Posted by
michael
on from the we-love-the-leader dept.
An Anonymous Coward writes: "Pictures of what would appear to be Apple's forthcoming PDA, the "iWalk" have slipped onto the net, and this time they don't seem fake, as evidenced by the quicktime movies also included. Those interested can check out the pictures here, apparently courtesy of SpyMac."
If it stays up is probably a fake
by
sebi
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
Everytime something like this happens you can judge how real the thing is based on Apples reaction. If they request it to be taken of then it's probably real.
But then spymac.com is supposed to be run by Germans and Canadians. Maybe that would protect them a bit from Apple legal.
Re:If it stays up is probably a fake
by
bribecka
·
· Score: 5, Funny
"Beyond the rumor sites. Way beyond."
I figured out what it is. Jobs was so enamoured with the IT/Ginger/Segway, he's integrating everything into it. It's a scooter that can hold 1000 MP3s but only has one button.
--
Where are we going and why am I in this handbasket?
There's a good chance it's fake...
by
Electric+Angst
·
· Score: 5, Informative
This comment on MacSlash has a big list of possibly problems with the "evidence" for the iWalk. (Hell, someone's gonna get a five for posting this, might as well be me.)
-- Feminism is the wild notion that women are human beings.
Re:There's a good chance it's fake...
by
MikeBabcock
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
The commenter referenced has a number of points that refer to his/her personal feelings about Macs that probably don't apply. The MessagePad 2xxx had a big ugly connector in the bottom for syncing (although it didn't have Firewire) and given that my MessagePad 120 uses a 0.7A charger, its possible you might not want to draw the current off of a Firewire port.
Other problems they have might be entirely overlooked by actual Mac hardware and software makers; the MessagePad doesn't look very much like a Mac at all and the bottom group of buttons was screened on in earlier versions but turned into a floating dock in later versions (that looked the same).
... etc.
I don't know if its a fake or not, but Apple's got to feel stupid for discontinuing the Newton right before Palm did so well (considering Palm wrote Graffiti for the Newton at the time).
People also seem to not realise that the printed text recognition in the Newton OS 2.x devices was almost perfect; so if you could bear to print your text instead of cursively writing it, the recogniser did very well, as well as being able to store the vectors of handwriting to be recognised later when you had more time to turn up the CPU usage.
Re:There's a good chance it's fake...
by
zsazsa
·
· Score: 5, Funny
I remember the last so-called Apple product fake - the G4 Cube. The now-defunct site The Mac Junkie claimed that the leaked photo of the Cube was an utter fabrication. He gave some "evidence" of why he thought he was right, such as "Photoshop fingerprints."
Courtesy of archive.org's cached copy: "To conclude, I will eat my hat if Jobs unveils this very machine tomorrow. No, wait - I'll eat my hockey puck mouse."
The following morning, after Jobs announced it at MacWorld, the site went down temporarily and then permanently not long after. Oh well!
Ian
Re:There's a good chance it's fake...
by
msouth
·
· Score: 5, Funny
The following morning, after Jobs announced it at MacWorld, the site went down temporarily and
then permanently not long after. Oh well!
Geez, what do you expect? He's going to be in any kind of shape to keep a website running after eating a mouse? Even a translucent cute one? And just what would he be using to update his website?
That guy is probably sitting there right now, integrity intact, mouse in digestive system, with no way to interact with his iMac. You should be honoring him, not flaming him.
-- Liberty uber alles.
It comes from SpyMac.com
by
Trajan's+Horse
·
· Score: 5, Informative
the same folks who had a mockup picture of the 'iWalk' back in October. These guys lack all credibility in my book, and were very clever back then at getting the Apple community all excited. Even Slashdot reported it in October. Check out their archives on http://www.spymac.com on and around October 23rd for the first run at this hoax.
they have a tough NUt to crack
by
Lumpy
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
I still use my Palm IIIx. I have thought of changing or upgrading several times. But nothing can add any useability or real functionality to my Palm IIIx. the color screen is nothing more than a gimmick. and make the unit un-useable outside, and forces you to charge it everyday. The neat-o add-on gadgets are only toys, and the mp3 player add-on for the handspring is lame and more expensive than buying a seperate mp3 player.
the only palm device that has my interest is the Sharp Zaurus running linux. but only for a few of the neat-o features. as for productivity? it offer's nothing, and will actually hamper my productivity by forcing to learn a new interface, no Linux sync and probably a much shorter battery life.
