Sprint iPhone 5 sidesteps $200 of Android frustration, delivers 4G

Phajej chimes in with his thoughts on what the Sprint iPhone 5 release date means (along with what he thinks it’ll really be called), and why it means avoiding “$200 worth of frustration” when it comes to Sprint’s current Android based phones….

Sprint has commented in the past that their current 4G lineup will support future 4G LTE upgrades.  I am pretty sure this iPhone will support 4G.  What’s the point anyways for keeping so tight lipped about it?  Its probably going to be called iPhone 4G b/c it supports 4G.  I couldn’t believe how naive iPhone 4 users were that told me their iPhone was had 4G just because of the “4″ in iPhone 4 name.  We should all know how this game is played; Apple will not release any major upgrades until it fixes all the kinks and wrinkles in the iPhone 4…

Plus, why not push 4G technology on a company that is falling apart, what is there to lose.  If 4G fails on Sprint, then the iPhone 5 will fix that when it is released on the other carriers, thus leaving Sprint customers in the dark.  Sprint loves to do this to its customers too, i.e. Palm Pre. Sorry iOSers your iOS only supports specific devices, whereas Android supports any device you can tweak it too.  Don’t stand on the other side of the fence bragging when your OS is limited to iPod Touch, iPhone 2, 3G, 3GS, 4 and iPad 1 and 2…

On some of the older Apple products you can’t even upgrade pass a certain OS without it running like crap.  Don’t forget the people that jailbroke their Apple products too, they show me cool things that are native on Android devices.  Android has their issues; most common is a restart every 3-4 hours, battery life issues, free apps, and no OS support from our carriers.  LOL! We should all feel stupid for buying their devices for such handsome figures so we can deal with the frustration they comes with it.”YOU JUST BOUGHT $200 WORTH OF FRUSTRATION!”

Want to see your words highlighted on Beatweek.com? Share your detailed thoughts on the iPhone 5 release date or a related topic in the comments section below, and if it’s worth passing along to fellow Beatweek readers, we’ll highlight it in a future news item…

Eight new iPhone 4 cases emerge from Scosche

Scosche has introduced eight new cases for the new iPhone 4, despite the fact that Apple’s newest iPhone doesn’t hit the market until June 24th. The new cases from Scosche include “g4″ versions of its popular kickBACK case along with the switchKASE, switchBACK, metalliKASE, beefKASE, bandEDGE, bandIT, and glosSEE. Also announced are three new screen protector products. Like the iPhone 4 itself, these new Scosche cases won’t be shipping until a bit later, with launch dates ranging from later in June to July. Full details on pricing, availability, and specs are available at Scosche.com.

iPhone 4G eligibility? AT&T has been breaking God’s laws for years

Joe Wilcox asks the question of whether AT&T’s recent moving of iPhone user upgrade eligibility dates forward is a violation of the law. And he has a good point, from a legal standpoint. If AT&T is going to make users of non-iPhones wait the full term before they can upgrade to a new phone without paying out the wazoo, is it legal for AT&T to show special treatment for iPhone users in exchange for the fact that AT&T has been given the iPhone exclusively? While frankly it would be nice to see the amorally comatose AT&T go down for something, it’s comically disturbing that our cellular industry is so thoroughly law-free and rule-free that even with all of AT&T’s disgusting wrongness this past decade, the only way it could actually find a law to break would be in the one instance that it actually did something in its customers’ favor.

AT&T (and every other carrier) is a legalized shell game, forcing customers to sign lengthy contracts which are justified by imaginary “unsubsidized” prices that are merely pulled out of the company’s derriers, forcing customers to pay for network access by the minute whether they use it all or not, requiring iPhone users in particular to pay for unlimited data whether or not they ever used a single kilobyte of it, and then when it suited them, taking away that unlimited data option altogether. The carrier is also guilty of price gouging on text messages and too many other details over the years to even bother listing (and yes, every other U.S. cellphone carrier is just as guilty). Except that thanks to the fact that the cellphone industry grew up in the U.S. at a time when the prevailing theory was that businesses shouldn’t completely one hundred percent unregulated and allowed to get away with anything they can get away with, we don’t have even the most basic of laws in place for these criminal organizations to have to play by. That total lack of laws, regulations, rules, or enforcement from 2000-2008 is, by the way, the same reason our southern shorelines are about to drown in an oil spill.

