Apple's Phone Revealed?

[MacRumors]

http://www.macrumors.com/images/macrumorsthreadlogo.gif

Rumors of an Apple Phone have been ongoing for years with Apple laying claim to the domain iPhone.org since 1999 and the trademark for iPhone in 2002. Meanwhile, a number of Phone related patents have also surfaced showing that Apple has been researching this option.

Recently, analysts have claimed that the Apple phone is essentially ready with a brief description:

The design will be an iPod nano-like candy bar form factor and come in three colors

Meanwhile, Steve Jobs has been said to be talking up the upcoming phone, despite being traditionally secretive about unannounced products.

One reliable MacRumors.com source has provided a more detailed description of one of the prototypes for the upcoming Apple Phone. The description has yielded this artist's rendition of the phone. The phone offers a familiar look to iPod owners, with the preservation of the iPod click-wheel.

The click-wheel is closer to the bottom of the device with the screen taking a vertical orientation. The click-wheel portion of the device reportedly slides down to reveal a traditional numeric dial-pad underneath. The front is black, while the back is chrome like the current iPod.

As an artist rendition, details such as the exact proportions of the screen are not necessarily accurate.

The preservation of the click-wheel navigator could add credence to evidence that iTunes has the ability to transfer the new iPod games to certain mobile phones. Jobs had stated that the games had been designed for click-wheel playability.

http://images.macrumors.com/article/iphone_thumb.jpg
click for larger image

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[RazzTheFrog]

Finally is this it?

[irmongoose]

So this is a confirmed report? How reliable is this source?



irmongoose

[Peace]

If you can play games on it where's the screen ?


[edit] nevermind the good doctor updated it with a larger pic [/edit]

[monke]

Hmmm.. Ok, not really shocked by the design a whole lot, but finally there is some (for lack of a better word) proof of what it looks like. Sure hope it comes in aluminum and white

[MattyMac]

Holy Guacamole!

That is Sick!

They need to come out with that right now!

[mashinhead]

Originally Posted by MattyMac

Holy Guacamole!

That is Sick!

They need to come out with that right now!

really i think it looks horrible. I mean everything in the world doesn't have to look like an ipod. It's not an ipod, its a phone, make something new. They're forcing it. It looks really bad.

[zap2]

You devil you...I'm thinking someone knows more then they are telling MR's public users!

[QCassidy352]

arn very rarely posts info from his own sources. When he does, that info is always correct. I'd bet a good deal of my savings that the iphone will look very similar to that pic.

[Cybix]

thats not an artist rendition.. it's a very very poor photochop job. poorly aligned, among other things.... urgh..

[Kingsly]

Wow, what a day. First I set off to buy new phone after waiting for any potential announcements on the 12th. To my disappointment the phone I wanted (and had been researching for at least 6 months) has been suddenly and without explanation dropped from Cingular's lineup. Come home to grieve and study up on blackberries and find, to my surprise/delight this story!

I, for one, believe the iPhone rumor. There is wayyy too much evidence pointing toward it. I've talked to people who work at 1 infinite loop who say that is commonly accepted knowledge that an iPhone is imminent. Thanks to Apple's compartmentalization, nobody knows exactly when or what.

(of interest, my source says she sees always Steve walking down the halls holding all kinds of gadgets nobody has ever seen before – always in a hurry to whatever department the gadget presumably came from)

[stew278]

looks pretty lame. (what's been mocked up)

this rumored phone better have some great features most haven't thought of to make it a real seller. form factors like that alone won't sell much.

[berkleeboy210]

I'm calling for another invite to go out w/ in the next 2 weeks saying "One More Thing" and we'll get the phone and the true vPod

[iProd]

I am holding out on getting a new phone in hopes this will be a universal service phone so I can get it for free from Verizon

[freddiecable]

I agree - a thing called capitalization - they have to develop an iPhone and it would be very stupid not to follow the iPod concept. That's why it takes so long I think...

But - there is nothing in this "news" that's close to "revealed"...

Originally Posted by QCassidy352

arn very rarely posts info from his own sources. When he does, that info is always correct. I'd bet a good deal of my savings that the iphone will look very similar to that pic.

