The iHome?
By Peter Rojas 
posted Jan 7th 2005 8:51PM
posted Jan 7th 2005 8:51PM
Is this the headless $500 Mac we've been hearing about? Every Macworld there's always a bunch of hoaxsters who think
they'll get their kicks pranking the Mac community with fake pics of some hot new product that Stevie J. is rumored to
be coming out. We can't vouch for the authenticity of these, but a bunch of pics and a video have turned up showing the
"iHome Media Center" being removed from its box. If it's legit (and again, we still don't know this for sure), then
what we're looking at is a small-form factor Mac with a slot-loading optical drive and a bunch of ports around
back.
[Thanks, Sean and Rui]
I WANT IT!!!!
Someone did a very nice job on that one. But you can tell from the fit and finish of the box that it's not an Apple job. At least I hope their quality hasn't slipped that much. Not sure how likely it is these things even have boxes yet, let alone ones with UK spellings (Centre).
I vote FAKE
1. CENTRE - spelled wrong - for USA.
2. the iHOME would be upsidedown if you hold the box by the handle
3. no RCA or S-Video ports
4. too many other things to list
Since when does Apple use British spellings? Centre? That just doesn't seem right to me. Still, it might be legit.
Of course, I feel for the Apple PDA video hoax a few years ago, so I'm probably not the best authority on these things.
is it me or does it remind anyone of the current xbox shape.
Looks better than any of the hoaxes I've seen before; it certainly looks like a Mac. Hopefully the production version won't say "iHome" on the top in big letters.
Someone's gone to a hell of a lot of trouble to produce this if its not authentic. Usually its just a bunch of photoshop pics, but it looks like that first one is a real machine.It does look as though someones stuck a piece of paper onto the fron of it though!
Absolutely fake. First, Apple is an American company. I have never seen them spelt Media "Centre" in the British English way.
Plus, if you look carefully, the "iHome" thing is actually a print out. It's so flat and the Apple logo and the "iHome" wording were a sheet sticked on the box.
I would give a credit to the creator because he know how to make the whole thing looked realistic by using a low quality camera. SO it's not so easy to crack.
Well at least they got the spelling of CENTRE correct -
which makes me very suspicious about the origin of this..... did the photos come from the UK???
Hmmmmmm........
FAKE - FAKE - FAKE
icharry has it "right on the money" with his 2nd point:
"the iHOME would be upsidedown if you hold the box by the handle"
I woul be the one of the first to place an order for such a deivce (I'm waiting until next week to order the DVD recorder we bought ourselves for Christmas) - but this unfortnately is pure fiction.
I'm pretty sure Apple gave up support on UK English localisations years ago. As much as I'd love to believe it, I can't see something as closely guarded as this being left alone unattended in some elevator!
I would vote yes on this one, if only for one thing, the instruction manual. Have you ever seen a hoaxer put in an instruction manual before?
As for the lack of standard video ports, iBooks and such come with little ports that let you adapt for vga and composite/svhs.
But why would this machine be left out for this guy's greedy little hands?
That's the wrong typeface. Apple uses a version of Myriad for iPod, iTunes, iWhatever. The letter "O" in that face is too wide and round versus the slightly compressed "O" in Myriad. Plus the "M" in Media Centre should angle out a little bit at the end bars, not perfectly vertical as shown. Nice try though! :)
Ooooooh. Aren't you worried you're going to get sued for posting this?!?!?!
Seriously, I give this hoax a C-. A for effort. D- for believability. You know if Jobs actually came up with a home media center, it would be shaped like a cantaloupe with a pulsating apple logo always in view.
Also aside from spelling and upside-down graphics:
Box does not conform to Apple's style guidelines (i.e. side panels show side profile of product, etc. [eMac excepted, of course])
Also, the padding does not work... there's no protection to keep it from impacting against the 'lid' of the box, and the foam is not of the quality round-cornered shells used by Apple (note also the haphazardly filled-in right side).
Note the tell tale flap of paper hanging down on the left hand side of the lid on the 5th photo - a Prit Stick job I reckon.
Besides, Apple's never going to be coming up with anything looking as boxy and grey as that. Come on!
I'm thinking/hoping it ends up looking like the 'iCenter' design at http://www.applepete.com/concepts/
I tend towards hoax. The "iHome" font doesn't look like the real Apple Myriad font, and the "iHome" text on the top of the box? Way too big and tacky looking. Only a couple of days to see what's up anyway.
