Filed under: Hardware, Rumors, WWDC
iChat Mobile: could this be the iPhone?
Alright boys and girls, WWDC is less than a week away, rumors are flying and now: so are the images. This 'iChat Mobile' device could exist only in Photoshop for all we and Engadget know, but the possibilities sound pretty delicious. If you let your imagination run wild for just a little bit, however, even that slogan can sound like something Apple would produce.
Could this somehow tie into iChat itself, fulfilling so many of those VoIP + Leopard rumors that have been flying around? Might this also offer a true iTMS experience, packing iPod-nano sized memory, sans a song cap? Time will only tell if WWDC reveals anything about one of Apple's worst kept secrets as of late.
Alright: let the speculation continue!
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
hesse said 9:57PM on 8-02-2006
if it is called ichat mobile. it will have to do with VOIP and not an actually phone network such as cinuglar.
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Alex P said 9:58PM on 8-02-2006
You can't put the camera on the back. How are you supposed to see eachother at the same time? You can't be on camera and be looking at the camera at the same time with that set-up.
But maybe it comes with a mirror!
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Calvin Carl said 10:07PM on 8-02-2006
Something about this is very believable. For me it is all in the name. That name is extremely clever, and seems as if it could be used in the "real world" by Apple. And it definitely looks more professional than most Photoshop fakes.
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MacGeek said 10:07PM on 8-02-2006
I don't think the camera is intended for video calls, i think it's more of a image camera, like any phone now has.
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benjamin ellis said 10:12PM on 8-02-2006
the camera is fine you just need to Use the imirror
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mfrenkie said 10:17PM on 8-02-2006
That's brilliant. VOIP is rumored to be a component of Leopard. This would be a great Apple product if that's the case.
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Fra said 10:27PM on 8-02-2006
Anyone remember 'iHome'!?
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Gerald Buckley said 10:31PM on 8-02-2006
Depends on the feature set... But, I would so buy one of these in a NY second esp if it had good Bluetooth implimentations.
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Chris Bell said 10:35PM on 8-02-2006
This looks real to me. It's too good to be a fake. It looks like an Apple design too.
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nickdrj said 10:37PM on 8-02-2006
its fake, dudes
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Eli Perkins said 10:41PM on 8-02-2006
anyone remember that patent apple filed a while ago about the camera in between the pixels? maybe this has that...? who knows. i'll believe it when i have it in my hand.
http://www.tuaw.com/2006/01/26/apple-patent-for-mixed-camera-pixel-display/
-eli
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Dr. Webster said 10:41PM on 8-02-2006
I'd actually consider buying one of these -- if it's real, of course -- but only if it worked on all GSM providers. It would be a major deal-breaker if I had to use an Apple cell phone service (or worse yet, Cingular) when I'm perfectly happy with T-Mobile.
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David Chartier said 10:42PM on 8-02-2006
I was originally going to add something to the post about the scrollbar making it look fake, but then I checked my iPod nano and noticed it has the same UI.
The screenshot looks pretty darn genuine to me, right down to the type, subtle shadow and the 'wet floor' look that is so darn well done.
Also: I don't think this would be meant to have video calling either. Most American phones and networks don't seem to have those capabilities yet, and besides: they have to leave room to improve; you can't show all your cards at the beginning of the game. Further, I don't think John Doe consumer is going to pay the premium data service fees in order to be able to video call anyways. Not until that feature works its way down to John Doe prices and handsets.
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Jon said 10:43PM on 8-02-2006
It's not a crisp clean design. It has the navigation from the iPod Shuffle, and some weird buttons next to it. On a true Apple phone, you'd expect the buttons to be more sleek.
Also the camera on the back (as previously stated) is not only in the wrong positio, but its way too similar to cut/paste from an internal isight.
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Johnny K said 10:50PM on 8-02-2006
I HOPE that's not it.
-I just don't like the look
-no signature scroll wheel?
-if that Shuffle button-set is the same scale as the nano, this phone is going to be gigantic.
I could see using it as a cordless VoIP phone in the house, but not as a cell phone. The thing just doesn't look like it belongs in a pocket.
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buzz said 10:52PM on 8-02-2006
Ok, so this if fake for several reasons, but the most obvious is the last several products apple has released that have had white backgrounds for the products shots did not feature a reflection (i.e. the Mighty Mouse, Mac Book, etc). Additionally, the angled reflection (glossy effect) doesn’t appear nearly as pronounced as it does here in product shots for other apple products that are white, just in the black iPods. Really good fake though.
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sriracha said 10:55PM on 8-02-2006
If this is real, Apple should fire the marketing hack that came up with "everything you expect from a mac, from a phone". Ugh. Plus, it looks like shit. (And, fwiw, Cingular _is_ a GSM provider (not that that makes them worth using)).
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Aaron Adams said 11:00PM on 8-02-2006
I *hope* it *is* real. I think it looks slick. It seems like a wireless VoIP phone. The camera on the back isn't for video chat, it's for taking pictures, just like the camera on the back of a lot of other phones.
http://www.aaronadams.net/2006/08/02/ichat-mobile-what-if-its-real/
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Scottie said 11:09PM on 8-02-2006
Fake- Apple Products, Especially those w/ Clarification of a Brand, have lowercase letters in the 2e word. (Come to think of it the the 1er word, too!) Example: Mac mini, iPod mini, iPod shuffle, iPod nano. Exception: iPod Hi-Fi, but that's an accessory.
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Justin said 11:14PM on 8-02-2006
I agree with Johnny K, either that shuffle button is freaking tiny or this phone would be huge. Its the most blatant tipoff.
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