Well here's an interesting one. French iPhone blog iPhon.fr got these pics from an anonymous and unverified source, and while there's no way of telling if the shots are legit, they certainly have a truthy ring to them. They follow
what we know so far about the
shape, size and color of the upcoming 3G iPhone, and while there's always the possibility of knockoff, a Photoshop job, or some other evil plot to mislead us, we're certainly not going to discount these shots entirely in the runup to iPhone's second coming.
Update: Some commenters have pointed out that the size and shape of this phone bares a striking resemblance to LG's Vu. As we said up above, we're not ruling out some handy editing work here.
[Thanks, Janvier]
posted May 2nd 2008 at 7:46AM
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
bahgger @ May 2nd 2008 7:50AM
If that is the new iPhone, it doesn't look all that bad, albeit with more angled curves. I'd get it if my current iPhone goes bust.
Urban Splash @ May 2nd 2008 7:52AM
Looks cracking
Flashpoint @ May 2nd 2008 8:14AM
I bought a brand new iPhone for $300 and unlocked it for $6 with Ziphone Jailbreak.
I like the phone's "fun" features such as Youtube, Google Maps, and Safari but this phone urgently needs JAVA so we can actually view videos on the webpages themselves - otherwise, all i've got is a devicee that zooms in on webpages.
I'm glad the new model will have 3G and GPS so hopefully, apple will design a cradle for car windshields that allows a driver to get in the car, plug in the iphone and use it as a navigation system if all they have is a Honda or Scion or Focus without such technology.
The screen also sucks. Optical quality scratch-resistant glass still gets scratches and its fragility makes the phone difficult to protect.
I find it so ironic that screen covers you'd get for this phone can't be used because of the capacitive touch design.
brickwood @ May 2nd 2008 8:17AM
Looks like the back of my LG KG800 Chocolate (with a little photoshop, of course). Even the scratches match haha.. odd too that i had it in my hand at the time to in the same position when i read this.
Then again.. prob legit.. just wanted to make sure i could say 'told you so' if it turned out to be a hoax.
Rob @ May 2nd 2008 8:21AM
@Flashpoint
Are you crazy?
I had a cover on my screen for about a month and I had no trouble using the touchscreen whatsoever. My friend has another style of cover for his screen and also has no problems. In addition you can buy screen protectors at the Apple Store, why would the sell them if you can't use the touch screen when you apply them as you state?
I took my screen protector off in July last year and have carried my iPhone in my pocket and have certainly NOT gone out of my way to treat it with the respect it deserves, and between my wife and myself (both have iPhones) we have yet to scratch the screen or crack the screen. My wife has dropped the phone on pavement several times with no ill effect.
All this to say that the iPhone has EASILY the most durable screen I have ever used on ANY cell phone I have ever seen. No need for protectors IMHO.
An_asshole @ May 2nd 2008 8:21AM
How much misinformation can there possibly be in one post:
>I bought a brand new iPhone for $300 and unlocked it for $6 with Ziphone Jailbreak.
Why would you spend $6 on an unlock when you could get it for free with the Pwnage tool and not potentially fuck up your phone with Ziphone?
>... but this phone urgently needs JAVA so we can actually view videos on the webpages themselves
It isn't Java you need, its Flash....and don't hold your breath.
>The screen also sucks. Optical quality scratch-resistant glass still gets scratches and its fragility makes the phone difficult to protect.
Are you putting it in the same pocket with your keys or skipping it across the sidewalk or some other dumbassery? Its the toughest screen available in a mobile device. The screen sucks....right.
>I find it so ironic that screen covers you'd get for this phone can't be used because of the capacitive touch design.
Uhh.....What gave you this idea? There are dozens of screen protectors available. I'm using one from www.bestskinsever.com right now and it works just fine.
Juice @ May 2nd 2008 8:31AM
Yeah that Flashpoint guy doesn't sound very smart. Engadget gets a lot of that. You guys should head over to EngadgetMobile. Less dooshbaggery.
BTW does Apple insist on having the slipperiest devices around? The plastic looks less slippery than the metal but still. Where's the soft touch/rubberization?
Richard Lai @ May 2nd 2008 8:42AM
It does make me wonder if the bottom curve will allow the iPhone sit still in a dock... None of the iPods have had a curved bottom, I believe.
Simon @ May 2nd 2008 8:56AM
@ Juice!
Please! No soft rubbery casing, it will be hell to get in and out of the pocket.
That's why i don't use silicon cases for my ipod touch, it's too sticky and is tricky to get out, especially when jammed in a train, as i typically am 7 days a week.
I hope that with the release of the 3G iphone, they actually get it to Japan. I love the phones here, but I love to customize and load new software on it as well.