So it’s no surprise to hear from BetaNews that AT&T just might have finally managed to find a law to break, the one time the company actually did something that was in iPhone users’ favor. I’ve been arguing for some time that the federal government needs to bust the U.S. cellphone carriers like a pinata for the benefit of consumers who’ve spent the past decades being raped (yes I used the word, and unlike Kristen Stewart, I’m not apologizing for it) by the amoral cellphone carriers, who have been in such obvious collusion with each other the whole time that even Michael Scott could figure it out. But even while there are apparently no laws on the books for carriers like AT&T to have to follow, there’s little arguing that AT&T has been breaking God’s laws for longer than the iPhone has existed.

iPhone 4G will now become bane of Verizon’s existence

“Hello Verizon, I heard about Apple’s new iPhone 4G and I want you to sell me one,” says the caller. “Uh, we don’t offer that phone, sir,” says the Verizon rep. “But I heard you’re going to be, and I just saw the details of the iPhone 4G and it’s the most incredible thing to ever happen to cellphones and I’m tired of sticking with this basic flip-phone and I want an iPhone,” insisted the customer. “Sorry, we just don’t offer the iPhone. We do have a phone called the “Incredible” if that helps. You know, it’s part of the Droid family,” said the beleaguered rep. To which the caller responds, “I’m looking to order an iPhone, not Star Wars DVDs.”

Welcome to Verizon’s new nightmare, as Apple introduces a revolutionary new iPhone iteration for the first time in a couple years. Those Verizon customers who’d been patiently waiting for the iPhone to come to their favorite carrier will lose a degree of patience today if the iPhone 4G turns out to be the kind of industry clock-cleaning device that most impartial observers expect. And with the new iPhone unlikely to be available on Verizon (at least not yet), suffice it to say that that news doesn’t spread to the populace as automatically as some Verizon phone reps might surely be hoping.

How much demand is there for a Verizon iPhone? Try typing “Verizon” into a Google search bar and you’ll see that “Verizon iPhone” is the second most popular suggestion behind only “Verizon Wireless” which tells you what people are searching in quantity for information on. Customer service reps from Verizon (and Sprint and T-Mobile) have been having to put up with “When can I get the iPhone from you guys?” phone calls for three years now, and today’s expected iPhone 4G rollout, if it doesn’t include their carrier, will just make their jobs suck that much more.

If you’re looking for the full scoop on the iPhone 4 announcement, go here.

WWDC odds: iPhone 4G 92%, Apple TV 41%, Verizon iPhone 8%

With Apple’s Steve Jobs set to take the stage in a few hours to introduce the latest and greatest new Apple products, here is our best attempt to handicap the field in terms of announcements:

iPhone 4G: 92% Even if Apple’s next iPhone isn’t ready to ship, there’s seemingly no reason why Jobs wouldn’t go ahead and introduce the product; its specs are likely locked in place by now one way or the other. Just don’t expect it to actually be called iPhone 4G.

Working in its favor: Too much evidence says it’s coming. Also, it’s June, and new iPhones always happen in June.

Working against it: if iPhone OS 4 isn’t ready, will Apple go ahead and serve up the next iPhone without it preinstalled?

Apple TV: 41% The rumors surrounding a new Apple TV are self contradictory at best, but the idea of a totally revamped Apple TV surfacing, after previous iterations flopped so bad as to be thrown under a bus, does make sense.

Working in its favor: WWDC is a developers conference, and the new Apple TV will supposedly run some flavor of iPhone OS 4.

Working against it: throwing another piece of hardware into the WWDC keynote could serve to distract from the new iPhone, which at the moment is Apple’s real priority.

Safari 5: 20% The last rumor to surface out of nowhere, right before an Apple event, is typically either the most accurate or the most harebrained one.

Working in its favor: Safari 4 didn’t exactly knock Safari users’ socks off; might be a good time to start fresh.

Working against it: Safari 5 already?

Verizon iPhone: 8% It might be the most sorely missing product in the entire Apple arsenal, considering how many millions of new users it would attract to the iPhone platform literally overnight. But while it’ll likely happen eventually, today just seems too soon.

Working in its favor: nearly all observers agree that it needs to happen, even those current AT&T iPhone users who would have no desire to switch to Verizon themselves.

