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iPhone Dock Revealed?

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,740
31,165


Gizmodo posted an odd story claiming to have an image of the iPhone dock and providing a poorly hand drawn rendition.

What the story fails to realize or mention is that the iPhone dock was shown during the Macworld San Francisco keynote when the iPhone was introduced:

iphonedock_300.png
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2007/02/16/iphone-dock-revealed/
whooleytoo

whooleytoo

macrumors 604
Aug 2, 2002
6,607
716
Cork, Ireland.
Hmmm..

How does this tally with the patent application for magnetic induction charging? I thought the point of that was being able to slide an iPhone into its dock in either landscape or portrait orientation.
 
superleccy

superleccy

macrumors 6502a
Oct 31, 2004
997
187
That there big London
Macrumors said:
What the story fails to realize or mention is that the iPhone dock was shown during the Macworld San Francisco keynote when the iPhone was introduced.
Click to expand...

To be fair to Gizmondo, the image of the "dock" shown at MWSF looks like it was knocked-up very quickly in photoshop. See how the iPhone doesn't actually go into the dock, but in-front of it. This is clearer to see if you watch the quicktime stream again.

However, this does not necessarily lend any more credibility to the Gizmondo story.

SL
 
justflie

justflie

macrumors 6502a
Nov 29, 2005
888
1
Red Sox Nation
Exclusive iPhone News!!!

Did you know that the iPhone only has one button on the front?! WOWWWWWWWWWWW.

Yeah, slow newsday I guess...:p
 
thejadedmonkey

thejadedmonkey

macrumors G3
May 28, 2005
9,184
3,346
Pennsylvania
What's also interesting is that the iPhone connector has two cables coming out of the bottom. Perhaps that's just for the development unit, but it is interesting to see.
Click to expand...
Two cables... one to charge and sync... and one for a landline?
 
szark

szark

macrumors 68030
May 14, 2002
2,886
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Arid-Zone-A
I like this reply in the comments:

Pogueman said:
Jobs DID show the dock at the Expo, and us lucky journalists even got to touch it (ooooh!!!).

The little hole to the right is, in fact, for the Bluetooth earpiece. It's also a *magnetic* little hole, so the earpiece sort of inserts *itself*.

NOW how much would you pay?...

--David Pogue
Click to expand...
 
NNO-Stephen

NNO-Stephen

macrumors 6502
Jun 9, 2003
278
0
Tulsa, Oklahoma
lol szark, I was just going to post the same comment.

gizmodo really has been ****** as of late... they repeat old news like it's hot off the presses (iPhone from Cisco, and now this) and Engadget just flat out kills them in every respect anyway.

plus registering to comment on a blog is idiotic.
 
C

ChrisA

macrumors G5
Jan 5, 2006
12,599
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Redondo Beach, California
whooleytoo said:
Hmmm..

How does this tally with the patent application for magnetic induction charging? I thought the point of that was being able to slide an iPhone into its dock in either landscape or portrait orientation.
Click to expand...

We have to assume that the iPhone hardware design is done and complete. It likely was complete months ago, before the keynote for sure.

The patent application was recently filed and could not apply to a product that is as far along as the iPhone. If this wireless technology is used by Apple then it will be used on a future product. What's the average time between patent application and a product using it to be available? Certainly no shorter than 18 to 24 months and most patents never become products.
 
C

ChrisA

macrumors G5
Jan 5, 2006
12,599
1,733
Redondo Beach, California
thejadedmonkey said:
Two cables... one to charge and sync... and one for a landline?
Click to expand...

Two cables on the dock would solve one major annoyance associated with iPods, that you need to have the computers powered up to charge the iPod. The second cable likely goes to a "wall wart" plug in transformer so the dock can supply charging power if the computer is off or if there is no computer. Or, possibly the charger uses more power then a USB cable can supply. I forgot the maximum current the USB standard allows but it's not a lot.

If the second cable were for a land line then how would the land line signal get to the iPhone when you remove the iPhone from the dock? That would mean the dock would need it's own wireless transmitter. A USB bus powered wireless transmitter in side the dock?? Unlikely.
 
bdj21ya

bdj21ya

macrumors 6502a
Sep 13, 2006
559
0
ChrisA said:
If the second cable were for a land line then how would the land line signal get to the iPhone when you remove the iPhone from the dock? That would mean the dock would need it's own wireless transmitter. A USB bus powered wireless transmitter in side the dock?? Unlikely.
Click to expand...

While I would agree that it's QUITE unlikely, if the dock is plugged in to the computer (which is on your home network which likely has wireless--a lot of people I talk with don't even realize you can plug in a computer to get the internet) then it could THEORETICALLY communicate with the computer to interface with a voice line--the dock wouldn't need to be a wireless station.

Again, I REALLY doubt this concept.
 
simX

simX

macrumors 6502a
May 28, 2002
765
4
Bay Area, CA
ChrisA said:
Two cables on the dock would solve one major annoyance associated with iPods, that you need to have the computers powered up to charge the iPod. The second cable likely goes to a "wall wart" plug in transformer so the dock can supply charging power if the computer is off or if there is no computer. Or, possibly the charger uses more power then a USB cable can supply. I forgot the maximum current the USB standard allows but it's not a lot.
Click to expand...

If that is annoying you, then perhaps you should buy the already-available "wall wart" that has been available for all iPods since the original was released in 2001, and has made this "annoyance" completely trivial.
 
B

bretm

macrumors 68000
Apr 12, 2002
1,951
27
superleccy said:
To be fair to Gizmondo, the image of the "dock" shown at MWSF looks like it was knocked-up very quickly in photoshop. See how the iPhone doesn't actually go into the dock, but in-front of it. This is clearer to see if you watch the quicktime stream again.

However, this does not necessarily lend any more credibility to the Gizmondo story.

SL
Click to expand...

I think you need to pay attention a little more. The dock actually has a cutout at the bottom to accomodate the items of the phone that are in that area. Microphone, home button.
 
iMeowbot

iMeowbot

macrumors G3
Aug 30, 2003
8,634
0
thejadedmonkey said:
Two cables... one to charge and sync... and one for a landline?
Click to expand...
The standard iPod dock already has three cable connections, for the dock cable, audio, and video.
whooleytoo said:
How does this tally with the patent application for magnetic induction charging?
Click to expand...
If that feature was earmarked for this product generation, Steve would have said something at the keynote, it would be too cool to leave out.

Apple patents tend to misdirect, so that technology could be planned for some other unannounced product, we'll just have to wait and see.
 
W

Whistleway

macrumors 6502
Feb 16, 2005
347
0
whoopdedoo.. I am going to make a blog post on iPhone charger and submit it to MR. Yeah, it is all white.. Oh, damn, we did already had a post on inductance charger.

Really, WTF..
 
DMann

DMann

macrumors 601
Jan 13, 2002
4,001
0
10023
Bluetooth Earpiece

szark said:
I like this reply in the comments:
Click to expand...

How great is that, charge the iPhone and BT earpiece simultaneously...
Now, perhaps we'll be hearing about a "secret power saving feature"
called iPanel, internal solar panels which charge the iPhone while
outside during the day:p
 
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