The New Guy @ May 2nd 2008 9:07AM
Sorry to say, but it looks just like the original iPhone. Shouldn't a "new" product have a "new" design. Okay fine i can understand that it's somewhat different than the original, but if Apple wants people to change there phones, they need to come up with a complete new design.....not just the same thing in a different colour.
Tim Brown @ May 2nd 2008 9:31AM
@ The New Guy, that's what they did with the iPod, several "new designs" were just tweaks, with a "major" design revision every couple of years or so. If it ain't broke (and people are still willing to pay through the nose for it), don't fix it (just get them to buy the "new design" version for another wallet wasting amount). As for me I'm going to wait for a generation or two for the kinks to be ironed out and the apps to start flowing in, oh, and the price to drop.
DorianGray @ May 2nd 2008 9:20PM
@Rob
I know anecdotal evidence contrary to a statement is generally annoying but:
My wife and I also both have iPhones. I represent the worst case scenario for the iPhone. I keep mine in my front pocket with my keys. I've dropped it like a good 15 or 20 times over the past -- what -- 10 months (I'm an "iPhone Day 2007" guy). I've (my little girl) even dropped it down concrete stairs -- twice. Don't really care -- damage will justify buying a Gen 2 when it comes out. End result? A coupla minor scratches on the screen and a coupla dings on the shell.
My wife represents best case. iPhone only out of its soft wallet case to initiate a call then back into its case (bluetooth headset). In the past almost year she has *never* dropped her phone -- I mean it is Day 1 pristine. Last weekend she was pulling weeds. While on her knees, she leans forward, iPhone falls like *1 foot* from its hip holster onto a garden tile. Screen completely spiderwebs.
So, yeah, I agree with you, Rob, 100% that the iPhone has the most durable of any screen I've seen -- but a screen protector is something I'd recommend to anyone who wants to keep their iPhone for a long time.
Quix @ May 2nd 2008 11:14AM
Flashpoint has a bad habit of saying stupid things.
Ignore him.
Khris @ May 2nd 2008 10:46AM
@ Rob
Asking Flashpoint if he was crazy........that was a rhetorical question right? :)
Juice @ May 2nd 2008 11:01AM
@ Simon.
Have you felt a soft touch phone like a Tilt, Dash or Touch? They are not grippy like the silocon cases so they don't get stuck in your pocket. But they do offer a much grippier feel then plastic or metal. I need drop protection.
Matt @ May 2nd 2008 11:44AM
@DorianGray:
I'm not surprised -- garden tiles (i.e. linoleum) are usually much harder than concrete, which explains the iPhone screen would shatter from such a small drop.
A couple years ago I was on vacation and I shattered about 3 bottles of Corona by accidentally dropping them from literally *1 foot* onto the linoleum tile. That stuff will shatter glass like there's no tomorrow!
Zoroaster @ May 2nd 2008 1:02PM
@Matt
This is nitpicky but linoleum and tile aren't the same things. Linoleum is actually quite soft. You're thinking of ceramic or porcelain tile. As the son of a man who owns a flooring store, I figured I should point that out.
hiko36 @ May 3rd 2008 3:24AM
But they do make linoleum tiles. I have them in my entryway, bathroom, and a hallway in my house. They are linoleum but in 12x12 squares. So "linoleum tile" is a valid term
Moises @ May 6th 2008 5:11PM
The picture of that "leaked" ipone looks alot like the stealth iphone that is being offered by colorware. for those of you who dont know go to www.colorwarepc.com and go under iphone
m
Tom @ May 2nd 2008 8:36AM
If that is real, then Apple have taken a step in the wrong direction with their design. That looks like any old boring black phone.
Hope it's fake.
David @ May 2nd 2008 7:52AM
If this is the legit iPhone 3G, I'd rather get the older version cuz of it's metallic design and un-scratchability which plagues generations of other iPods with metallic backs.
Trax @ May 2nd 2008 8:22AM
How weird would it be if this is actually is the iPhone v2? What you haters have to say? Change your mind for Steve? What a laugh I will have.
Luke Grey @ May 2nd 2008 10:21AM
I think what he's trying to say is that the older iPhone is more scratch resistant. If you possess a brain, I think you would agree with him. Liking an older Apple product design doesn't make you a hater of the particular company - that is, if you possess a brain.
NG @ May 2nd 2008 8:47PM
I don't even think Jonathan Ive will approve such a ugly design
Raheem @ May 2nd 2008 7:51AM
Not bad, a bit dull.