[Mal]

I think I just threw up in my mouth a little. Seriously, that thing looks awful. I know it's just an "artists rendition", but that artist deserves to be taken outside and shot. If Apple brings out one of those, I will have lost all my faith in Jonathan Ives and the design team. No, I won't abandon Apple, but I will abandon my dream of owning an Apple phone someday.

jW

[BWhaler]

This product cannot come soon enough.

Every single phone on the market stinks.

My wife buster her phone today, and called me for a recommendation. All she wants as a Mom is a phone with a long battery life and great reception.

She left the Cingular store with a crappy phone with a million features she will never use.

[xenotaku]

the iPhone is going to be a useless product unless they release it in big enough sizes to replace my iPod. It's like carrying two ipods around. I already have a 60 gig...why would I spend the extra money to buy an expensive phone that only holds 5 gigs or something? It's just a dumb idea, unless they release major sizes that can replace the big ipods. I don't know why everyone is drooling over this thing.

[Sawtoothdude]

why dont they make something original that DOESNT look like the rest of their products?

[MikeTheC]

I presently have a Nokia 6016i which I bought based largely on price.

Assuming the Apple iPhone is a real product (and, obviously, gets released), I will seriously consider purchasing it. One would hope that Apple also puts Bluetooth on it from the start.

If this were a Sony product, they would release it initially with an intentionally feature-hamstrung version, and would then sell next year's model with one or more of those deleted features added to it.

[nemaslov]

Brown maybe!!???

[Bibulous]

I believe it after how they treated Moto, and it makes sense they would announce it after the new ipods. Hope it has 4GB storage at least.

[DaveK]

There are a lot of sound business reasons for Apple to release an iPhone. But the biggest reason is that Steve must have a cell phone and you know he probably hates the industrial design and functionality.

I think that they were supposed to announce this in one of the "one more things" on the 12th and something happened at the last minute. Two items lead me to this conclusion.

1. They never used a satellite link of the keynote to London(think Vodafone), which they mentioned before the keynote. Maybe it was just so London could watch. But then why not the folks at the Apple Expo in Paris.

2. Is it just me, or did the "pre-announcement" of a product that has an "internal" name of iTV, which may or may not be the products real name, strike anyone else as very un-Apple like.

[Donz0r]

Originally Posted by DaveK

There are a lot of sound business reasons for Apple to release an iPhone. But the biggest reason is that Steve must have a cell phone and you know he probably hates the industrial design and functionality.

I think that they were supposed to announce this in one of the "one more things" on the 12th and something happened at the last minute. Two items lead me to this conclusion.

1. They never used a satellite link of the keynote to London(think Vodafone), which they mentioned before the keynote. Maybe it was just so London could watch. But then why not the folks at the Apple Expo in Paris.

2. Is it just me, or did the "pre-announcement" of a product that has an "internal" name of iTV, which may or may not be the products real name, strike anyone else as very un-Apple like.

You raise good points, but yesterday the big announcement was iTunes Movies. many people would be skeptical about downloading movies just a few bucks cheaper tahn you can Buy the dvd. So apple HAD to show that you could watch the downloaded movies on your TV somehow. Steve presented it correctly, the iTV was the missing link that made downloading movies via iTunes plausable.

[DaveK]

Originally Posted by Donz0r

You raise good points, but yesterday the big announcement was iTunes Movies. many people would be skeptical about downloading movies just a few bucks cheaper tahn you can Buy the dvd. So apple HAD to show that you could watch the downloaded movies on your TV somehow. Steve presented it correctly, the iTV was the missing link that made downloading movies via iTunes plausable.

Granted, you "will" be able to watch movies on your tv with iTV next year, probably when Leopard comes out. Tough spot for Apple to be in. It always seemed as though they were in command of their product announcements. Now it seems that they are responding to the likes of Amazon's Unboxed, LG's Choclate, and the Backberry Pearl(a coincidence that it hit stores Sept 12?). Or maybe it's just the other way around. These companies could be getting out their products knowing an Apple is rolling their way.