Tonight on the Talkcast: Fake or real? Engadget's 'iPhone HD' find

Many of you may be wondering "Where's the TUAW post about this phone from the bar that Engadget is talking about? Is it the next iPhone? Huh?" Well, the answer is simple: as much as we love our Engadget pals, and as much as we respect their enthusiasm for all things Apple, we were pretty sure it was fake, so we didn't post it.

Now it turns out that Spanish site AppleSfera has found the mystery phone, and it's a Japanese iPhone knockoff (translated post here). Thanks to Aaron Hirst and Bradley Petrik for tracking down the link. The excitement was palpable for a second there, but next time a strange phone gets found in a San Jose bar, let's all take a breath or two, shall we?

Update: Engadget has posted new pictures that add confidence to the prototype's bona fides. Also, the AppleSfera photos have been confirmed to be fakes. We were fortunate enough to have Josh Topolsky on the show, so you can hear the story straight from him.

Meanwhile, we have finally got a week with news other than the iPad onslaught. New MacBook Pro models have hit the shelves, and if you happened to pick up one of the new machines, we'd love to hear from you tonight on the talkcast. We'll also be running down the latest episode of "Emails from Steve," our new favorite soap opera, and talking about the odd case of iPads banned from Israel.

To participate on TalkShoe, you can use the browser-only client, the embedded Facebook app, or the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for maximum fun, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the "TalkShoe Web" button on our profile page at 10 pm Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VoIP lines (take advantage of your free cellphone weekend minutes if you like): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *8.

If you've got a headset or microphone handy on your Mac, you can connect via the free Gizmo or X-Lite SIP clients; basic instructions are here. Talk with you then!



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