I zoomed these images in Photoshop and I think they are fakes. The iHome logo on the box top is not even centered with the handle! Also some of the prospective looks a little off on a few shots. Where the hell are the RGB/Componet inputs on the back? Still a really good fake. ((Wish it was true))..
I feel that Apple is loosing ground in the home media fight.
Watched the video and it looks like its pretty light (empty!!)
im gonna wait for the iHomie
It's a hoax:
- "Centre" instead of "Center" (british spelling)
- DC jack instead of AC plug (an external power adapter would be contrary to Apple's design philosophy)
- Looks like someone stretched an iBook G4 12" using Photoshop :)
I agree it's a hoax:
1. Centre - spelled wrong - for US market
2. the "iHOME Media Centre" would be upsidedown if you hold the box by the handle
3. no RCA or S-Video ports
4. this box is HUGE for something that's only a G4 w/ a 40GB HDD
....plus it looks like a grey paper band wrapped around the side with holes cut out for ports.
Oh yeah, and "iHome" is currently registered to iHome LLC. of Snoqualmie, WA
http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=108r78.2.2
If this is authentic, it would mean Apple won't introduce a new version of iTunes Tuesday. With every new version, Apple uses a different color for the circle with the version number (see apple.com/itunes). It's orange with 4.7. On the iHome box, the circle is orange...
call it a curse - but i can spot bad type from 100 yrds away. i say phoney. apple wouldn't let iHome and Media Centre be slightly off center from one another, or in the wrong font (although, it looks that one is a bastard step child). the dot on the i should be round not square. and i'm pretty sure they only use grey, not black, for type.
Who in their right mind would be sending out non-released products for display at a tradeshow in fully labelled Hey-everyone-look-at-our-stuff-you're-not-supposed-to-see retail packaging anyway?
You probably already know it, but I call shens.
Isn't it every year the same? Some fake prototypes seem always to show up just in time for some great pre Apple Expo Buzz. I mean, I would love to have an Apple Media Center/Centre device, but doesn't it seem a bit unlikely since some details are just wrong? First, spelling of centre. However, this could be on purpose, since there may have been troubles with trademarks on iCenter or so. Second: Why would Apple make the same mistake again and again and let prototype images leak a few days before announcement? I mean, I work in a Swiss Bank and they manage to keep their annuals results from beeing published in advance as well, even tough they have many many people in their company that could get their hands on these (me, for example ;-) So why would Apple have such a big problem with keeping their employees' mouth shut (soory if that sounds rude)... And third: Why would Apple use a "buzz word" on a product's name? As far as I remember, they never did that before... (new communication strategy?) And if using a tag line, why "media centre/center" which is clearly a Microsoft "buzz word"?
Think about it, think different ;-)
PS: Sorry for my english: I'm Swiss, it's late and I am a little drunk... ;-)
call it a curse - but i can spot bad type from 100 yrds away. i say phoney. apple wouldn't let iHome and Media Centre be slightly off center from one another, or in the wrong font (although, it looks that one is a bastard step child). the dot on the i should be round not square. and i'm pretty sure they only use grey, not black, for type.
By the way ....did you know there was a website on the web some time ( maybe a year ago ) where a clever craftsman sold selfmade G3 pizza boxes....They looked pretty neat....I dont remember the Price...and sure within short time Apples Lawyer busted the whole thing.....But the boxes looked really nice....much better than this hoax...
Beside the BE: There is no Power-button! There are no holes for cooling!
Look at the video how this guy balances the thing on the package. Too light. FAKE
Xerox uses the spelling of "Centre" for it's Work Centre series of copiers here in the US and elsewhere.
What's caught my eye is the smallish box on top of the Cinema Display, could that be the new breakout box for GarageBand (whatever it's name is and Apple is suing some rumor site over)???
On the next to last pic one can make out the piece of paper the "iHome" logo was printed on (on a Work Centre 35 no doubt...).
Fake Fake Fake
Apple stuff is locked in boxes before any major event and not left lying about.
sorry all. nothing to see here... move along...
Lars, are you talking about this?
http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,58310,00.html
The small box has the type of design Apple uses for AirPort-Cards or power bricks. Nothing special.
How many Apple fanatics does it take to declare an obvious hoax an obvious hoax? Stay tuned... the night is still young.
(Wow! This entry has more than 27 posts and noone has yet mentioned the iPod! Wow! Oh, darn, I guess I just did!)
If you ask me, the most obvious thing was that, all along, they've said it was going to be an **iMac** thus denoting that it would actually *say* iMac, not iHome. What a dumba#@.