Working against it: some ideas are just too good to be true – for now, at least. Reports suggest we’ll see it in time for Christmas 2010.

iPhone 4G actual product name unlikely to be “iPhone 4G”

When Apple launches the iPhone 4G later today it’s unlikely the product will be called “iPhone 4G” for the straightforward reason that while it is the fourth generation iPhone model, it will likely not incorporate the “4G” cellular network which AT&T (and most other U.S. carriers) have yet to build. The second generation iPhone employed the name “iPhone 3G” signifying that it was the first iPhone to take advantage of the 3G network, and the current third generation iPhone took the name “iPhone 3GS” (originally “iPhone 3G S”) to differentiate it from its predecessor while still clearly labeling it as being 3G network compatible. However, officially applying the name “iPhone 4G” to a phone which does not use a 4G network is something which in addition to possibly causing confusion would also be unlikely to get past Apple’s own legal department for fear of eventual class action.

Apple’s history over the past decade has largely been to simply refer to the current generation of a product officially by its brand name with no generational characters attached; Apple’s current iMac computer is still called “iMac” despite a number of generations having passed since the product launched in 1998; each new generation of the iPod was typically officially called merely “iPod” (with the exception of the “iPod photo”) until the iPod lineup diversified to the point that addenda such as “touch” and “nano” had to be added for clarification. Even then, each of the five generations of iPod nano has officially been known simply as “iPod nano” and so on. Apple may choose to revert to such a naming convention with the current iPhone, simply giving it the official name “iPhone” and allowing users to refer to it by the “iPhone 4G” moniker if they so choose. So long as the new iPhone isn’t officially called something unfortunate along the lines of “iPhone 4GSx” it shouldn’t have much bearing on the product’s prospects for success.

On the other hand, if Apple does choose to keep some variation of the current iPhone 3GS around as a $99 entry level model (as it did with the iPhone 3G for the past year), it wouldn’t be surprising to see the iPhone 3Gs renamed to something new, perhaps even the “iPhone classic” or some other more palatable moniker. Here’s why we’ll see the iPhone 4G (or whatever it’s actually called) this week if we’re lucky.

Apple iPhone 4G goes on sale this week (if you’re lucky)

Apple will ship its new iPhone this week after announcing it Monday morning – in the best case scenario possible, at least. While expectations are that Steve Jobs will introduce the device in the morning, the actual arrival date for the iPhone 4G (or whatever commercial name Apple ends up giving the next iPhone) could be anywhere from immediate to impending, depending on a number of factors. A number of tidbits have suggested that the ship date will be sooner rather than later, including the discontinuation of iPhone 3G inventory from AT&T Stores and Wal-Mart’s slashing of the $199 iPhone 3GS to a mere $97, both of which suggest Apple has been looking to quickly ramp down inventory ahead of a new model, Meanwhile, AT&T employees were reportedly forbidden from taking June vacations, suggesting that the public will in fact see the iPhone 4G this month. However, none of this is a sure thing in terms of when the new iPhone will hit the street. With Apple having spent the past two years stuck on essentially the same 3G/3GS model, the company is presumably eager to get the iPhone 4G out the door as swiftly as possible, but the launch date of a new device typically comes down to how quickly the company has been able to ramp up sufficient inventory, which in turn is dependent on component availability.

If iPhone 4G units had already secretly been shipped to Apple Stores for a surprise Monday afternoon launch, we’d likely have heard about it by now. More likely is the scenario in which Apple sets up one of its Friday or Saturday in-store launch days, complete with lines around the block and Steve Wozniak camping out in front of one of the stores. In that case, the best case scenario would be a June 11th retail launch for the iPhone 4G, but in reality that launch could happen any time this summer. Here’s why the iPhone 4G rollout could be Steve Jobs’ biggest moment in years.

Apple says real iPhone 4G will also cost five thousand dollars

Apple said today that the real iPhone 4G, to be introduced this upcoming week, will cost five thousand dollars per customer. The new pricing, surprisingly high considering Apple’s recent penchant for pushing prices for its mobile devices downward, is said to have been chosen as a result of market forces which recently saw Gizmodo pay five grand for what the blog believed was the iPhone 4G but actually turned out to be some kind of quasi-iPhone prototype. “If those guys were willing to pay five grand for something that was too hideously ugly to be the real thing, then we should have no trouble getting at least six grand for the real thing,” said a member of Apple’s pricing committee, “but we want to keep the iPhone 4G affordable for all, so we’re not going to be greedy.”

