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Apple Demands Prototype iPhone Back
- Thread starter CooKieMoNs7eR
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Okay let me ask you this: what does Apple GAIN from this free publicity?
They are currently in the middle of the iPad launch with the 3G models coming out in less than two weeks and worldwide availability kicking off next month. The last thing they want is a new (and apparently well specified) iPhone taking the attention away from that.
But let's say they don't mind that, what does the iPhone line gain by extra hype NOW? We're two months away from launch (roughly anyway) and the 3GS and 3G models are still very much on-sale for that time frame. As soon as the date is announced for WWDC keynote the hype will build all on its own. The instant they show the phone on-stage the hype will go into overdrive and every news site will carry a story on it within an hour. Even if it's available that day there'll still be enough pent-up demand to place stress on Apple's supply chain.
So how about Android? Is it putting pressure on iPhone sales and this is a counter to that? Possibly and this is about the only circumstance that I can see which may explain a viral marketing operation. But even then I don't see it. This is really nothing but confirming (assuming it's real which it seems to be) the general direction Apple's going with the hardware. There's nothing running, nothing to make people going for a Desire or Nexus One to place that purchase on hold and in the meantime there's a big knock-on effect to their existing iPhone models.
Sorry but I really can't see a REASON for Apple to leak this. Maybe in two months when we're a week or two away from lunch, yes. But now? Nope, sorry, and that's where the conspiracy theories fall down for me, I just can't see the reason for leaking this at this time and in this manner.
I would say so. The knowingly bought stolen goods.
Gizmodo is not a news organization, they are a blog.
Not exactly. There are different styles, but generally if it's clear-cut ("You have my property. We both know it's mine. Give it back.") the request is brief, courteous, and sticks to short statements of fact. It's counterproductive to start issuing threats when you both have no doubt that the law is on your side, and you know that the other party will surely acquiesce.
No I am not saying "defiantly not". I am saying there is no precedence to accept this as a plat without proof. We have none and absent of proof we have to accept what even Gizmodo says - it was lost.
Until somebody can give me a precedent case where Apple has planted hardware in public where a third party can obtain it and sell it to a news organization, I am calling bull. It goes against everything we know about how Apple handles controlled leaks.
Had this leak emerged two weeks ago, it would been much more of a headache for Apple. It would have overlapped with a lot of iPad news. And had people thinking about buying iPhones instead of buying iPads.
Delaying the leak directly benefitted Apple. It did not benefit Gizmodo.
So why delay?
This is tech-leak of the decade, it is unthinkable that Gizmodo did not contact Apple for comment prior to going public.
What would Apple say?
C.
In fact, absolutely nothing points to that fact.
I suppose that it could be possible that Apple could be in bed with Gizmodo and fabricate a convoluted story about an engineer leaving a prerelease phone in a bar in Redwood City and demand the phone back after it is all over the blogs and on cable news.
Apple, however, has been very successful in the way that it manages information and expectations in the iPhone era, and any divergence from this pattern would seem highly unusual.
No way. You have no idea how much time and money it takes to design a whole new phone. It will be released this way IF this is indeed a near finished model. If they were planning to release another design anyway they're all rolling on the floor by now.
Excellent point, you'd think if this was going to be a controlled leak. It would be closer to launch, but the timing seems off. I actually think this is a genuine accidental leak.
It's already been discussed at length. Read the thread, do a little googling, or pick up a book. If you want just one more example, start with trade secret protections. If you'd like a second, read up on the tort of interference with trade.
The story should end there. Anyone that ISN'T intending to keep / sell the phone would put a message on the owners Facebook account saying "Hey, I've found your phone. Contact me on.." The end.
If you had bothered to read the thread, you'd have seen the replies where I already had to answer six idiotic posts identical to this one by noting that I was refuting people who think that the First Amendment is absolute, not claiming any application to the issue here.
Has anybody but Gizmodo confirmed that this phone has been missing for a month?
Has Apple confirmed this to a 3rd party news source? Has the engineer? Has the "random really drunk person?"
No way they would ask Apple beforehand for any comment. That would lead to a C&D letter faster then you can spell banana.
WTF???????
Where do yo see that??
