iPhone in the wild: French edition

In a testament to the global nature of Apple's hype power, even French speaking citizens of the world are tracking and tagging iPhone users in the wild (even if they do just happen to be visiting Cupertino). Here we see an innocent, mild-mannered iPhone test subject caught candidly making a call (to John Appleseed, we assume), while walking down a sun-filled, money-lined avenue in the sleepy burg. The photographer manages to steal a moment with the gentleman for a close up shot, and hey -- that screen looks pretty good in the sun. Check the link for translation and photos.

[Rohit Kapur @ Jun 28th 2007 12:49PM]

Say what you want, pro-Apple or anti, pro-iPhone or otherwise, but that's a sweet looking device. :-)

[Yayaja @ Jun 28th 2007 12:49PM]

Hmmm... I didn't know apple was coming out with a cell phone. Good for them!

[brendan Sheehan jnr @ Jun 28th 2007 6:07PM]

Yeah, just heard about it yesterday, iThink it's called the Zune Phone right? :D

[Kevin @ Jun 28th 2007 1:00PM]

looks like it's in the shade to me...

[CharlieX @ Jun 28th 2007 1:00PM]

I'm over it. As much as I love Apple products, and am excited to see someone else buy an iPhone so I can play with it, and then wait patiently for some 3G and tethering edition, let's just get back to the other gadgets.

Remember how excited we all were for Phantom Menace? yep....

[taintedblue @ Jun 28th 2007 1:05PM]

its almost impossible to see but i think it says cingular in the corner, not at&t. are we sure this is a working model phone or a dummy phone?

[T H @ Jun 28th 2007 1:09PM]

You are right... hmm, interesting. Damn, it is a hot phone- I just can't stomach buying it until they come up with an IM solution, add 3G, etc.. so iPhone 2.0.

[Fred @ Jun 28th 2007 1:09PM]

I'd say it's real. The date on the Calendar icon is the 27th.

[Ellianth @ Jun 28th 2007 1:09PM]

it does say cingular

[Johnny Appleseed @ Jun 28th 2007 1:12PM]

Good pickup. You're right. Something is not quite right with this photo.
All iphones are supposed to say AT&Tingular these days, not cingular. Can we say this is some type of covert marketing by apple--making it look like someone caught it in the wild, when in fact it was staged. Hmm...well, we can speculate, but most likely will never know the answer. Either way, the Cingular brand on the iphone is not right!

[Paul @ Jun 28th 2007 1:21PM]

Strange indeed. Something isn't adding up here. The phone has the *new* YouTube application, but it has the Cingular logo. All iPhone pics have said AT&T since the merger was finalized, and that was long before the YT app was announced.

[rgk @ Jun 28th 2007 1:52PM]

i have at&t and my w950i still shows cingular as the provider

[gian @ Jun 28th 2007 1:55PM]

The name is pushed out by the local switch. Not all of Cingular's MTSOs have been updated. In Atlanta, all the phones still say Cingular. Geez, you guys are nit-picky.

[LiQuiD_FuSioN @ Jun 28th 2007 2:30PM]

No, not "nit-picky", Gian..

..just highly observant.

[Brandon @ Jun 28th 2007 2:37PM]

It probably says Cingular still because of the old SIM cards. I recently received a new SIM card and when I put it in, it said 'Cingular' for a few minutes, then slyly switched to say 'At&T'.

So it's probably just an old SIM.

[Ellianth @ Jun 28th 2007 1:08PM]

Anyone know any other good gadget sites? I wanna see if everyone is as obsessed with the iphone as engadget. And don't tell me about the engadget sans iphone link. I don't remember it and I don't want it.

[Fred @ Jun 28th 2007 1:09PM]

How about, www.apple.com\iphone ? Maybe iLounge?

[Jonhimslf @ Jun 28th 2007 1:10PM]

http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.run?_id=eJGx0YQf3BGDYF8lJhOy0Q&_render=rss

[Malcolm @ Jun 28th 2007 1:09PM]

yea i think it says cingular.. and the notes icon is still th ere.. not the microsoft exchange icon. dont know if that means anything but..

[zorg @ Jun 28th 2007 1:09PM]

Yeah, this is interesting news, yet I read at the Seattle Times that we probably should pay no attention to it. Apparently, a high-tech firm based in Redmond, Washington, has studied this device and concluded:

. rate plans "lock you in" to $$$ you'd never spend on other plans, ringtones, etc.

. somebody else invented multitouch 25 years ago, so why not wait until it appears in a more trusted device any minute now

. may cause explosive defecating in teenagers

. (which reminds me) a brown zune may offer a better "cool" factor

. what about people-ready business (tm)

. reviewers who rave about it have secret reservations and / or are gay bois

[T H @ Jun 28th 2007 1:39PM]

I dont know, but to me the Zune has ALWAYS screamed "loser". Not a Microsoft/Apple bias, it's just really not that cool, specs aside.

And what the hell is a "secret reservation"? Don't try to be clever if you're not going to make sense. Making a judgement on sexual preference based on someone's tech-based blog is just silly, and raises a eyebrow at YOU, buddy...

[Stephen @ Jun 28th 2007 1:17PM]

Yeah, I don't want a multitouch device unless it comes in the form of a big ass table.

