iWalk photos/video

[MacRumors]

SpyMac.com (http://www.spymac.com) removed their iWalk photos this evening:

By legal request, we have removed all iWalk footage from our server. Sorry everyone, but we held out as long as we could.


Based on the level of doubt everyone has had regarding the authenticity of the photos/video... I'm sure there will be questions whether they were really forced to remove the video or if it was to make the fraud complete. I'll let you decide that for yourself.

Personally, I've seen too many arguments for why images are "clearly fake" that have turned out to be real. (Why the Cube photos were "fake" (http://web.archive.org/web/20001019021516/http://www.themacjunkie.com/archives/7.18.00.cube.html), Why the Quicksilver photos were "fake" (http://www.macrumors.com/forums/showthread.php3?threadid=117)). However, SpyMac conveniently covers their ass:

So will we see this released on Monday? Judging from the video, no way. The unit seems to still be in a testing phase - how else can one explain the large "wheel" at the bottom of the unit and the obtrusive port at the top? Indeed, it could be speculated that the "iWalk" exists in many different forms which are currently being evaluated (thus the reason why our source originally described the unit as looking completely different). Designs evolve over time.

Judge for yourself...

[macboy]

I knew that seemed to good to be true... I kinda thought maybe it was fake... but like you said... G4 Cube and QuickSilver was said to be fake...

What about those iMac pictures over on the geocities site?

[amichalo]

So if they don't think it is real, why were they reporting it? Why did they say they orignially thought it was real? I am so not impressed with Spymac.

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

Try reading the 'Why the cube is fake' article... -Do we have any evidence of him eating is hat and his hockey mouse ? -After all, the cube WAS announced! :D

[j763]

You know what, my new iBook will be delivered to me on Sunday and the keynote will be on Monday (days adjusted to be US to avoid confusion). Should i wait for the suposed combo drives and delay the order? No - because spymac.com is full of *****. I have not seen anything that they've said that's been true. It wouldn't suprise me if they announced that a quantum computer would be at MWSF really...



[edited to avoid confusion. the macworld expo isn't on TUESDAY! etc.]

[Edited by j763 on 01-04-2002 at 05:16 AM]

[greg godwin]

SpyMac information regarding the iBook is correct.

[kishba]

"By legal request, we have removed all iWalk footage from our server. Sorry everyone, but we held out as long as we could. "

i dont believe that a bit. they never mentioned apple


they just realized no one would believe them if it were up all the time

[j763]

write to them and ask them to release the legal info they were provided with - they can't fake that...

[j763]

Originally posted by greg godwin
SpyMac information regarding the iBook is correct.
greg,
i'm so desperate to get the ibook that i'm passed caring. and newayz, it'll probably be more expensive and it'll take a few months to come out here.

[greg godwin]

Originally posted by j763
Originally posted by greg godwin
SpyMac information regarding the iBook is correct.
greg,
i'm so desperate to get the ibook that i'm passed caring. and newayz, it'll probably be more expensive and it'll take a few months to come out here.

I wouldnt be concerned, the update is not that significant really. There will be a 1GHz G3 iBook soon though.

[indurix]

Since Wednesday there are the Movies on this Website:

http://www.webexpert.de/MacTV/Movies/iWalk.mov
http://www.webexpert.de/MacTV/Movies/iWalk2.mov
http://www.webexpert.de/MacTV/Movies/iWalk3.mov

Dont'know why they havent' to remove the Movies. Its Spymac who likes to make their Fakes more belivable? See also more at http://www.mac-tv.de.
I'Dont like the transparent Wheel on it, seems to big to me... what about a iPod-like Wheel on the back side, ther's no need to watch the wheel nor buttons while navigating -> More Space 4 Screen.

Greets


ro

[dantec]

to sites like think secret they mention that those things have been removed due to the request of Apple Computer Inc.. There is no mention of that whatsoever!

It just looks like something built up by a team at spymac. Trying to call it an iWalk... Oh well we shall see on monday!

[arzeus]

OK, just to clarify. The iWalk videos were absolutely faked, there is no debating that. However, that does not mean that the product is not neccesarily real.

The screens for those video were very obviously compositied (you dont have to be an expert to see the shaking). But that does not really prove one way or the other that the product isnt based in reality. That doesnt make the wonderful case fake, or the concept itself fake.

