763: b) Look at that stupid wheel thing - apple would never put that there just for screen rotation. it sticks out and its in the way...

bongfish: Is mentioned above: "What if u loose Your pen". The wheel is a convenient way to do simple things in just seconds. Maybe a bit clumsy, but certainly intelligent.

j763: Intelligent and Clumsy - I like that. If you loose your pen, you're the latter I'd say...

[/QUOTE]
j763: c) It's called iWalk - what a stupid name! apple would/could never come up with something that crap
bongfish: I don´t like Apples naming strategy (see the iPod´s).
Let´s get rid of this "i"-thing...
seconds. Maybe a bit clumsy, but certainly intelligent.

j763: What I'm saying is that Apple wouldn't ever name it the iWalk - they'd probably incorporate Newton in there somehow...
[/QUOTE]
j763: d) In bootup.mov, when the guy turns the unit on he hardly touches it, that would cause a big problem if it was stored in a case with bumping and all

bongfish: We know, Apple uses a special type of polyacrylic material. This should help avoiding scratches. Did I get this one right?
j763: um... I think you missed the point there. If you look closely at bootup.mov when the guy presses the power button he presses it *so softly*, if he presses it at all. I'm suggesting that this would make it easier to doctor the video...[/QUOTE]
j763: e) The "OS" looks nothing like Mac OS X. sure, it wouldnt *be* mac osx, but with a color monitor, why would you have greyscale icons instead of nice aquafied ones?

bongfish: Well, I think it looks good. I like the UI-Design. And it works (se iTunes, QT, iMovie ect.). Buttons and Icons just look as pretty as those designed for X (if they are not the same...). Grayscale? X does it the same way, I guess. Maybe the OS was Beta at the time of grabing the movie? Maybe someone turned "colorized buttons" off? Who knows...?

j763: I still think that it's suspicious - a color screen with greyscale buttons...
[/QUOTE]
j763: f) The browser that is demonstrated in one of the pictures, is USELESS unless you can access the internet wirelessly *wherever you go* and until 3G comes out, you can't do that. Using Airport with it dosen't serve any purpose, like great - you can use the Internet on your PDA if you have an airport base station. you may as well plug the pda into your isp direct into the wall instead of stuffing around with Airport

bongfish: That brings me to the port at the middle of that device? Maybe its IrDA or a PCMCIA-Plug. It could sport a internal cell-phone feature (UMTS or GPRS) (answers the question: "Why audio I/O?)


j763: Sure dosen't look like an IrDA port to me... The audio I/O question is still unanswered because if it had a cell phone they'd use a device similar to the Ericsson HBH-10
[/QUOTE]
j763: g) No word on other features. We've seen the useless internet browser and the handwriting recognition, but what else???

bongfish: I think, this thing is real. Let´s hope they roll it out soon. Features will be breathtaking...! O.K. SpyMac.com grabed some undercover design work. That´s all! Features are - in this case - more important than style. It´s up to Steve to demo the features... He certainly will!

j763: I can almost gaurntee you that Steve will *not* demo the features at mwsf02. Assuming this device is from inside Apple, it is not anywhere near ready to go into production. No one on this forum has been able to answer my fundemental question - where are the features?? Sure, there's a movie of a guy turning it on, fliping it around to show a big apple logo on the back as well as some patent stuff and a guy moving the wheel around. That dosen't tell you anything about the iWalk apart from the fact that it is *really* ugly!
[/QUOTE]
j763: h) There ALREADY ARE IrDA modems. They've been around for a long time - Ericsson DI28 Modem, Nokia modems, inbuilt in some phones. Infared internet access only runs at 9600 baud in conjunction with a ...

bongfish: How ´bout inventing a new IR tranfer method (@ higher baudrates)? Apple could...

j763: redesign the US phone system?? If the iWalk's internet browser was able to be utilized anywhere, it'd have to have a cell phone feature. The US Phone system is so ancient, I mean, it still runs on a 1900 band network. 3G technology could deliver it but all the Apple fans in the US would be *very disappointed*.
[/QUOTE]
j763: i) Poor quality video + pictures. There's no good pictures or video... only crappy quality so it's hard to tell whether the device is real or not.
[/QUOTE]
bongfish: You are right... It is hard to tell. But, from what I can see and know, this is not a fake. I´m working as a 3D-designer using Maya, SolidWorks... None of this Software could simulate the radiosity (+ shadows & hilites) that simple. You´d need a team and a bunch of weeks to produce VR at that level of quality. Nobody would do such a stupid thing and invest time & money for nuts!
j763: um...
agreenster: To clear ONE thing up, it IS possible to fake reflections, especially using Alias|Wavefront's Maya. Hell, first year animation students can do that.
Click to expand...
...and of course, there is a motive in SpyMac.com investing time + money in this, it makes their site famous in the mac community, it gets a lot of traffic(even still, probably) and IT ATTRACTS ADVERTISERS.

Don't get me wrong, I would love to see an Apple PDA released. I'm just of the opinion that the iWalk is another SpyMac.com flop or it's a very very very very primitive prototype of what apple will come out with eventually...





Bongfish's iWalk (just dreaming):
1) Superior handwriting recog.
2) Eeasy 2 use and code API (gives us more Apps)
3) Battery lifetime at a Pod´s level
4) Some sort of HardDrive or optical storage media
5) RAAAAAAM (128Megs)
6) iTunes & iMovie (iWalk compatible)
ect. ect. ect.

j763's iNewton (just dreaming):

1. Internet access anywhere, anytime - broadband speeds
2. Airport base station compatible (ie. an airport base station could be plugged into the iNewton and send out high-speed Internet access to all macs in the airport range w/airport cards)
3. Handwriting recognition for email and calander
4. Calander stored at a secure online site so you can access it on any comp w/internet access

Don't hold your breath though...LoL
 
digital1

digital1

macrumors 6502
Jan 2, 2002
294
0
Wisconsin
try this....

Just a thought,

Let us try top resolve our bickering. If someone downloaded the video or still have it somewhere, why don't THEY post it somewhere online that is open and accessible and see if Apple tells them to take the video down from the site. Just a thought.
 
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