It’s possible the employee who made the statement about the $5000 iPhone 4G price tag may have been confused and not speaking on behalf of the company, as he was more recently seen working in a bar himself.

[/satire]

Here’s a look at what might actually be announced on Monday: iPhone 4G • Safari 5 • Verizon iPhone.

Next iPhone rollout is Steve Jobs’ biggest moment in years

Steve Jobs would perhaps like to think of his introduction of the iPad earlier this year as his finest moment since he returned to Apple after his medical hiatus, and in the long term that may ultimately prove the case. But in terms of the here and now, Jobs’ expected rollout of the next iPhone this week will represent one of his biggest moments on stage not just since he returned to Apple in 2009, but since he retook the helm of the company in 1997. At the time Jobs first introduced the original iPhone in 2007, there was no consumer smartphone market – and by and large, there still isn’t one beyond the iPhone. The vast majority of U.S. consumers are still using featureless flip-phones, and while geek armies have gone to incredible lengths to attempt to create the comical illusion that geeks-only smartphones like the Android have somehow overtaken the iPhone in marketshare despite the fact that most people have never even seen an Android phone in the wild, the fact of the matter is that the iPhone is ubiquitous to the point that it’s nearly impossible to walk down the street and not see at least a few in use on any given block.

That having been said, Apple has essentially been selling the same iPhone for two years now (the 3GS model being more or less the 3G model with a video camera wedged into it), geeks desperate to prevent consumers from gaining the upper hand have increasingly managed to spread disinformation about the iPhone and its failed competitors and paint a picture of confusion in the process, and Apple’s exclusive U.S. iPhone partner AT&T (who’s oddly had more to say about the iPhone than Apple itself of late) has managed to turn itself into the most despised cellular carrier in the industry’s brief yet ugly history. When Steve Jobs takes the WWDC stage on Monday he’ll be doing so with all the cards in his pocket: the iPhone is the only smartphone that the vast majority of people will ever consider buying. The surrounding ecosystem, which includes iTunes, the App Store, the iPad and iPod touch, and even the Mac platform, is something that competitors have zero hope of ever emulating successfully. Apple is increasingly the only technology brand that the non-geek mainstream majority trusts on any level. And most importantly, most people who don’t yet have an iPhone do seemingly want one. And now it’s up to Jobs to take all the iPhone-related cards he’s been holding close to his chest of late and play those cards in a successful manner.

But even those with the best hand sometimes lose if they don’t play their proverbial cards right, which is what makes Jobs’ WWDC keynote so vital. It’s a given that the new iPhone 4G will be light years ahead of the competition in all the areas that matter to mainstream users (this is a given because the current iPhone already fits the description), but Jobs has to roll it out in such a manner that the public can receive that message despite the increasingly irresponsible attempts on the part of the geek press to bury the facts in favor of promoting their Android agenda. Jobs also has to, somehow, get current and potential iPhone users to focus on the iPhone itself and not the sack of crap U.S. carrier that comes with it. Whether this involves demonstrating that all other U.S. carriers are also sacks of crap, or perhaps demonstrating that he’s got his foot on the neck of AT&T after all (recent announcements from AT&T would suggest the opposite), is something that will have to be left up to Jobs himself.

Most importantly, however, Jobs must remind consumers that they’re now in an era in which they get to make their own buying decisions when it comes to consumer technology. With so many geeks having total public meltdowns here in 2010 over the consumerization of consumer technology, it’s more vital than ever that consumers avoid the increasingly asinine technology advice coming from said geeks and instead buy the smartphone most suitable for them – which is for nearly all users the iPhone – rather than allowing themselves to be sucked back into the dark ages of “consumer technology” in which the mainstream was duped or bullied into buying completely unsuitable geeks-only products. It’s now clear that the next decade of consumer technology will be a bloody battle, between the geekiest one percent and the mainstream ninety-nine percent, over which the direction technology should be heading – and Jobs’ keynote on Monday will represent a major moment in that battle one way or the other.

iPhone 4G rubber cases surface from vendor you’ve never heard of

Supposed iPhone 4G cases have surfaced on the internet, and perhaps not surprisingly, come from a company that most iPhone users have never heard of. Gumdrop Cases has shipped rubber cases it claims are for the “iPhone 4G” to Wired.com for reasons that are not clear. What is clear, however, is that this is not the first time that a little-known case maker has publicly claimed to not only know the specs of, but already have manufactured cases for, a new iPhone or iPod model not yet announced by Apple. We’re not outright accusing Gumdrop of flaunting photos of iPhone case prototypes that it knows aren’t the real thing purely for publicity purposes – but consider us highly skeptical at the notion that this or any other iPhone case maker not only had the specs in advance of the iPhone 4G launch, but had them far enough in advance to already have cases ready to go.