Besides, Apple's case wouldn't have battered corners, they have rounded corners! If you look at the third picture from the top, the conrner is obviously dented, lol!
I hope this isn't the headless! If it is put me down for a ibook. and who wants to look at that big iHome logo on the front. also that box looks kind of fishy with the photos of people.
I sure hope this is sketchy
Centre can be spelled both ways same meaning and it supports TiVo aswell.
iwho ithinks ithat ithis iwhole "i"thing iis iplayed iout inow? i do
It's probably a fake because the size of the optical drive slot is WAY too large. See the third pic from the bottom (with the hand holding the unit), the width of the drive slot compared to the hand next to it gives away the clue. By my estimate, based on the pic, that slot is at least one and a half times longer than it should be. Of course, my judgement is valid only if that slot is indeed for regular cds/dvds.
ok i took another look that shit looks like a box looke at corners that shit is fake.
Whoops, stand corrected. JChan mentioned the iPod in #12...
"That's the wrong typeface. Apple uses a version of Myriad for >>>>>> iPod <<<<<<< iTunes, iWhatever... Plus the "M" in Media Centre should angle out a little bit at the end bars, not perfectly vertical as shown. Nice try though! :)"
Dude, its not the M, its the UK spelling of center! That was cleared up in posts #2 and #3. I'm betting this examination of minutiae goes on all night.
Sorry about my earlier observation. I guess I was so hopeful for a new record that I missed it while contemplating the use of Myriad in other Apple products. My bad.
Uh..guys, this is a fake. This hoax was obviously created by the same person that made up the G5 iMac hoax; a poster from AppleInsider forums named Philbot (I think that was his nickname). He took those photos in the VERY SAME elevator.
i know who posted them, they arent fake and they're being developed in the UK research labs of apple hence the spellings, that might all change though according to my mate, because as someone pointed out, someone owns the name iHome.
One more thing:
The slot opening is way too big. Look at it.
Fake. If it was a mini-PC box it would have at least one USB port on the front and a 'normal' VGA or DVI port in the back, instead of the apparent mini-DVI port.
If it's a media box then, as others have said, it's missing a lot of requisite ports like RCA in/out, S-Video, etc.
And the styrofoam is wrong. Apple always uses clamshells. Open the box, see the manual and mouse, then take off the styro to see the nested product.
doesn't elgato systems already make something called EyeHome already? I doubt Apple would copy them...
Def. fake. The font on "media centre" doesnt look right. Apple wouldnt say "centre" either. The front panel wouldnt be that simple, there would be some inputs for headphones or a USB interface, the disk drive looks too wide. The reason it is piled with other apple hardware is to make it look like it belongs... "One of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesnt belong"... The person taking photos wouldnt just happen on a magical stash of apple stuff sitting in a corner like that, nor would they have the time to take those photos.... lame.
Look at this image http://www.weblogsinc.com/common/images/1141583260425672.JPG
It looks pretty much like its just a box. The right side of the unit looks a bit crumpled up - hidden by the apparent low resolution of the photo.
What would be interesting is if this were an ACTUAL early/rejected/unrefined apple prototype/mockup. Maybe there is some "pre-XXXX leak department" that gets us all reved up right before an announcement.
I should win some prize or something, but that is two ibooks put together with a thin piece of gray paper wrapping it. You can tell by the edges. Someone then put a fake cover on it. look at your ibook and you can see the ports are in the same location.
So what do I win....
It's obviously a fake. You can even make out the tape on the corners.
There's no trademark for any iHome product by Apple Computer on the United States trademark and patent office web sight so its BS.
I think the strongest argument for this being fake is the lack of s-video, and rca outputs that someone already mentioned.
:: Update from San Francisco ::
Semi trucks arriving at Moscone Center today....think about all the goodies inside! Can't wait!
The font used in the pics is called Frutiger. It's what tipped me off to the fakeness in like 3 milliseconds after I saw the first pic. Others are right: Apple uses Myriad in all their corporate branding.
Dammit! I coulda scooped this.
It's pictured in the "Design Within Reach" print catalog on page 36.
I just don't keep up with Mac's enough to recognize the latest "iMac" designs.
The reason the typeface looks wrong is that our faker used Frutiger instead of Myriad. Myriad has a round dot on the i in addition to the slanted sides of the M (as someone else noted).