[zorg @ Jun 28th 2007 1:52PM]

Oops! I think your sarcastometer needs to be set lower.

My post was supposed to be a sarcastic rehash of the hysterical iPhone-whining the Seattle Times featured this week, presumably at the behest of a high-tech firm based in Redmond. You were sort of supposed to know that the Zune is a loser, that MS has been paying people to add the slogan "people-ready business" to their blogs, that they like to pigeonhole apple fans as "designers" or use the "boi" spelling, and so on. Maybe you did get all this, and it's my sarcastometer that needs resetting.

In my haste, I forgot to add the following bullet point, which was originally my reason to post:

. only the America-haters could call it a "French" edition, instead of a Freedom edition

[RikF @ Jun 28th 2007 2:49PM]

Y'know, I was with you on the sarcasm, until you decided that 'gay' should be used as a term of insult. After that, you were just an idiot.

[FermitTheKrog @ Jun 28th 2007 1:10PM]

Apple's making a phone now?

[brendan Sheehan jnr @ Jun 28th 2007 6:10PM]

They made they a while back, they're going on sale now! :P

[John @ Jun 28th 2007 1:11PM]

It looks like that iPod has a phone in it.
Does it have HDMI?
A2DP2L Support?
What about support for my MemoryStick?
Does it support Orgg Vorbis?

[Ondra Soukup @ Jun 28th 2007 1:50PM]

Memory Stick ? What a joke, you go ahead and try to get specification from Sony :D
And what other phone has HDMI output...I want a reply, specific model...thanks ;)

[Jeff Foster @ Jun 28th 2007 2:03PM]

amazing how easily sarcasm is lost on this crowd. :P

[Constable Odo @ Jun 28th 2007 2:45PM]

Yes to all those features. User switchable back and uploadable patches. They're all last minute additions to the retail version iPhone.

[compubasic @ Aug 1st 2007 11:41AM]

Sarcasm is lost b/c most of these tech nerds are freakin' autistic. Learn the meaning of "just joking" please...

[ScOObyDoo @ Jun 28th 2007 1:13PM]

Total fake. Remember Pogue saying part of the back was plastic?

[paloooz @ Jun 28th 2007 1:18PM]

http://www.apple.com/iphone/gallery/360/

[Atanas Boev @ Jun 28th 2007 1:14PM]

Hahahaha:)

But if it is in France, probably the call is to Jean Graine de'Pomme:)

[Pez @ Jun 28th 2007 1:16PM]

Does the service bar on that say Cingular?

[James @ Jun 28th 2007 1:17PM]

Where's Apple iRack? I'm still waiting for it!

[Cody Boring @ Jun 28th 2007 1:26PM]

Notice how it still sayes Cingular at the top of the screen...Intersting!

[Jason G @ Jun 28th 2007 1:28PM]

um...yer phone is kinda beg.....

[monon @ Jun 28th 2007 1:31PM]

oshhh! it's clearly not under direct sunlight

[Maxxxximus @ Jun 28th 2007 1:36PM]

It says 8:11 PM at high noon. Caca.....

[Red @ Jun 28th 2007 2:59PM]

The current sunset in France is around 9:58PM, so the picture was probably taken during the evening and not at noon. Evidence: look at the long shadows in the other shots.

[Ondra Soukup @ Jun 28th 2007 1:46PM]

Yeah, welcome to Cupertino, Apple HQ :)

[Joey M @ Jun 28th 2007 1:53PM]

I love the translated web pages...always leads to comically absurd results.

This was my favorite comment:

"It was an ellipse! immediately! that says if it is a pretty employee with a iphone, I am taking!"

[Josh @ Jun 28th 2007 1:56PM]

Depending on the market you are located in, your iPhone may very well still say Cingular in the corner when in fact most of the graphics and branding say AT&T. This is called an alpha tag.

Updates have not yet been sent to all phones in all existing markets and over the course of the next two to three months AT&T is expecting this to be completed.

The overseas use could very well contribute to the iPhone saying Cingular instead of AT&T. Just as mentioned before, the market you are using the phone in has a lot to do with the service branding.

Correct - your phone will probably have AT&T graphics when started up or when using service-based features, but the alpha tag can be anything.

Perfectly logical and plausible situation. If your iPhone still says Cingular and you wish for it to say AT&T, call Customer Service and ask for an over-the-air (OTA) roaming list. If denied, you can always ask for an update specifically to change the alpha tag. Depending on your assigned representative, they may or may not do it.

[drew @ Jun 28th 2007 2:01PM]

"I adoooooore contour the chrome one"

[Gene Cowan @ Jun 28th 2007 2:10PM]

What's the deal with the "58" in the upper left corner of the screen? Shouldn't that be a battery icon?

[James @ Jun 28th 2007 2:30PM]

I heard the iPhone is HUGE. So, the guy in the photo has a HUGE hand.

[taintedblue @ Jun 28th 2007 2:34PM]

YES! more proof that its a fake. I remember when i was in highschool kids used to buy the demo phones so they could pretend they were talking on them.

[taintedblue @ Jun 28th 2007 2:36PM]

YES! more proof that its a fake. I remember when i was in highschool kids used to buy the demo phones so they could pretend they were talking on them.

sorry about the double post.

[loci @ Jun 28th 2007 2:49PM]

frenchmen utilise google maps to find safest route to run away in times of war