“Let’s talk iPhone.” Live Coverage Links.

Let’s talk iPhone.
Tuesday October 4th, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. Cupertino time
1 Infinite Loop
Cupertino, CA 95014

As usual, some invitees would be reporting live from the event. Live reports and coverage start by 10:00 a.m. Cupertino time. The followings are known sites that actually got the invite to the “Let’s talk iPhone.” event.

Meta-coverage:

More links will be added.

Do not take this iPhone to the Genius Bar!

Apple’s “Let’s talk iPhone.” event is just a few days away while rumors and speculations run rampants. Would it be iPhone 4S or iPhone 5? Could it be both? All will be revealed soon.

Please take this story with a grain of salt.

Back in December 2010, a source who claimed to be not Phil Schiller told me about the next iPhone that wouldn’t be released in June-July 2011. I did ask what the “iPone 5” would be like. The answer we get was “the next iPhone” wouldn’t be out as everyone expected. Came March 2011, shortly after I bought an iPad 2 the same source reaffirmed that there wouldn’t be iPhone announcement on WWDC 2011. I tweeted this:

There will be no #iPhone5 announcement at #Apple #WWDC 2011. It is all about Mac OS X Lion. September 2011 for iPhone 5 in time for Holiday.

One little mistake I made was mentioning “iPhone 5” even though the source only said “the next iPhone”.

In May 2011, I mentioned this about the next iPhone based on what the sources “not” telling me, wink wink:

  • No, it will not be a “teardrop” design.
  • No NFC
  • No LTE

John Gruber seems to think that teardrop design is not so Apple-like design. Gruber also mentioned:

Preface: I don’t know what the new iPhone looks like. I don’t even know whether there’s only one new iPhone. The only thing I know is that there existed, months ago, “N94” prototype iPhones that looked like the iPhone 4, but which contained the iPad 2’s next-gen A5 CPU. That proves nothing, however, as I believe Apple was just as likely to build iPhone 4-lookalike prototypes whether or not they ever intended to bring them to market. Testing new internal components in disguised exteriors is an obvious strategy for a secretive company.

I truly believe that the iPhone I saw was a test unit, which looks like an iPhone 4. I assume the bumper hides the changes in the steel band. One of the iPhones below is a test unit, I won’t tell you which one though. One seems to run faster than the other. Care to take a guess?

Jokingly I asked my source if I could use the test unit and got the following reply:

Sure, you must never reveal what this iPhone is in any way. Always keep the bumper on and do not take this iPhone to the Genius Bar! By the way, you need to sign the NDA.

I was not sure if my source was joking or serious. So I told my source that I would not take the offer but I might mentioned the existence of the test unit to some select people. My source then said:

Without physical evidence, no one would believe you anyway. They are only rumors.

I realized that my source is right. I do not want the responsibility.

Until October 4th, 2011 at 10:00 A.M. Cupertino time.

One of these iPhones is a test unit from Apple.

A source who wants to remain anonymous and is adamant that he is not Phil Schiller sent us a little tidbits about the next iPhone. Well, sort off. The source has two iPhones which look like iPhone 4, but one of them is a test unit. Test unit? A DVT unit? Probably not. The source wouldn’t elaborate more.

We did figure out that iPhone in question is from around WWDC 2011 time.

Apple to unveil one new iPhone on October 4th, 2011.

Apple has sent out invitations for October 4th, 2011 “Let’s talk iPhone” event in Apple’s own Cupertino headquarter.

Our sources told us:

  • There will be one new iPhone. Forget about what rumor sites are saying about two new iPhone models.
  • What iPad 3? Wait till 2012.
  • Apple is not making Television unit.
  • Developers will be getting iOS 5 GM on that day.
  • New feature only on the new iPhone.

As usual, there will be numbers of sites covering the event. One thing for sure that Harry McCracken of Technologizer won’t be there due to a previously scheduled engagement.

p.s.

From March 2011: https://twitter.com/#!/37prime/status/49059804865495040

About that next iPhone.

Apparently there have been tons of people querying the term “iphone prototype” for the past 24 hours. Did Apple lose an iPhone prototype? The media has been reporting it while thousands of bloggers are reposting them. It is bad for Apple to have their highly guarded secret to be out there in the wild.

It surely reminds the Tech World about the lost iPhone 4 prototype story from 2010. So, who’s going to buy this missing iPhone prototype, disassemble it and reveal it to the world? Probably the news organizations are treading the water more carefully this time. They do not want to incur Apple’s wrath over the missing iPhone prototype.

So what’s the point of this post, you asked?

Sometimes in December 2010, an Apple employee who is definitely not Phil Schiller told me not to expect iPhone 5 to come out as everyone expected. In March 2011, I was informed that there would be no iPhone 5 at WWDC 2011. iPhone 5 (or the next iPhone) would arrive before Holiday 2011. When I was told “the next iPhone” I assumed it would be iPhone 5. I wondered why this source always said “the next iPhone” instead of “iPhone 5”?

I then jokingly asked this Apple employee who can’t be Tim Cook, successor to Steve Jobs as Apple CEO:

“I know you have the next iPhone prototype. Can I have one? You don’t have to worry because no one would believe that I have one anyway.”

For some reasons, this Apple employee laughed and changed the subject of our conversation.

What do we know about the next iPhone? All I can tell you that several Apple management team members are heading off to China this week.

 

Jumping to conclusions.

There’s nothing more dramatic today then the “Lost iPhone Prototype Part 2” news today. Not that I care about it, but I keep seeing it in the news feed. Be it from the news site or from repost by 13,677,214 bloggers. OK, I was exaggerating the number. The rumors broke a few days earlier. As usual the copy-and-paste-machines are busy reposting it over and over.

Blah blah blah, Apple lost another iPhone prototype, blah blah blah.

The second wave came sometimes yesterday that SFPD had no record about the supposed search for the lost iPhone prototype. Some news site speculated that Apple employee might have been posing as Police Officer. Sensationalistic and poorly researched news piece were published. As usual the copy-and-paste-machines were busy reposting the story.

The third wave came as some news site reported that SFPD was involved in the search for the missing iPhone prototype. I wonder what the copy-and-paste-machines are doing after reading this.

News organization should have been more responsible in reporting the news. The reports on the lost iPhone Prototype are comparable to tabloid level. There seems to be the need to be the first to report the story. There seems to be the need to make sensationalistic headlines. After all, the number of page hit is way too important for them.

There’s no need to jump into conclusions; not with the iPhone story nor any stories.