iPhone nano revealed by (another) silicone case mockup?

There's something just a little skeezy about basing predictions for Important New Apple Products upon nasty renders of protective case mockups from China. Still, they've panned out astonishingly nicely before, so we'll just have to suck it up. iDealsChina is reporting that XSKN is not-so-secretly working on a silicone skin for the upcoming "Nano iPhone" (or, more likely, iPhone nano) a shorter, chubbier version of the iPhone 3G. According to iDealsChina sources, the phone will apparently sport EDGE data, but otherwise seems unsurprisingly identical in specs to its forebears, other than the obviously smaller screen. They're also saying Apple plans to sell these at high volumes for low prices at hip spots like Walmart, that the company will (naturally) be unveiling the new handset in January at Macworld, and even go so far as to say that leaked photos of the device should be surfacing in the next couple of days -- we'll be keeping our eyes peeled. Check out another couple of tantalizing case renders after the break.

[Via PMP Today]

[michiel @ Dec 15th 2008 9:09AM]

Fake!
No way that they will be shipping these! How will apps work on this new screen, they will have to be ported to support the smaller screen.

[Andy @ Dec 15th 2008 9:11AM]

The screen can be the same resolution as the larger screen.

[who? @ Dec 15th 2008 9:16AM]

I suppose... Just like nano vs. classic (same res.)

[KarlW @ Dec 15th 2008 9:20AM]

Who says they need to be ported? It's a digital store, why can't it show apps contextually? That is, if you have an "iPhone nano", you wouldn't care about iPhone apps that don't work, so you don't need to see them.

That's not to say I believe this stuff. If you look closely, you can see the marks from when the 'tipster' pulled it out of his arse. Yeah, I've got a torrent for 3ds Max, too. I've even got a copy of photoshop to get rid of the axes.

[KA @ Dec 15th 2008 11:27AM]

@ Andy,

That would make the buttons half the size. Good luck with the keyboard.

[Fanfoot @ Dec 15th 2008 2:17PM]

In landscape mode the keyboard will just use up a larger percentage of the screen. So what if you have no room to see what you're typing?

In portrait mode they can just do a touch-type suretype keyboard...

[From My Cube @ Dec 15th 2008 9:09AM]

i want to write something witty and creative....but Im sure iEye already has a hard on

[pavlindrom @ Dec 15th 2008 9:14AM]

I sure do have something to say!

[konshuss @ Dec 15th 2008 10:27AM]

well someone's gotta make mention of this appropriate portrayal of 'Twins' Arnie and Danny DeVito if the rest of you have nothing to say.

[aaron @ Dec 15th 2008 10:44AM]

@From My Cube

Huh? Because iEye has a hard-on, you can't write anything creative? Are you his boy/girlfriend? Because of said hard-on, is there somewhere you now have to be?

[OneLove @ Dec 15th 2008 11:59AM]

Good lord, no, not another iphone. Whats next, iphone penile implant.

[Lowest Ranked @ Dec 15th 2008 12:04PM]

The iPen15

[Flashpoint @ Dec 15th 2008 1:43PM]

gotta be so careful what you write here cause you don't wanna be branded an apple fanboy and you also don't want to sound biased.

I own an iphone
I like my iphone.
Are there other phone's on the market I like? YES THERE ARE !

The way I see it, Apple could cut the Home button off the bottom and simply place a home button on the side of the device in the same place the [mute] is or on the opposite side. This would allow them to get ride of the entire bottom of the phone where the home button resides, making it shorter. Lots of tricks can be done to make mic and speaker take up less space so that's not a problem.

What they really need to concentrate on is Video Capture, but, I wouldn't be dissapointed if they made this short iphone into a QWERTY keyboard slide.

[who? @ Dec 15th 2008 9:09AM]

No.

[randy @ Dec 15th 2008 11:31AM]

NO NO NO NO! We don't want THICKER iPhones! We want *thinner* ones!

Why do I phones keep getting THICKER, rather than *thinner*? Is Apple GOING BACKWARDS IN TIME?

[randy @ Dec 15th 2008 11:43AM]

Steve Jobs gets THINNER, meanwhile the iPhone just gets THICKER. Wonderful.

But since I have everybody's attention, I have another question.

APPLE: Where the heck is OLED?

Why can't you make the iPhone thinner, more rugged, longer-lasting-per-charge, and more vivid by implementing an OLED display?

What is slowing you down, here? Pixel denisty? Why not speak up so the market can at least try to solve your problem before yet another THICK iphone is released? If it isn't OLED pixel density which is slowing you down, surely then it's not the limited life expectancy of OLED displays which worries you, given that your batteries only last 2-3 years?

[the tansman @ Dec 15th 2008 11:52AM]

Jesus, shut up, it's just a phone.

[JAmerican @ Dec 15th 2008 12:14PM]

@randy: In the states, Kodak owns the patent on OLEDs. That means Apple will have to license the technology from them. They may not like that or can't agree on terms to get the most bang out of their buck from Kodak's IP.

[Jeff @ Dec 15th 2008 12:19PM]

OLED is also still a prohibitively expensive technology.

[Messymeese @ Dec 15th 2008 11:39PM]

@the tansman

Did you seriously just tell Jesus to shut up? It's the worst time of year to start all that.

[v1nce @ Dec 15th 2008 9:21AM]

http://www.itrafik.net/upload/2007_09/IMG_0949.JPG.jpg

[Hashbrown Hunter @ Dec 15th 2008 9:56AM]

Well I guess the saying is true: China is always ahead (even if it's fake).

[Patriks7 @ Dec 15th 2008 10:19AM]

That guy needs to check his emails more often. Seriously.