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
Of course everyone is assuming that the phone was "stolen" by the person who turned it over.
If we assume that this was a planned marketing tactic, which I do, then everyone would have to be in on it, except Gizmodo, in order for this to succesfully work.
As other have said here, if the phone was really lost, why couldn't they trace where the phone was located if they in fact remotely wiped the phone? The process to do "Find my Phone" or a "remote wipe" is the same. You log into mobile me to do either action. They also could have locked the phone remotely with a message that said lost phone and who to contact to return the lost phone. Not to mention, if this really was a prototype to use out in the wild, why would they put all the APPLE stuff on the back case? Would it just be plain and very vague in case it was lost? Or look like a knock off for this very purpose.
All seems to fishy.
Don't forget, the only person who claims to have seen a new operating system, played with it and then saw it was wiped the next day was the "Person" who turned it in. Hmmm.. Unless of course, the phone never worked and he was just saying his learned lines or is an Apple employee himself.
The photo of the "iphone" in the in the "leaked" spy photo of the ipad, show the same connect to itunes on the screen that Gizmodo clams they could see. So... maybe it never actually had a working 4.0 operating system on it.
Hey, maybe Steve is having a little fun since that photo is out there and knows that people have seen the prototype in the photo. So now throw the prototype out there and have us THINK it the real deal as a way to taunt the spies and have everyone chaising their tails. Or maybe it is the real deal.
Who says Apple will do what they have always done and release the new phone design at WWDC? If you look at past rumors, the WWDC is possibly scheduled for June. AT&T has issued a letter saying no vacations in June. This has been done in the past due to new iphone launches. Usually there is a month window between WWDC and the actual release of the new iphone. Given the above rumors regarding WWDC and the AT&T memo this can't be the case. Would seem impossible to do both given the time frame. But if this was Apple's initial big hardware reveal........
The only real new hardware items that would affect possible developers would be the addition of a camera flash and the front facing camera. Both of which I believe were noted by developers and being part of the 4.0 software. The question was will these features be a part of a new phone. Maybe this was the leak to say that they are. Apple jumps in once they posted photo's showing these new hardware items. Apple also could have kept the chips disguised for the parts that they did not want revealed so Gizmodo would have no clue as to other innerworkings.
People have seen the prototype in the photo, why not throw it out there. Then again as others have said, this prototype then goes back months so it may not be the actual production unit but enough to get people talking or thrown off the scent. Keeps up taking about it though.
Not A Controlled Leak
This whole thing has too many legal issues from both sides...there is NO WAY Apple could afford to be involved, as a publicly traded company, in any thing like this. It is fraught with peril.
This whole thing has too many legal issues from both sides...there is NO WAY Apple could afford to be involved, as a publicly traded company, in any thing like this. It is fraught with peril.
Should be easy to check. According to Gizmodo the guy wrote on his facebook account: "I underestimated how good German beer is,". Check the date of that message and you'll know. Guess Gray doesn't react to invites for his Facebook account though.
No one said Apple sold anything to the press. All I'm saying is that there's a first for everything. Whether you like it or not, the scenario I am talking about IS becoming a bigger form of advertising and has the potential to be more effective than traditional methods. Could it for Apple? Maybe. I'm not an expert. But look at all the press and confusion about it. Straight-forward stories aren't as interesting to people and don't last nearly as long in the news.
Now since you like to go the "past experience" route... when has Apple mistakenly left a new product in the "wild" and not come back to get it... and wait so long to get it... again, that is harder to believe than it being on purpose.
We'll have to agree to disagree.. but at least I am open to both possibilities, which both ARE possibilities.
throwing off the scent
Here is my take: Apple has purposely put this phone out there to mislead everyone into thinking this is the the iphone 4 gen. It is all a set up. Essentially kills all speculation about any images to surface after. Sound absurd? Considering the lengths it has gone to in the past to keep things secret, I don't think so.
Here is my take: Apple has purposely put this phone out there to mislead everyone into thinking this is the the iphone 4 gen. It is all a set up. Essentially kills all speculation about any images to surface after. Sound absurd? Considering the lengths it has gone to in the past to keep things secret, I don't think so.