Furthermore, why the company would send such cases out four days before the keynote, rather than simply waiting until moments after the iPhone 4G was officially announced, further clouds both the motives and authenticity of the matter. And even if the cases are based on actual (inappropriately acquired) specs, it’s been our hands-on experience over the years that cases manufactured in advance of an iPhone launch often tend to not actually the new iPhone for which they are intended, as a result of having not been tested with the real thing. In other words, buyer beware.

Update: Added a link to their new site – GumdropCases.com

iPhone 4G imminent? iPhone 3G reportedly no longer shipping

Apple has stopped shipping the iPhone 3G model to AT&T Stores, according to a report. The move, if indeed accurate, suggests that the iPhone 4G will not only be introduced in early June, but will also begin shipping shortly thereafter. The report points to the $99 iPhone 3G model specifically, and not the $199 or $299 iPhone 3GS model, which suggests that the 3GS could remain in place as the new $99 model. While we won’t know anything until Apple makes an official announcement, the report suggests that the iPhone 4G will be in the hands of consumers soon rather than later.

Steve Jobs, WWDC, and Apple’s iPhone 4G: what features can we expect?

Apple has not yet even admitted that there will be a next iPhone, and yet most publications that cover the industry – including this one – fully expect Steve Jobs to formally introduce the product when he takes the stage for his WWDC keynote on June 4th. Some observers are convinced they know exactly what’s coming, due to the fact that an iPhone prototype surfaced in a bar and its details were subsequently plastered all over the internet. Initial exuberance aside, however, and hindsight reveals that it’s unlikely that the employee who lost the prototype was carrying around the real thing and was instead given a fully fake prototype whose only “real” components were the network connectivity features that he had been assigned to test out. While such a scenario might seem unrealistic for any other company, Apple’s history of multi-layered secrecy involved with unannounced products, uptight campus security regarding the rooms in which those products are worked on, and yes, a well documented history of having low-level employees work on prototypes that are entirely fake except for the specific components that the employee is developing, all suggest that we haven’t actually seen the iPhone 4G – nor do we have any way of knowing, for that matter, whether “iPhone 4G” will be the product’s name.

So what do we know about Apple’s next iPhone, or more accurately, what can we reasonably assume?

Faster and longer battery life: If the next iPhone does indeed use the same kind of microprocessor as the iPad, then these can both be assumed.

Better camera: Users want it, but there’s a limit to just how much Apple can physically cram into the iPhone’s body without having to make the product larger. It’ll depend on how well Apple’s efforts have turned out in terms of miniaturizing the rest of the iPhone’s components.

Storage capacity, screen quality: See above.

New external body design: Highly likely. The last two iPhone models, the 3G and 3G, have looked identical. Except major changes to the way the iPhone’s body looks.

Pricing: Good question. The iPhone 3GS currently starts out at $199, but the old 3G is still around at $99. Will Apple now keep the 3GS around at $99, or move the pricing floor to $199, or introduce an entire line of new iPhones starting at $99? Apple’s tendency lately has been to serve up modest pricing in the hopes of pushing large numbers of units; the days of higher pricing for early adopters of new models may be over.

Availability date? The phone could ship the same day Steve announces it, or it could see a late summer rollout. Apple’s likely preference would be to get the new iPhone out the door as soon as possible, but that depends largely on third party production abilities (we’re seeing what kind of an effect that can have with the current iPad inventory issues). Still, the 3GS is long in the tooth and even it was largely just a rehash of the 3G, so the sooner the better – for Apple and for potential customers.