[Major4Play @ Dec 15th 2008 9:14AM]

I wonder what features they will cut (as well as 3G) slow network connection would kind of kill it in europe, I'm thinking ipod nano + basic phone use (calls,sms, maybe email, obviously not mms) It may have a much more basic CPU and not be able to run Apps, or at least need specially written apps.

[netjosh @ Dec 15th 2008 12:21PM]

They wouldn't have to cut any of the features the actual iPhone has (3G, CPU, WiFi), and much less not being able to run Apps or "special one's". Think on a developer in two years from now... for which do I develop? Big and smokin' fast, or small yet enough powerful... Also this would be a silly way of dividing a market that is not so big (think on Symbian or Android... developers don't have to think for which machine to develop, they just follow standart guidelines and their software is compatible for all the platform).

All in all, if it ever comes to market, the most fundamental change we would expect is the amount of memory installed (4 or 8 Gb max) and the camera (if it is chubbier, we could expect some autofocus, flash, and 3 Mp CMOS)

[rob @ Dec 15th 2008 9:15AM]

I doubt this because of text entry - hard enough on the current version.

This could be the next version of the iPod nano thought - perhaps a iPod Nano/Touch.

[who? @ Dec 15th 2008 9:18AM]

What if it has a slide out keyboard? There were some patents for an iPhone w/physical keyboard last year.

[Thomas @ Dec 15th 2008 9:26AM]

ehhhh "who?"... can you please explain me how one could use a silicon case with a slideout keyboard???

[who? @ Dec 15th 2008 9:40AM]

I'm not defending it, just posing a solution to the keyboard problem. It always helps to keep an open mind in the rumor mill! :-) Again, I'm not defending it. I think it's a total fraud.

Now that's out of the way, my next guess would be that it has a stylus of some kind. What do you think?

[Rob @ Dec 15th 2008 9:53AM]

Both a stick and a slide out keyboard are very un-apple like.

I suppose it could be a full screen soft keyboard in landscape only. Again though, that sounds like a kludge that Apple wouldn't do.

Perhaps it might also just be a phone and iPod with not web or e-mail, but I doubt they would do that.

[y3k.nik @ Dec 15th 2008 10:04AM]

All you blokes used to smartphones gave me a chuckle.

Input method on the small screen can be limited to T9. Its not hard to do. If they are gunning for basic functionality, they may as well remove emails.

[StalematE @ Dec 15th 2008 11:39AM]

what's next the iPhone shuffle? hit the button and it calls a random person in your contacts list?

[netjosh @ Dec 15th 2008 12:07PM]

in reference to the screen keyboard, it could be implemented in landscape mode, as nearly all of us that have used an iPhone would want it to be (at least as an alternative).

[who? @ Dec 15th 2008 6:08PM]

Are you suggesting that any of this device is 'Apple-like'? Why is everyone here so closed minded? Oh, right. Apple.

[broli @ Dec 15th 2008 9:15AM]

I wonder what input method apple is going to show up with this time. Swiping? T9? or will apple do te unforgiving and just go with regular iphone softkeys (considering apple's moto: We know you need copy/paste but it's so last yearish.).

[Serge @ Dec 15th 2008 9:16AM]

judging by how these are just screenshots from a solidworks model, i'm guessing this is just some kid having fun modeling stuff in 3D. I made what I thought the 5g ipod would look like in pro/engineer for my 3D CAD class a few semesters back; should have submitted it to this site as an "insider leak".

[who? @ Dec 15th 2008 9:42AM]

What did it look like?

[kal326 @ Dec 15th 2008 9:17AM]

I say bad translation and its really for the Nuvi Phone. Then again since Apple is making game consoles now, maybe they are trying to slim it down like all of the handheld makers do with each product revision.

[lero @ Dec 15th 2008 9:35AM]

I always found the iPhone "classic" too big for my back pocket. This one would be the perfect size!

[Elijah @ Dec 15th 2008 10:00AM]

You mean the iPhone "3G".

And why in God's name do you put your phones in your back pocket? Way to break the screen instantly when you break down.

Maybe the fact that the 3G can't fit in your back pocket is a sign that you shouldn't be putting phones in your back pocket.

[Elijah @ Dec 15th 2008 10:02AM]

When you *sit* down...

Jesus, sorry 'bout that.

[Patriks7 @ Dec 15th 2008 10:20AM]

What kind of idiot sits down without taking out the phone? :\

[Elijah @ Dec 15th 2008 10:27AM]

The same kind of idiot who puts their phone in their back pocket.

[Michael Sitarzewski @ Dec 15th 2008 9:25AM]

If it is real, it will sell like crazy. Anyone else remember this quote from Palm CEO Ed Colligan? "We've learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone. PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They're not going to just walk in.'' ;-) Cheers Ed!

[crawdad689 @ Dec 15th 2008 9:48AM]

It will only sell like crazy if they can get rid of the $100/month phone bill that plagues the current iPhone.

Better yet, make it prepaid. Then all the drug dealers and baby mamas will have one! ;-)

[TVGenius @ Dec 15th 2008 9:30AM]

If a couple Apple rumor sites run a piece that Apple was going to start selling anything new, there will usually be a faked or leaked shot within 48 hours no matter what.

[iCandy @ Dec 15th 2008 9:30AM]

Perhaps it is for the iFone mini...

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.17066

[Luke @ Dec 15th 2008 11:10AM]

Let's all go out for frosty chocolate milkshakes!

[ZIG @ Dec 15th 2008 12:35PM]

i just ranked you up because of your profile picture

[snowglyder @ Dec 15th 2008 5:17PM]

Who is that a picture of??