I dont know why these compositied videos would have been made so I tend to seriously doubt the whole thing, but that does not make it so. The bottom line is that the videos are not actual interface footage but that is all we know for sure.

Andy

[Durandal7]

Interesting how they pulled the videos once the mac websites came up with articles about how fake they were. I could pull my whole website and replace it with a little notice like that and imagine how much attention i would get. As for the iBook rumor I think almost every other mac rumor site posted that about 5 days ago. Then again maybe we will all get surprised.

[Durandal7]

Interesting how they pulled the videos once the mac websites came up with articles about how fake they were. I could pull my whole website and replace it with a little notice like that and imagine how much attention i would get. As for the iBook rumor I think almost every other mac rumor site posted that about 5 days ago.

[NeedSleep]

After a couple days to think about it, my guess is that was an iWalkman prototype (later called the iPod). Someone hacked up a color screen OS and merged it into the video.

Nice work, except that whole color screens being black, not grey at power off.

'Better luck next time' :)

[Evergreen]

All you had to do was watch them frame by frame. What a load of bovine night soil.

[g-man]

The spymac site also says how the "source" that provided the videos of the iWalk had a good laugh at everyone's theories of how the videos are fake, since he claims they are not.

Well, anyone with half a brain can look at them and tell they are heavily manipulated. I just downloaded them from the Wired site and the third one acutally was a higher resolution. As you watch the user write on the screen, the iWalk and the lines on the screen move around with the shakiness of the video, while the type that is being written stays perfectly still.

Since the "source" still claims they are completely real, not manipulated or fake, it looks like a complete crock.

[Evergreen]

They are within right to post the letter from Apple's legal reps, but they will not because posting a fake letter would attract real attention from the legal department.

This post will now cease due to a legal request.

[atlascott]

Allright, as recently as three days ago, I though it would be a huge mistake for Apple to make a PDA. But I have changed my mind. If Apple can make a hardrive PDA about the size of the iPod, but make it a cell phone (no speakers, just use the ear plug so popular today with regular cell phones (save money and space on the device); make it an MP3 player, give it an attachable keyboard (like that plastic one that rolls up) with a portable version of AppleWorks, and browsing/email capability with an ethernet poert and Airport, such a PDA would take the world by storm. I am a lawyer, and I would absolutely LOVE an unltra-portable device that I could use for word processing, email, MP3, addresses and phone numbers, AND cell phone. I would buy one immediately. Forget a laptop, why would you ever need one? This is a device that does EVERTHING that a Palm or Pocket PC does, but SO MUCH MORE. ANd it could sync up like iPod and ITune do--automaticcaly syncs you contacts, addresses, Appleworks saved files, iTunes, you name it.

The technology exists. Apple could do this, and it WOULD be the ultimate PDA, aglipse into the future--one device, infinite uses. It would probably be $700 bucks, but considering all you get, and the fact that, for all intents and purposes, it replaces 90% of what you use a laptop for (most people play their tech-intensive games on desktops anyway, but these guys could probably allow strategy games...), $700 would be a bargain.

If Apple pulled this all together in an iWalk, it would accord nicely with their web site hype!

[pkradd]

It certainly looked like a prototype. The video and device could be months or even years old. Since there were reports that Apple people were working constantly over the Christmas holiday I suspect it was for the "and one more thing" and not the iMac.

[Jay]

Just thought I'd let you know that some of the stuff (including the videos) ae still up at my site. I haven't received anything from Apple legal... yet.

-Jay

http://www.macanonymous.com

[evildead]

Originally posted by Evergreen
They are within right to post the letter from Apple's legal reps, but they will not because posting a fake letter would attract real attention from the legal department.

This post will now cease due to a legal request.

good point. I would have liked to see the letter. I have seen other sites post letters from legal departments of CO.'s for the same kind of incodent. Why didnt they? Too bad... it looks like this thing is a fake. :(

[Yuk-Monkey]

Boy isn't it "funny" that the iWalk pictures got jerked off the spymac website "by legal request" pretty quick but as of 7:45PM central they and the videos are still proudly displayed on wired.com???

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,49463,00.html

Doesn't seem like Apple is too concerned about those. Gee maybe that's because it's a big HOAX.