Verizon? Magic Eight Ball says check back later.

iPhone 4G could shake up accessories market

The third party hardware accessory market for the iPhone hasn’t been nearly as groundbreaking as some of us who’ve been observing from day one might have hoped. While there are plenty of accessories that are innovative in terms of how they approach their concept, there have been precious few innovative new concepts. In fact most of the iPhone accessories on the market are either new takes on ideas that have existed since the iPod era (cases, stereos, car connectors), or cellphone-oriented products like bluetooth headsets that have been around for longer than the iPhone has. The most “innovative” concepts we’ve seen so far for the iPhone have come in the form of external battery products, and they do nothing more than fix the iPhone’s primary fundamental shortcoming.

Perhaps anything more than that was too much to ask. While iPhone users have spent the past four years figuring out that the device is much more than just the sum of its iPod and cellphone parts, it’s perhaps made sense that the accessory market has thus far viewed is a mere combination of the two. But one oft-overlooked aspect of iPhone accessory development is the fact that by the time most iPod accessory makers had gotten around to adapting their (electronically connected) accessory ideas to the iPhone, working around various hindrances like cellular interference on stereos and additional controls for earbuds – not to mention that whole failed initial crop of closed-face iPhone cases that almost no one ended up wanting to use with their new touchscreen device – that it wasn’t until the second generation iPhone (the 3G) that we even began to see a truly wide selection of even “basic” iPhone accessories hit the market. And because the third generation iPhone (the 3GS) turned out to be the exact same physical device as its predecessor from a physical exterior standpoint, there was no need for the 3G accessories to be revamped. In other words, as improbable as it seems in 2010 as we prepare to move into the fourth generation iPhone era, many iPhone hardware accessories are still on their first major iteration.

Because the iPhone 4G (or whatever Apple ends up calling it) is likely to have a different shaped physical exterior at the least, it’ll send some of these companies back to the drawing board. And if a form fitting accessory has to be physically redesigned anyway, then perhaps the vendors will use it as an opportunity to go ahead and roll out the new ideas they’ve been sitting on all this time. It’s unlikely that any third party accessory maker will have their hands on a real iPhone 4G prototype in advance (only a fool would invest money based on assumptions about that prototype found in a bar), so don’t expect to see a tidal wave of innovative new iPhone 4G accessories flooding the market when the device itself ships this summer. But before 2010 is over, we just might see some innovative new concepts in iPhone accessories for what some users might grudgingly say is the first time in the device’s history.

Free iPhone 4G scams popping up on Facebook

The product hasn’t even been formally announced, and yet shady offers involving a “free iPhone 4G” have begun surfacing across the internet already. This is nothing new, as these schemes previously centered on the iPod a few years back when it was the “hot” product, and of course these online schemes have existed since the dawn of electronic communication. But the surfacing of “Get a free iPhone 4G” scams on Facebook elevates the practice to a more dangerous level, as it gives them an automatic air of legitimacy.

Suffice it to say that anyone offering you a “free iPhone” (and unless it’s your birthday and the offer is coming from your spouse or best friend) is likely attempting to scam you in one way or another, typically by getting their hands on your personal information; such sites are often marked with disclaimers such as “participation required” in the small print.

The particularly interesting aspect of these scams is that the “prize” is a product that yet officially exist.

iPhone 4G: is all the mystery gone?

We’ve (officially) seen its operating system, and now we’ve seen a prototype that’ll have at least some physical resemblance to the real thing, so the question now is pretty straightforward: is there any mystery left at all in the impending iPhone 4G introduction? Beyond the fact that we don’t really know what day it’ll be introduced on, we mostly now understand the gist of what’s coming. And that doesn’t even necessarily have much to do with the iPhone prototype found in a bar, as Apple’s own event in April confirmed what many had already suspected: the biggest fundamental changes to the fourth generation iPhone will come with its software operating system, not in the form of any hardware revolution. Just the fact that the iPhone 4.0 OS is on a sliding backwards chronological scale in terms of just how much of its functionality will actually shine through on each generation of iPhone hardware tells us that the biggest advancements with the iPhone 4G (if indeed that’s what they end up calling it) will come in the form of beefing up the internal hardware so that it can take the fullest advantage of the operating system we just saw unveiled.

What the next iPhone actually looks like will be of interest, but it won’t likely have a material impact on sales on way or the other unless Apple comes up with something that’s either stunningly gorgeous or stunningly ugly. While it’s entirely possible that the official iPhone 4G may indeed look exactly like the one found on the floor of that bar, only a fool would bet substantial money on it; whatever that employee was testing out, he didn’t need the official iPhone 4G exterior on his prototype in order to test it. In fact it’s entirely possible that the employee who lost the iPhone prototype has himself never seen what the real iPhone 4G looks like. And even if the real iPhone 4G did look exactly like that prototype, it’s entirely possible that Apple will now change its plans and go with one of the other external housing options that were on the table as a direct result of the fact that everyone has already seen the one they’ve seen.