Khris @ May 2nd 2008 8:15AM
If that's the one Rogers finally rolls out in Canada, I'll be picking one up when they're released.
vdogg89 @ May 2nd 2008 11:02AM
this is obviously a photoshopped job on another phone. ie:the scratches.
and the fact that this picture shows up a day after the "new specs" allows him to photoshop this last night and post it today
Khris @ May 2nd 2008 11:16AM
Here's a tip for you......companies develop prototypes all the time in which the exterior never resembles the final product. The point of a prototype is to test the functionality, not to necessarily look pretty.
Chris @ May 2nd 2008 11:31AM
Kris,
Apple has not been known to do this. The early iPhone prototype Jobs was seen carrying around looked almost exactly like the current model.
James Cameron @ May 2nd 2008 11:41AM
I call it fake. A bad attempt of making it black paint job.
Khris @ May 2nd 2008 12:17PM
Just because Apple isn't "known" to do this, doesn't mean they can't or won't.
DiscoCat5 @ May 3rd 2008 3:37AM
i also call a fake. the apple logo on the back doesnt look right, the design doesnt look entirely apple, it looks more like something from LG, and if this ia supposedly a brand new iphone that there would probably be 1 or 2 of atm, and loser got a hold of one, do you really think it would have that many scratches already? i sure dont.
FAKE
(will be happy to be wrong though)
DiscoCat5 @ May 3rd 2008 3:39AM
after zooming in on the image, i am even more convinced of its fakeness.
jim @ May 2nd 2008 7:54AM
First off, that dude has some serious man-hands. Secondly, it looks like he has had that thing for a while. Look at all those scratches on the back already! Nevermind, that crap plastic scratches in like two days!
Frank Furter @ May 2nd 2008 8:33AM
Dang it, I try and read these comments and I promise myself I won't reply to them. But I can't let this one go.
What type of hands is a 'dude' supposed to have?
Chris @ May 2nd 2008 11:49AM
He looka like a man
ryan @ May 2nd 2008 7:54AM
I like the old iPhone back, this one looks like its been scratched to death but I like the new curved front design
Lein @ May 2nd 2008 7:54AM
Is that a heavily scratched-up and print-laden back already? Jeeze, it hasn't even been released yet! No wonder they got those case manufacturers doing their thing nice and early.
Either way, nice to see the 'phone catch up to the times. You know, like, 2006.
Dave @ May 2nd 2008 7:54AM
No Sir, I don't like it :(
The current one is much better looking.
MJZimmer88 @ May 2nd 2008 8:19AM
Honestly, the old one looks better.
I would be ENTIRELY happy with the my old iPhone if they added the new features like 3G to it's design.
Then I'd be willing to drop a few hundred more down on it.
Anyone else hoping for some sort of exchange program? It's not like we can just sell the old phones like we would normal cell phones or ipods...
mark burban @ May 2nd 2008 7:55AM
looks legit to me.
& nice, but @ the end of the day it's the 3G & GPS which makes it a whole lot cooler than my 1st gen iphone.
buzaw0nk @ May 2nd 2008 8:00AM
Hey the black plastic is all scratched up, must be a real iPod!
BuddyBoy @ May 2nd 2008 7:55AM
no front mounted camera? Seems a little bit fail. If all the 3g does is give faster Internet then I give it a big thumbs down.
Scott Miller @ May 2nd 2008 8:14AM
It's behind the screen. (if there at all)
Adam @ May 2nd 2008 8:14AM
if there is a camera in the front, it would be under the glass on the top left of the phone. this would be according to the recent design documentation.
bondsbw @ May 2nd 2008 8:15AM
There might be a hidden camera in the front/top of the phone. So rumor says.
sockatume @ May 2nd 2008 8:20AM
Honestly, we've had 3G in Europe for years and I think in that time about six people have made video calls. Unlike 3G, it's a feature Apple could afford to drop.
creagas @ May 2nd 2008 7:57AM
Hmm the apple logo on the back does look crooked... not perfectly even
Wonderkid @ May 2nd 2008 7:58AM
Sorry, if the genuine 3G iPhone has no flash on the camera, I'm getting an LG Secret. It has a 5MP camera with VGA quality video recording / 120fps recording too, motion sensors, slide out (numeric) keyboard, touch screen, stereo FM radion with RDS and more. It's the first credible alternative to the iPhone. No, not a true smart phone, but it actually does a lot of things well. Go view some demos of the LG Secret on YouTube. If Apple do an iPod on the iPhone and produce a cut down version, rather than a more sophisticated device that improves upon the flaws in the first one, then that will be bad news. Hopefully, they will produce more than one iPhone, a high end version with all the bells and whistles and a cut down version - hopefull, assuming the above spy shots are real, this is the cut down version. IE, the iPhone Nano or similar.
Khris @ May 2nd 2008 8:18AM
Most people buy a cell phone because it's a cell phone.......not because of the camera they've shoved into it.