What sense does it make to have it removed from one site and leave it up on all the others?

[eyelikeart]

What do u guys think about the possibility that what we were seeing was some sort of prototype machine that hadn't, and probably won't see the light of day? I know there are a lot of reasons to point the finger and say the videos weren't authentic, but what if it were real and the videos were mocked up because the units didn't completely work properly (provided they were simply prototypes)?

I find it no surprise that the pics & videos were pulled from the site, but do they normally have "due to the request of Apple Computer Inc.?" Would it really make a difference who requested them to be taken down if it's really a legal matter?

Still, there is a patent applied for on Sept. 5, 2001 for a "gigawire" device. Does anyone have any thoughts on that?

[Nebrie]

Originally posted by eyelikeart
What do u guys think about the possibility that what we were seeing was some sort of prototype machine that hadn't, and probably won't see the light of day? I know there are a lot of reasons to point the finger and say the videos weren't authentic, but what if it were real and the videos were mocked up because the units didn't completely work properly (provided they were simply prototypes)?

I find it no surprise that the pics & videos were pulled from the site, but do they normally have "due to the request of Apple Computer Inc.?" Would it really make a difference who requested them to be taken down if it's really a legal matter?

Still, there is a patent applied for on Sept. 5, 2001 for a "gigawire" device. Does anyone have any thoughts on that?

So, you think that video is of an authentic prototype. Tell me, after watching this video, is this also an authentic prototype?: http://homepage.mac.com/a_holck/say_hallo_to_iJerk.mov

[eyelikeart]

that video is clearly fake...the screen stays completely still while the hand holding it jumps around....not much be watching with a close eye can see...

from where did u get that video?

[dantec]

by Nebrie is fake... The hand jumps around but the iJerk does not!

That device looks ugly anyway... but the OS isn't that bad but looks to squashed...

Wouldn't apple have opted for a wide screen tablet to accomadate the dock etc...

[Doraemon]

To me the iWalk looks like a Palm PDA in a new case. So, to me it is a fake (altought someone spend a lot of time building it).


Besides, if it really was a new prototype where should these movies possibly have come from? An Apple engineer won't just film a presentation of the prototype. The best he/she would do is to perhaps shoot a picture but no more! Otherwise, he'd loose his job pretty fast. And if you say it was perhaps a friend of this engineer, I'd still doubt that he could have either took the iWalk home to film it or to film it in the Apple labs. Sorry, but that's just too unlikely!

[arn]

screen was too big for a palm

arn

[dantec]

Spymac stole the prototype from the lab...

About engineers passing around prototypes... or filming them isn't something new. You have to face it, we have many defiiant, lying, untrustworthy people in this world!

[Doraemon]

I still doubt that someone can really shot a movie of a couple of minutes lengh in Apple's labs. Do you know how well they're protected? They even have locked waste baskets!

[huxley]

i think we're all forgetting the big picture here - if they're fakes, so what? two things to remember: 1. we all would really love to see Apple come out with a PDA, and 2. without our Macs making those fakes wouldn't have been possible now, would it? I hope they're is an iWalk or some sort of PDA come Monday AM, i'm sick and tired of Palm treating me like a second class citizen 'cause im on a Mac.

[kaneda]

Spymac will get their (_|_) burn on this one if it is really fake.

I don't see anything special about the iwalk. It is look like a palm pilot to me and with colors. :O) I didn't see the MAC OS X interface anywhere.

Damn, what happen to all the rumors about G5. I still want to know about it. I don't give a crap about PDA thing! I want a FASTER COMPUTER!!! It doesn't have to fit in my palm. I got two hand to carrying around if I have to...:O)

[Xapplimatic]

I would have thought the videos authentic were it not for the power-off state having a platinum grey color, the same as that of a black-and-white Palm Pilot when it's in the off state. Color screens aren't grey in the off position. Other than that, it does look that they definitely have a prototype moch-up of something... but who knows what. To fake the unit itself would have been quite a bit of work.

[thornz]

why is the real question. people (on this thread and others) keep saying spymac is an incredibly unreliable source of info. are they trying to alienate their already small audience even more by posting 100% bunk? THAT is the only reason i have for believing this. Other than that...