So perhaps that’s the mystery: will the iPhone 4G look like what we think it’ll look like? Will it be the device we’ve been expecting? It’s seemingly the equivalent of someone telling you the surprise ending of a movie and then watching it just to find out whether the person was telling the truth; expecting infinite possibilities is always more dramatic than having it narrowed down to just two. But then again, we all pretty much knew what the iPad was going to be before it was officially introduced, and that sure turned out to be a dramatic event, fueled mostly by the fact that many of us were stunned by the fact that Apple actually went ahead and did something as brazen as launch a mainstream tablet computer; the fact that we knew it was coming was secondary to the fact that it actually happened. So perhaps Apple has a trick up its sleeve with the iPhone 4G after all, one that will leave us marveling at the fact that the company actually just did what it did; perhaps not. Either way, it’ll sell well and continue to dominate the mainstream smartphone market. But maybe, just maybe, Apple finds a way to totally surprise us with the rollout of the iPhone 4G, even though it’s a device we all seem to think we’ve already seen before.

Odds of new iPhone 4G at WWDC are unpredictable

Now that Apple is going out of its way to avoid introducing its new hardware products at major third party conferences like Macworld Expo, will the company now dodge its own WWDC conference when it comes to introducing the new iPhone 4G in June? One upon a time, Apple’s timing patterns for new product rollouts were easily decipherable, even as the products themselves were often in question; we didn’t know what Apple would introduce each, but we knew those introductions would come during Steve Jobs’ keynote address at either the summer or winter Macworld conference – or occasionally some other conference like Apple Expo Paris. But with Apple having walked away from nearly every third party trade show it used to associate itself with, the timing of the announcements are now largely unpredictable even as the company’s maturing product lines give us more of a clue than ever about the generalities of what’s coming, if not the specifics.

For instance, there was little doubt that Apple would be rolling out a tablet computer in the early weeks of this year. But because the company skipped the obvious high profile rollout opportunity known as Macworld 2010 in favor of holding its own press conference across the street, no one knew for sure what the iPad would debut until Apple sent out invitations marked January 27th. So while the common expectation is that Apple will in fact use the Steve Jobs keynote at WWDC this year to rollout out the iPhone 4G, that actually involves three assumptions which can’t quite safely be made. One is that the new iPhone will be introduced at the developers conference, which is far from a given. The second is that Steve Jobs will himself be giving the keynote at WWDC, as these days it’s just as likely that someone like Phil Schiller will handle such a speech. And the third and perhaps most oft-overlooked assumption is that the device will actually be called “iPhone 4G” – don’t be shocked if the new iPhone carries a different nomenclature than what we’ve come to expect. After all, no one saw the “iPhone 3GS” name coming either.

iPhone 4GS? Save it for next year

As best I can tell, none of us on staff have made that particular typo anywhere on Beatweek.com, so I have no idea why the search engines have seen fit to begin sending people our way who were looking for something called an iPhone 4GS. Still, I can understand how some confused users who aren’t familiar with the how or the why behind iPhone naming conventions could mistakenly think that it might be the name of the next model: there was an iPhone 3G, then an iPhone 3GS, so why not an iPhone 4GS next? Well, that requires some explaining.

The iPhone 3G was actually the second generation iPhone model; its name derived from its adoption of the “3G” cellular data network. With the third generation iPhone, Apple was stuck in something of a bind as far as names and ended up with “iPhone 3GS” as a way of signifying that it was still a 3G device, still the same physical design, and yet featured various hardware upgrades (as Apple put it, the “S” stood for “speed”). Now with the next iPhone set to presumably roll out in June 2010, the nomenclature actually is in question, as “iPhone 4G” would signify the fact that it will be the fourth generation iPhone, but would also incorrectly imply that the device will use the 4G network, which doesn’t exist yet (despite Sprint’s claims to the contrary). But while we don’t yet know whether the next iPhone will be called “iPhone 4G” as Apple hasn’t yet officially even admitted that a new iPhone is coming, it’s reasonably safe to assume that the next model won’t be called iPhone 4GS. However, it is possible that the company could find suit to use such a name in 2011 when it rolls out the next iPhone after that.