See for yourself:
http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/linotype/frutiger/
http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/linotype/myriad/
This iHome seems to me like more of a cardboard mockup rather than the item itself. In one of the photos, there is dented corner and a flap at the other. Seems to me to be more like a cardboard box. There is a lack of 'intelligent & creative' styling to it.
I do not believe this is a hoax. I personally saw something that looked like this in my university's computer store today. It was on a demonstration with music playing and a small musical keyboard attached to it. I might check tommarow to confirm this.
Lol This Is Funny if u watch the video the guy picks it up with one hand n like turns it as if it weighed nothing LOL this a Fake thing!! Watch the video the way his hand picks it up it doesnt go down as if it weighed u know!?
please disregard my post.
It looks like a modified Tivo box. Fake.
Interesting note here too...this pic is in an elevator just like the one from last year of the "new iMac".
Last years hoax in an elevator:
http://www.enochchoi.com/thoughts/archives/001095.html
This years hoax in an elevator:
http://www.weblogsinc.com/common/images/0423187196564954.JPG?0.3795516949018166
We've cruised past 50 posts. Let's see what we have learned (just in case you still think its real).
It has to be a hoax because...
1. this iHome seems to me like more of a cardboard mockup
2. our faker used Frutiger instead of Myriad
3. the lack of s-video, and rca outputs that someone already mentioned
4. elgato systems already makes something called EyeHome
5. there's no trademark for any iHome product by Apple Computer
6. it is going to be an **iMac** thus denoting that it would actually *say* iMac, not iHome
7. Apple stuff is locked in boxes before any major event and not left lying about
8. Apple wouldn't let iHome and Media Centre be slightly off center from one another
9. centre - spelled wrong - for US market
10. the iHOME would be upsidedown if you hold the box by the handle
and my favorite, to put it simply...
11. that shit is fake
I think that settles it just dandy!
that's two ibooks taped together. if you look close, not only is the top "iHome" and Apple logo a peice of paper, but so are the ports/sides. And (excepting the crap they put over the graphics) that's an iBook box. I guarantee it.
the stock photos of people on the box just plain suck. way way below apple standards. one more reason this is fake-diddly-ake.
http://dms.tecknohost.com/macrumors/i/ihome/video-0001.3gp
Video up here... :O def not a photoshop, maybe a clever build of a fake machine
Damn that's fake!!!!!
U see That Video Posted On 64 is the video as u see u can tell its hollow inside because of the way he turns it!!!
FAKE!!
Okay everyone, here is by far the most obvious proof of that it's fake:
Here are two links to images from above that I took into photoshop, inverted colors and adjusted the contrast. You can clearly see in these two (and others above), that the "iHome" and Apple Logo on the top of the unit is just a piece of paper probably taped to a white box. Take a look:
http://img60.exs.cx/img60/9154/proof12ys.jpg
http://img55.exs.cx/img55/601/proof27yk.jpg
Nothing more to see here. Not a very good try, I'm afraid...
I haven't ready any of the other comments, but if you don't know this already, this is definitely fake.
Definitely FAKE
Photoshop forensic analysis:
http://simonwoodside.com/weblog/2005/01/08
--simon
I don't trust it's real as far as I could spit an iWalk, but I do think it's really cute.
http://www.danamania.com/temp/ihome.jpg
looks neato under a cinema display too :)
thats it Stop the Comments Number LUCK 69 LOL makes the whole thing that its FAKE!!
Thnx For Everything Guys
T H I S I S T O O F U N N Y !!!
favorite quotes:
1.
" Posted Jan 7, 2005, 9:52 PM ET by Andy in VT
How many Apple fanatics does it take to declare an obvious hoax an obvious hoax? Stay tuned... the night is still young."
2.
"Posted Jan 8, 2005, 12:37 AM ET by S Woodside
....Photoshop forensic analysis:
http://simonwoodside.com/weblog/2005/01/08 "
I should post one for sale as a hoax on my website www.usedmac.ca
Hey Drunkards,
Look at the boxes, have you ever seen a mac box that wasn't perfectly constructued? Look at the iPod box, there were no open spaces around the edges at all! These are obvious fakes, im glad to be the first one to solve this mystery, hahahhahaha!
I think my pizza is burning
Later Dudes,
-TKE GO BADGERS
I think fake as well, but it'd sure be sweet if it was real.
Well I have designed a few apple advertisements in my day and the reason I know this is fake is because that is the wrong font on the box.
Apple uses Myriad. That font looks alot like it but has subtle differences that make it bunk. The i in iHome has a square dot... myriad is round.
The M in Media has straight sides... myriads M has slanted sides...
