Rumored iPhone 4G Pics a Dubious Ongoing Saga

Rumored iPhone 4G Pics a Dubious Ongoing Saga

Engadget started off a fresh round of iPhone 4G rumors on Saturday by posting a picture of the supposed fourth-gen iPhone (seen directly below). the pictures reportedly come from someone who found the iPhone on "the floor of a San Jose bar" covered in an iPhone 3G case.

My first reaction: it just doesn't look like the next iPhone, it looks like a Chinese knock-off. Compared to the designs of recent products like the Magic Mouse, aluminum Apple Remote, and the iPad, this seems too slab-like and too much of a regression back toward the first iPhone. Has Johnny Ives gone 2007 retro already? I thought it'd be another 50 years before mid-2000 style came back around again.

The legitimacy of the pics seemed to be quickly squashed when a Spanish-language Apple blog called Applesfera (English translation) posted pics from a reader who owned a similar phone, which his parents had purchased while in Japan (seen below).

We noted there are 4 rows of apps in total, 3 rows of apps plus one dock row. All versions of the iPhone OS including the upcoming iPhone 4.0 feature 5 rows in total. the dock icons in the photo also look frightfully stretched.

It could be the poor quality of the photos, but the Engadget phone and the above phone don't seem exactly alike. the top corners of the above phone seem slightly different in shape than Engadget's. But again, it could just be the lighting.

Engadget decided to push forward with their claims (or perhaps dig themselves deeper) today by reposting an old pic of a bolted-down protoype iPad (supposed iPad, that is). the pic has their version of the rumored iPhone 4G in the top right corner:

That photo does make us scratch our heads a bit, but only when you assume the photo is of an iPad prototype (we think the button and the shape on it looks all wrong). the above photo could simply be from the same company that makes the "Japanese knock-off" iPhone. But still, the photo is compelling.

Then commenters dug up photos posted by Twitter user TUDream, who said the photos are of a "Japanese knockoff" he found while searching Twitter for "iPhone 4G." the phone in this photo seems to match the Engadget iPhone exactly:

Finally, Chinese website WePhone had pictures of the "4G iPhone" phone broken down into parts:

Engadget is sticking to their guns, with editor Joshua Topolsky calling it "solid proof." I say, no way, but I didn't think the leaked "fat Nano" pics were real at first either.

Update: also see parts II and III for this continuing story.

this entry was posted by John Hawkes on Sunday, April 18th, 2010 and is filed under News, iPhone 4.0, iPhone 4G, iPhone Rumors. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Rumored iPhone 4G Pics a Dubious Ongoing Saga

How Apple’s Magic Mouse Works

As with so many spellbinding things these days, Apple's Magic Mouse sadly turned out to be science. iFixit took the Magic Mouse apart as quickly as you'd expect and left us with the below juicy pic of the sensors to mull over.

Inside, we find that Apple has upgraded to laser tracking from the Apple (formerly Mighty) Mouse's optical tracking, offering greater accuracy over more surfaces.

There's also a fairly standard Broadcom chip handling both the processing and Bluetooth transmission duties.

• Apple Magic Mouse review

All very well, but the interesting part is the luscious coating of capacitive sensors covering the inside of the mouse's plastic top half.

FULL OF IT: No magic here, just lots of sensors. Also, there is no Santa Claus [Image credit: iFixit]

This is the same type of sensor used in the iPhone, and they work by using the natural electric conductivity of your body to affect the voltage inside the sensors. The principle is similar to plasma globes, where placing your hand on the glass causes the filaments to follow your fingers.

Capacitive sensors are very accurate and highly responsive to even a light touch, though they do have some limitations, as anyone who's tried to use an iPhone in gloves can attest. That generally isn't a problem indoors, so they're ideal for desktop interfaces.

Using sensors all the across the surface and down to the Apple logo is a crucial part of making the mouse live up to Apple's usual standards for accessibility. having an invisible line where scrolling just stops working would confuse people no end, so it's important that Apple hasn't skimped here.

Apple brags about the Magic Mouse's ability to differentiate between gestures and resting your hand, and this is all done in the software that accompanies the sensors.

We're admittedly simplifying here, but essentially it's a standard database query. When your fingers touch the sensors, the software asks itself whether what you've done matches up to being a scroll – moving one finger consistently in recognised direction – or whether it matches up to a swipe – two fingers moving quickly in recognised direction. if the input doesn't conform to either of these then it can safely be ignored.

DIFFERENT MOVEMENTS: Sensors are located all across the surface to pick up different gestures

The accuracy of capacitive sensors allows for advanced software features like momentum scrolling. The speed of your finger movement is always carefully measured, and if you lift off while moving then the scrolling simply continues at that speed before running down.

It's the combination of the sensor hardware and gesture software that is key to the bringing devices like the Magic Mouse to life. so can we expect more of them in the future?

Synaptics specialises in capacitive sensors and gesture recognition software. It makes a type of sensor that is flexible enough to fit in curved enclosures, works under a plastic shell and comes with gesture software that recognises only scrolls and swipes.

We don't know if this is the exact technology used in the Magic Mouse because Apple doesn't talk about its suppliers, though it would explain why pinch and rotation are missing from the new mouse.

What we do know is that functionality similar, if not identical, to the Magic Mouse's is available for anyone to licence. indeed, Microsoft has already shown off a multi-touch mouse concept bearing the telltale lattice of capacitive sensors.

SECOND PLACE: Microsoft showed off its multi-touch concepts first, but Apple has beaten it to market [Image credit: Microsoft via PC Mag]

Things are never that simple, though. Apple not only owns the trademark on the name Multi-Touch, but has also filed patents relating to "a computer mouse having a touch-sensitive shell capable of accepting multi-touch finger gestures" (as described by Apple Insider).

It seems unlikely that these potential barriers will stop more multi-touch mice appearing before too long, but Apple has certainly laid down a marker for how we will interface with this generation of multi-touch capable operating systems.

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Liked this? Then check out The history of the Apple Tablet rumours

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How Apple's Magic Mouse Works

ITC to Investigate Multitouch Patent Complaint Against Apple

The U.S. International Trade Commission on Monday said it will investigate a patent infringement complaint filed by Elan Microelectronics in Taiwan regarding Apple's multitouch devices including the iPhone and iPad.

Elan on March 29 filed a complaint with the ITC asserting that Apple had violated a patent relating to the ability to detect the simultaneous presence of multiple fingers on touch devices. the technology involved is used in the iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, MacBook and Magic Mouse products.

Elan asked the ITC to issue an order barring importation of those products into the U.S. Elan also asked the ITC to bar Apple from selling any of these products it had already imported into the U.S.

Elan is alleging that Apple infringed patent number 5,825,352, which is registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Elan is a semiconductor design company, which also develops products focused on touch technology.

An Apple spokeswoman declined comment on ITC's initiation of an investigation into its products.

Elan in April last year filed a lawsuit against Apple in U.S. District Court in Northern California alleging infringement of two patents, which cover a patent included in the ITC complaint. the case is ongoing, with the next hearing set for June 21 in San Francisco.

ITC to Investigate Multitouch Patent Complaint Against Apple