If you haven’t figured it out by now, I primarily created this page because if web searchers are going to land on this site after searching for “iPhone 4GS” then I’d rather they land on this page, where they can get an explanation as to what the iPhone’s various model names really mean, as opposed to some other random page on the site. As for the rest of you, perhaps you found it enlightening as well. At the very least you might get a kick out of the fact that so many people are out there hunting around for information on the new iPhone 4GS.

TV station lampoons Apple over iPhone 4G controversy

First it was Jon Stewart, and now even a local television news broadcast is getting in on the action when it comes to taking shots at Apple over the fact that an iPhone prototype one of its employees lost in a bar ended with a journalist’s house being raided by police. In the same week in which Stewart called the company “AppHoles” for taking its secrecy measures too far, a local CBS affiliate in Florida indicated that the real iPhone 4G might be introduced on June 4th, while depicting firefighters outside a burning structure in the background. It’s not entirely clear whether the scene was intentional or misplaced, but the imagery was clear nonetheless, as it evoked the notion that Apple’s next step might involve burning down the guy’s house.

Apple continues to receive bad press after apparently reporting the iPhone prototype to police as being “stolen” even after the device’s possessor had publicly identified himself and agreed to return it, which resulted in his house being raided by police and his computers being confiscated as the whole situation improbably escalates to possible felony status. The most bizarre aspect of the fiasco is that if Apple’s history of not fully revealing upcoming products even to those employees working on various aspects of the products is any indication, the “iPhone 4G” in question is unlikely to bear significant resemblance to the real thing. Despite the television station’s suggestion that Apple will announce the iPhone 4G on June 4th, and various publications’ assertions that the introduction will occur between June 7th and June 11th, Apple itself has not yet even acknowledged the iPhone 4G’s existence, let alone announced an introduction date.

Apple announces real iPhone 4G will also cost $5,000

In a surprise move, Apple announced today that the actual iPhone 4G will also cost $5,000 per unit. “We were originally planning to stick with our $99 to $299 scale,” said Apple CEO Steve Jobs in an open letter entitled Thoughts on Pricing. “But the guys at Gizmodo went ahead and set the market price. If you don’t like paying five grand to upgrade to the new iPhone, you can blame those guys.” Jobs went on to say that the move will “teach them a lesson” about messing with Apple’s intellectual property, as everyone who has to pay the $5,000 will invariably blame Gizmodo for it, thus causing the gadget blog great distress. Jobs then put on a red bandana and inexplicably began referring to himself as “Prison Mike.”

The move comes on the same day in which Jobs released another open letter, entitled Thoughts on Flash, in which the Apple boss detailed his reasons for not wanting the Adobe technology on his platform. In unrelated news, the house of Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen was mysteriously raided today by local police.

In other news, Apple announced today that the shipping date for the iPhone 4G has been delayed due to higher than expected pre-orders for the $5,000 device.

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Jon Stewart lampoons Apple over iPhone 4G fiasco on The Daily Show

The fiasco involving the supposed iPhone 4G prototype found in a bar, sold to a journalist, reported on publicly, returned to Apple, and overzealously investigated as if it were a felony, has reached such national lampoon status that Jon Stewart devoted an entire eight minute segment to the topic last night on The Daily Show. Titling the segment Appholes, Stewart began the segment by professing his love for Apple’s products and displaying each one of them on his desk, along with attempting to make a phone call by holding an iPad up to his ear and quipping that he likes to do so in to “pretend to my children that I’m shrinking.” But the meat of the segment was focused on how those who get on Apple’s bad side suddenly have their doors kicked in by the police, painting the company as the new evil Microsoft. Speaking to Apple, Stewart phrased it thusly: “You guys are busting down doors in Palo Alto while Comandant Gates is ridding the world of mosquitoes? What the f— is going on?”

He went on to suggest that Apple instead focus its efforts on busting down AT&T’s doors for the subpar cellular signal the company provides for Apple’s iPhone, while wondering aloud if the company might next sic the cops on Paul McCartney due to the fact that Beatles albums aren’t available in iTunes. But being the admitted Apple fanboy that he is, Stewart ended the segment by asking Apple to send him an iPhone 4G prototype, as “it looks totally sick.”

The full segment can be viewed here.

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