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Apple iWalk: Mac OS-X based PDA?
Per Wigren noted that SpyMac claims to have pictures of the iWalk, the mysterious secret project scheduled to be announced any time now. It is apparently something between a subnotebook and a PDA running a scaled down OSX. Supposedly it can be a portable MP3 player, and it has apple's airport stuff built in. CT Nope. They announced the iPod instead, a lame MP3 player.
No matter how much you want to believe this (and believe me, I want to), you have to notice two very important things: One, that the Apple rumor world isn't mearly as accurate as it was before the reign of heir Jobs, and the most important one is that Apple has said publicly on two occasions (that come to mind) that there will be no Apple Portables aside from laptops.
I want this to be true as I still hold a candle for the lost Newton division, but I've seen these rumours before, and they've never come to fruition then either.
But then again, we never thought we'd have a Mac OS with protected memory, either, so there is a (very) slim chance, I guess. But don't hold youir breath.
Hilary Rosen's speech was about her love of money and her desire to roll around naked in a pile of money.
Why are people so obsessed with the idea of Apple releasing a PDA, anyway?
Because the Newton was so *close* to what we all wanted.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
Reporting on rumors is fine, they're even entertaining. However when the real device is going to be unveiled in a few hours its a bit pointless. Besides, everybody knows its going to be the iBrator!
Chris Kuivenhoven is a thief, beware
Not to mention that I doubt Apple would make anything with buttons that tiny so close together.
Cheers.
"Whadda'ya watchin'?"
"Angry Monkey."
"That HORRIBLE monkey."
There were earlier pictures that have been removed now, but were easier to spot as fakes. Here is some discussion on MacNN about the "iWalk". Also note that "iWalk" is not a registered trademark of Apple.
What is an Apple trademark, though, is the "iPod" (NOTE: if you can't get the page to display, just start a new search for "iPod"). From the description, though, it does sound like a PDA...
Nice of Slashdot to finally put a story of this up... The original invitations went out last Friday!
---------The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
Apple's rabid lawyers haven't forced them to take it down yet, therefore it can't be real
~ a low user id is no indication I have a clue what I'm talking about.
Evidence of Faked Photo:
The Direction of the shadow for the IWalk doesen't match the direction of the shadow for the pack of cigerettes.
There is no hard shadow under the IWalk.
The scale is off - the whole cursor pad that has five buttons on the IWalk is the same size as the Apple 'flower' key on the keyboard. You'd have to have small fingers to press that!
The bright reflection of the light on the IWalk is from a differing angle than the reflection on the cigerette box - the cigerette box relects the light onto the paper tward the upper left - indicating a bright light in the upper left, while the IWalk reflection indicates that the bright light is in the lower left.
Perhaps the Iwalk exists, but I thinks it's more of a Web-pad sized instead of PDA sized due to the scale of the cursor buttons.
Moneyed corporations, non-working 'poor' and criminal prisoners are turning productive citizens into tax-slaves.
The MacNN forums (www.macnn.com ahem the most reliable) have debunked this as a doctored up Harmon Kardon amplifier and a Microsoft remote control.
The wheel is turning, but the hamster is dead.
And look at the shadows coming from the cigarette box. They don't match up, do they? :)
:)
There seems to be two light sources. One immediately above and behind the photographer, like a florescent ceiling light, which is evidenced by the reflection on the keyboard. The other source appears to be an regular incandescent also behind the viewer, casting shadows on the cigarettes that goes up. The shadow from the iWalk device is going to the upper left. They just don't seem consistent. There's also a *very* faint shadow leaning *towards* the photographer. Also notice the wrinkles on the sheet of paper beneath the iWalk. The shadows cast by them are also going "up", like from the cigarette box. Funny how it's the only object in the scene that casts light in its own unique direction. Light also does not seem to fall naturally on the device itself.
A few other observations I noticed... Zoom in close on the image. Other objects in the scene are slightly more crisp than the device itself.
Maybe I'm wrong, but the scene just looks very unnatural, but this may only be become I'm looking at it so intently. But if you ask me, that is definitely a mock up.
Why bother.