So what can apple offer to this world that would entice me to drop my palm-pilot for their peoduct?
-- Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Discussion
by
webslacker
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
Here's an ongoing discussion at Ars Technica about its validity...
Seems likely to be a fake
by
sg3000
·
· Score: 4, Informative
I agree that it seems to be a fake. In the iWalk_Still10.jpg, it shows the Apple logo on the job wheel, something that looks kind of retarded. If look at an iPod, it's clear that their industrial design goes for more of an understated look -- for example, there is no Apple logo on the front of an iPod. In fact, I'd expect an Apple PDA today to look more like an iPod.
The screen looks kind of odd in that shot, too. it looks like the scroll bar on the right doesn't quite line up with the tool bar on the bottom. I'd also expect the UI to look more like Aqua.
If this thing plays MP3s, Apple will be canabalizing sales from their successful iPod. They've been pretty good about marketing recently, and I'd be surprised if they pulled an obvious blunder like that (particularly since they're still stinging from the poor marketing they did with the overpriced Cube).
Finally, if I understand correctly, Steve Jobs hated the Newton. I believe he called it a "damn scribble toy" before he killed it a few years ago. It would be odd for him to resurrect it.
In short, I think this is likely another hoax.
-- Insert simplistic political, ideological, or personal proselytization here.
Re:Apple started the PDA
by
Quixote
·
· Score: 4, Informative
Oh yeah, Apple's handwriting recognition software didn't work.
Newton's Handwriting recognition (HWR) software was done by a Russian company called Parasoft (now known as Parascript, and based in CO).
The Newton was waay ahead of its time. For one, it didn't have the processing power required to do great handwriting recognition. Given today's embedded CPUs, I would not be surprised to see some really good HWR stuff in this (rumored?) PDA.
I can make a few guesses about this little mysterty
"Big, even for our standards"
"Count the days, count the minutes, count on >>being blown away"
"Beyond the rumour sites, way beyond"
"A backstage pass to the future"
How about:
Apple has finally regained its lost sanity and ported OS/X to x86 architecture. In an astounding jump, Apple, like Sega, has discovered it is better off as a pure software shop.
Or better yet:
This just in: Apple is not out of the hardware business entirely, they are also releasing an entirely new games system, called the iBox. Its going to cost over a thousand dollars and will only work with Apple brand televisions, which will be released later.
Okay, I'm just kidding, okay. JUST KIDDING. Comprende?
-- www.avacal.com -- the home page of pete shaw
Re:Apple started the PDA
by
jcr
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
I wonder why Xerox hasn't sued them yet?
Can we please lay this canard to rest?
The reason Xerox hasn't sued, and won't sue Apple, is that Xerox made a boatload of money on Apple stock. They bought in pre-IPO, and made hundreds of millions on their investment over the years. Everything Apple ever used that came from PARC was used with Xerox's blessing.
-jcr
-- The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
It's a fake and here is why
by
kawaichan
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
Guys, go download the sayhello.mov video (the middle one) and enlarge it to full screen.
Now Play the video, notice as the guy writes, the "PDA" is moving around (which is normal) but the screen is NOT moving along with the PDA at all (which btw, is abnormal)
Re:delightful.....yes, it is(?)
by
Cadre
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
Post, moderate, moderate, post...
Apple's licensing their hardware to 3rd party vendors would have been the best move they made except for none of the 3rd parties that Apple licensed to actually expanded the market. While they brought faster CPU speeds to the market among some other neat things, they just eroded Apple's share of the Mac market and didn't actually increase the Mac market. This was bad because the Mac market was too small to support everyone.
One of the best moves Apple made was buying out Power Computing and getting their great engineers and technologies.
-- All editorial writers ever do is come down from the hill after the battle is over and shoot the wounded.
Need UserID/Password to view....free one here
by
bdavenport
·
· Score: 4, Informative
Username: iwalk5198
Password: Xv74mS2
-- /* Half alive and half dead too, work is for suckers and the sucker is you. - "Half-life" by Local H*/
Spymac original video/images
by
supabeast!
·
· Score: 4, Informative
Unless you consider it a plant
by
Pfhor
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
Apple acknowledged the rumor sites. Maybe it is feeding them not full correct information. Something like the iWalk from Apple is a very big thing indeed, but as it has been mentioned before, Apple claims the keynote "Beyond the rumor sites. Way beyond."
