It's been a long week, I just finished cutting down my N810 review to (hopefully) readable length, and I keep forgetting to order a 25 ft. audio cable so we can finally stick the dumb, loud, ugly cable box in the closet already. So the last thing I need is a bunch of conflicting reports about what the new iPhone may or may not look like.
Let's face it: Nobody has any idea what's coming from Apple in June except the guy with the closet full of black mock turtlenecks.
CrunchGear's got some dish on how the next iPhone "may look 'radically different'," and it includes a juicy bit about a possible slide-out QWERTY board and/or clamshell form factor, courtesy of a new Times Online article citing those always talkative "industry sources" and "analysts" :
Industry sources told Times Online that the device will have a "radically different" appearance to the current device, which has a 4.5 inch screen and slick, aluminum backing. Among the possibilities are flip version, which would enable the screen to be larger, and a sliding model with a regular qwerty keyboard - as opposed to a touchscreen one.
"I think ultimately you going to see multiple versions," one Asia-based analyst, said. "One for customers who want it principally as a music and video device, which will be similar to the existing model, one for people who want to communicate - with the keyboard, and one for people who want it as a substitute for their laptop - that will let them browse the internet on a larger screen."
At the same time, though, Macrumors is calling bs on the whole thing, choosing to cite an actual person who actually knows something about the situation, Apple CEO Steve Jobs:
The reliability of Times Online's sources are unknown, but such a departure from the existing iPhone's design seems very unlikely. Jobs specifically criticized the inclusion of an built-in keyboards amongst existing smartphones when the iPhone was first introduced. Apple is also in the midst of launching a Software Development Kit (SDK) intended for their multi-touch OS X. Radically changing the form factor would splinter the audience for iPhone applications.
Me, I'd settle for an iPhone with a better camera (with a flash). And for the dumb thing to just rear its head already so I can stop blogging about it. Clearly I don't have the self-control to stop reporting on these rumors on my own. I'm turning my computer off now.