Very close... but with the foam being shoddy... nothing is packed tight.. and apple wouldnt put iHome so big on the top of the device.. and the crappy box toboot... its a fake
its a hoax....the ihome on the top is a piece of paper glued on......also....the ports on it are the same ports as the 12 inch powerbook/ibook finally...why the heck would they use a miniDVI port on this box? doesnt make sense
#1 Reason This Is Fake...
Apple's lawyers haven't demanded that the pictures come down.
(Geez, none of you thought of that yet?)
Sorry if im repeathing anything, but:
The cardboard cover piece over the unit itself is too small, it doesn't fit right at all.
Also, on a shot of the box itself, theres a naked man.
After close inspection and you will see that the box (unit) is not square. In addition the font is not correct. But it's a pretty good job. Nice try but no-go! Apple would not do such a shabby job on a consumer device. It's not in their DNA
Heh,
The most fun I've had since the iWalk. You dooo remember the iWalk, no? Enjoy a trip down Macworld 2002's hoax-memory lane:
http://tinyurl.com/44yw8
Good times.
LOL WTF cares what overpriced shit will Apple push out? obviously the Maczealots.
Is this really an elevator? Lots of people have referred to it as such and the person that originally posted these images is supposed to have sent fake pics before in the same "elevator." The walls look sort of like a cubicle but why is there a rail there? It's like that butt-support style rail found in elevators. OR is it really a European lift??
I dont know if you all have looked closely, but from the 3gpp video I saw and some of the shots it seems as thought its a cardboard box, take a look at the right hand corner and the way the strip of darker color is over the cd drive, almost looks like a sticker or dark glossy paper of some sort!
Aside from all the other cues that its a fake, I think those are even bigger ones!
This is obviously fake, but what you supersleuths probably don't know is that "Centre" is not only spelled this way in the UK, but also in Canada, that small little country tucked way up north above the great US of A. And of course all companies market their products in the US first before any other country, eh? Hillarious...
If you look at pictures 1, 8, 9 and 10 you will notice an almost "bashed" right side. The corners are a bit cardboardy for my liking. Good try but alas, it's a fake.
This is a fake. If you take a closer look at the 10th picture, you clearly tee that the iHome and Apple logo are nothing more than a sheet of paper sticked to a cardboard box. You can tell its a cardboard box because of the corners. The paper is a bit wrinkled. Tis is a very high quality printout hobby thing.
Nice job though, to mask it with some low-res pics...
Not even close to a real thing. The iHome is probably going to look like this, but this is just a demo thing. A hoax, without a doubt....
Godspeed,
XyonN
i don't know what he used to shoot the video... but the LG VX7000 phone uses a similar video format, and its videos always end in white like that one. i wonder if it was shot with a VX7000. all i'm saying is that it might have been. anyway...
Apple would never use "Media Center" since M$ is using it already.
This is clearly a fake. I work for Apple as an Systems Engineer. I've seen enough iBook boxes to make a man ill. That clearly is one. The styrofoam packing is not consistent, and it is not centred. You can clearly see what appear to be paper creases on the edges of the box. From the video, either the guy handling it is Hercules or it doesn't weigh anything. Even when he rests it on the box the box doesn't move. As for the box, the graphics are all wrong and inconsistent. The device itself in some pictures look like the corners have had pressure applied and are warping, and in the second to final image, you can see what appears to be a piece of paper on top. The static bag is also missing the end-user seal sticker (although it could be hidden.) Oh, and I just noticed. The flap with the slot cut out for the handle: the end is finished (it looks as if the persons simply folded the paper covering around back. On all Apple products, this part of the box is unfinished and ends in the standard cardboard cutaway.
Clearly a fake - just my take on it.
Hey you guys... I don't know if anyone noticed this, but I think this is fake. Here, let me mention all the reasons everyone else has already mentioned because clearly I can see more than everyone else can in these images and the video. I also know a guy whose uncle's dog's friend's owner's plumber's nephew is the guy who sold Steve Jobs a pair of shoes when he was in 8th grade and he showed me an Apple box once and that is NOT an Apple box. I know all 89 people who posted before me didn't mention anything about this being fake, but sorry to dash your hopes guys and be the only one here to say something but it's fake.
So is it a fake or not?
"Clearly a fake - just my take on it."
iAgree
Must be real. I mean, it has the Apple logo on it!
Fake Fake Fake
So Apple released a fake pic to hype up their next product...smart smart people Apple has in their marketing dept.
fake