Look at all the more probable rumors right now: LCD iMac, PowerMac G5, iWalk, possible iBook updates, continual server / big iron rumors. Friend and I were talking about it last night. What if Apple released a bunch of stuff. All of the above (but a not lame version of the iWalk) along with a co-branded items from Sony. Here is the scenario: iWalk type thing is a $250 PDA with color screen, firewire, built in wireless (802.11b card capped at 2mbits, for power saving), 64 megs of ram. Can be jacked into an iPod and use it for storage. iPod price drops to $350. Now for $600 you can get the most kick ass pda/mp3 player on the market, and they work seamlessly with each other. Sony has a digital camera out with firewire on it, that works fine with the iWalk/iPod. Apple has been talking about the "digital hub" design for a while now, they could in one great keynote, announce all the key component blocks and unite them.
Apple has been hinting towards the digital hub setup, but most of the time saying this is what you can also use ____ for. But now they could say "here is a complete digital hub / lifestyle solution" that works seamlessly. tv components with firewire / wireless, PDAs that can control them, etc. Apple doesn't make all of them, apple just co brands them.
Whatever is going to be announced the 7th is going to be big. the tru7th will be revealed. I'm just glad I have planned to visit the Apple store near by the 12th and play with whatever has been announced (as they should have the new toys out to play with by then).
SPAM ALERT!! - same one I got!
by
mr.ska
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
So much for having to register... they gave me the EXACT same userid and password. It's just an e-mail grab!! Suck the Mac community in, the their e-mail addresses to they can spam them later...
--
Mr. Ska
What's Woz playing with?
by
artemis67
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
Here are some more pictures to fuel the fire... Steve Wozniak playing with a device that looks very similar to the mystery unit...
-----
Re:What's Woz playing with?
by
jandrese
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
That mystery unit looks suspiciously like a Game Boy to me. I think Woz was enjoying a bit of Tetris.:)
Slashdot Mirror
Everytime something like this happens you can judge how real the thing is based on Apples reaction. If they request it to be taken of then it's probably real.
But then spymac.com is supposed to be run by Germans and Canadians. Maybe that would protect them a bit from Apple legal.
Hank! White!
This comment on MacSlash has a big list of possibly problems with the "evidence" for the iWalk. (Hell, someone's gonna get a five for posting this, might as well be me.)
Feminism is the wild notion that women are human beings.
the same folks who had a mockup picture of the 'iWalk' back in October. These guys lack all credibility in my book, and were very clever back then at getting the Apple community all excited. Even Slashdot reported it in October. Check out their archives on http://www.spymac.com on and around October 23rd for the first run at this hoax.
I still use my Palm IIIx. I have thought of changing or upgrading several times. But nothing can add any useability or real functionality to my Palm IIIx. the color screen is nothing more than a gimmick. and make the unit un-useable outside, and forces you to charge it everyday. The neat-o add-on gadgets are only toys, and the mp3 player add-on for the handspring is lame and more expensive than buying a seperate mp3 player.
the only palm device that has my interest is the Sharp Zaurus running linux. but only for a few of the neat-o features. as for productivity? it offer's nothing, and will actually hamper my productivity by forcing to learn a new interface, no Linux sync and probably a much shorter battery life.
So what can apple offer to this world that would entice me to drop my palm-pilot for their peoduct?
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Here's an ongoing discussion at Ars Technica about its validity...
I agree that it seems to be a fake. In the iWalk_Still10.jpg, it shows the Apple logo on the job wheel, something that looks kind of retarded. If look at an iPod, it's clear that their industrial design goes for more of an understated look -- for example, there is no Apple logo on the front of an iPod. In fact, I'd expect an Apple PDA today to look more like an iPod.
The screen looks kind of odd in that shot, too. it looks like the scroll bar on the right doesn't quite line up with the tool bar on the bottom. I'd also expect the UI to look more like Aqua.
If this thing plays MP3s, Apple will be canabalizing sales from their successful iPod. They've been pretty good about marketing recently, and I'd be surprised if they pulled an obvious blunder like that (particularly since they're still stinging from the poor marketing they did with the overpriced Cube).
Finally, if I understand correctly, Steve Jobs hated the Newton. I believe he called it a "damn scribble toy" before he killed it a few years ago. It would be odd for him to resurrect it.
In short, I think this is likely another hoax.
Insert simplistic political, ideological, or personal proselytization here.
mirror to the quicktimes. just in case.
i just read that apple did not register a iwalk related domain. can anyone confirm this? they registered ipod.com before that was released...
Hank! White!
Oh yeah, Apple's handwriting recognition software didn't work.
Newton's Handwriting recognition (HWR) software was done by a Russian company called Parasoft (now known as Parascript, and based in CO).
The Newton was waay ahead of its time. For one, it didn't have the processing power required to do great handwriting recognition. Given today's embedded CPUs, I would not be surprised to see some really good HWR stuff in this (rumored?) PDA.
I can make a few guesses about this little mysterty
"Big, even for our standards"
"Count the days, count the minutes, count on >>being blown away"
"Beyond the rumour sites, way beyond"
"A backstage pass to the future"
How about:
Apple has finally regained its lost sanity and ported OS/X to x86 architecture. In an astounding jump, Apple, like Sega, has discovered it is better off as a pure software shop.
Or better yet:
This just in: Apple is not out of the hardware business entirely, they are also releasing an entirely new games system, called the iBox. Its going to cost over a thousand dollars and will only work with Apple brand televisions, which will be released later.
Okay, I'm just kidding, okay. JUST KIDDING. Comprende?
www.avacal.com -- the home page of pete shaw
I wonder why Xerox hasn't sued them yet?
Can we please lay this canard to rest?
The reason Xerox hasn't sued, and won't sue Apple, is that Xerox made a boatload of money on Apple stock. They bought in pre-IPO, and made hundreds of millions on their investment over the years. Everything Apple ever used that came from PARC was used with Xerox's blessing.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
Guys, go download the sayhello.mov video (the middle one) and enlarge it to full screen.
Now Play the video, notice as the guy writes, the "PDA" is moving around (which is normal) but the screen is NOT moving along with the PDA at all (which btw, is abnormal)
Oh well, next rumor ->
kawai
Post, moderate, moderate, post...
Apple's licensing their hardware to 3rd party vendors would have been the best move they made except for none of the 3rd parties that Apple licensed to actually expanded the market. While they brought faster CPU speeds to the market among some other neat things, they just eroded Apple's share of the Mac market and didn't actually increase the Mac market. This was bad because the Mac market was too small to support everyone.
One of the best moves Apple made was buying out Power Computing and getting their great engineers and technologies.
All editorial writers ever do is come down from the hill after the battle is over and shoot the wounded.
Username: iwalk5198
Password: Xv74mS2
/* Half alive and half dead too, work is for suckers and the sucker is you. - "Half-life" by Local H*/
http://www.spymac.com/iwalk/.
Username: iwalk5198, Password: Xv74mS2
Apple acknowledged the rumor sites. Maybe it is feeding them not full correct information. Something like the iWalk from Apple is a very big thing indeed, but as it has been mentioned before, Apple claims the keynote "Beyond the rumor sites. Way beyond."
Look at all the more probable rumors right now: LCD iMac, PowerMac G5, iWalk, possible iBook updates, continual server / big iron rumors. Friend and I were talking about it last night. What if Apple released a bunch of stuff. All of the above (but a not lame version of the iWalk) along with a co-branded items from Sony. Here is the scenario: iWalk type thing is a $250 PDA with color screen, firewire, built in wireless (802.11b card capped at 2mbits, for power saving), 64 megs of ram. Can be jacked into an iPod and use it for storage. iPod price drops to $350. Now for $600 you can get the most kick ass pda/mp3 player on the market, and they work seamlessly with each other. Sony has a digital camera out with firewire on it, that works fine with the iWalk/iPod. Apple has been talking about the "digital hub" design for a while now, they could in one great keynote, announce all the key component blocks and unite them.
Apple has been hinting towards the digital hub setup, but most of the time saying this is what you can also use ____ for. But now they could say "here is a complete digital hub / lifestyle solution" that works seamlessly. tv components with firewire / wireless, PDAs that can control them, etc. Apple doesn't make all of them, apple just co brands them.
Whatever is going to be announced the 7th is going to be big. the tru7th will be revealed. I'm just glad I have planned to visit the Apple store near by the 12th and play with whatever has been announced (as they should have the new toys out to play with by then).
So much for having to register... they gave me the EXACT same userid and password. It's just an e-mail grab!! Suck the Mac community in, the their e-mail addresses to they can spam them later...
Mr. Ska
Here are some more pictures to fuel the fire... Steve Wozniak playing with a device that looks very similar to the mystery unit...
-----