Gizmodo purchased the iPhone prototype that someone “lost” and left behind in a bar. They did a pretty good job in looking it over, inspecting its guts and basically running through what they can with a fine-tooth comb. What are your thoughts on the design?

To me, it doesn’t look Apple-finished. It looks like a slab, rather than an elegant product tat Apple is known for. However, John Gruber has said that he checked his sources and has found that this is an actual iPhone prototype that Apple would like back because it was stolen. Why haven’t there been letters of cease-and-desist yet from Apple? That would be a dead-on sign that it is the next iPhone. Was it deliberately planted?

Remember the coffee date that Steve Jobs and Eric Schmidt? And Jobs stating, “They’re going to see it all eventually so who cares how they get it.” Hmmmm…call us crazy, but he could have been talking about the iPhone. Yet, then again, he could have been talking about porn on the iPad for all we know.

Look here to Gizmodo for all the details; including the new front-facing camera with flash (on both the front and back camera,) 960×460 display (they say they don’t know, but Gruber mentioned it a while ago, and they state you can’t see pixels on it – YUM!) and separate metal buttons for the volume, one for up and down.

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Tomorrow’s the big day, Apple unveils its iPhone 4.0 software. What will they wow us with? There’s plenty to go around in the rumor mill, but there are some thing we pretty much can count on.

John Gruber reported on Mac Break Weekly with Leo Laporte that multi-tasking will be announced. This has been the most requested missing link in the iPhone software. Me? rarely do I need it, but alas, I too admit it would be useful. Why has Apple locked that out? Actually, the iPhone does multi-task, it just doesn’t allow third party apps to do so. Andy Ihnatko wrote a great post about the misrepresentation that the media and tech elite (particularly the PC Microsoft crowd) continue to trumpet, “iPhone sucks, doesn’t have multi-tasking and therefore isn’t a real smartphone.” So, according to Gruber, that missing link will be finally recovered.

The next “most important” popular want is a unified In-Box. This one I agree with whole-heartedly. I have seven e-mail addresses (yes, 7!) and I’m sure some people have more. I have seven partially due to the fact that I publish a magazine and since it’s my baby, I have to respond to all e-mails that come in. The iPad’s e-mail is absolutely gorgeous and slick. The two pane landscape mode would be the sweetest gift Apple could give us, well second only to third party multi-tasking.

After those two, it all comes down to wishing, and you never know what will happen. I can foresee Apple porting quit a few things form the iPad. I’m consistently seeing updates of apps that are for both iPhone and iPad, all in one. I would think that Apple has learned a few things from their experience with the iPad, and it wouldn’t take a genius to think, “Hmm…could we put this on iPhone too?”

What will be really great is the next iPhone hardware. As Gruber said about the Wall Street Journal’s vaugue predictions, “Not the A4-family CPU system-on-a-chip. Not the 960 × 640 double-resolution display. Not the second front-facing camera. Not even the third-party multitasking in iPhone OS 4.” Yee-haw!

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If you have a iPhone 3G, then you know all too well that the power gets sucked up from the battery over a period of 8 hours. 3 or less if you have the 3G turned off. I haven’t done a scientific survey, so those numbers are just guesstimates.

I knew about this issue before I even got my 3G iPhone, so as I usually do, I started to research the options available for back-up battery options. I looked at many sites, and eventually picked FastMac’s iV battery pack. It has twice the full runtime of the iPhone’s existing power cell, a light on the side the camera is on, (but on the opposite edge) and it was unanimously the Editor’s choice for Best In Show at the 2008 MacWorld.

This was my first official online purchase on my iPhone, which made it that much more sweet. One problem though. I didn’t think about the fact that maybe the 3G wouldn’t fit in the pack. I thought, “Hmm. I’m sure it’ll work, why wouldn’t it?” This was after seeing that the iPod dock I had fit perfectly.

After a week of nothing other than an e-mail stating that now my iV battery pack would ship in “just 7 days!!” – I received a phone call from them to verify my address. I asked, “One question – will this work with the 3G phone?” The guy told me, “well, yes it will work, but if you’re willing to wait 4-8 weeks, we’ll send you the new 3G model at no additional charge.” SWEET!

Of course I went for it. I had already been without battery back-up for 14 or so days, 4-8 weeks will fly by. So, the reason for this post is: I highly recommend FastMac. They “Get It” when it comes to the Apple experience and especially the fan base. Those t-shirts are another testament to that – the one I like best is the black shirt with the official Apple, “Works with iPhone” label.

Now if I could just wrangle them into an affiliate program, I’d be set.

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I have been incredibly busy with my day job in the past 17 days, so please forgive as I catch up on my posting routine.

I was among a small few on July 11th, at my iPhone camp-out spot here in Portland, Oregon. Thankfully, I was 2nd in line at 2 am that. Friday morning.

When the door finally opened, I was met with a big crowd of AT&T staff. Patiently I waited as the stock guy to go retrieve my 16GB slab of fan-boi sweetness. Mind you, I’ve never owned an iPhone yet, so it was even that much sweeter. I waited painfully for a full year for this day.

Of course you know by now that the iTunes servers began to choke, and I was told to go home and sync it myself. No worries here- I FINALLY had my object of lust, desire, passion, and religious idol.
I went home, it repeatedly didn’t sync. I took a nap for an hour, and woke up to my partner beaming, saying, “Good news!! It went through!!” Giddy-Up! (as a colleague, Von Glitchka has coined the glee.)

The rest has been a love affair that

won’t ever wane. You see, I had planned this event like a set of parents who are expecting a new bundle of joy. My birthday was July 1st, I had the forethought to ask for (and received) iTunes gift cards as presents, all $75 worth. I spent most of it on games and productivity apps. the day before – so it was all ready to sync and load.

Now, I have had to put a barrier between me a the app and iTunes store, available to me in an instant. My new rule is to buy myself iTunes gift-cards twice a month. No in-store credit? I don’t get to buy. You have to. Otherwise, it could be like a bad crack habit -”I want more!!!” That my friends is a fine spot to be in – I could be one of the thousands of people, trying to hunt an iPhone down and be horribly iPhone-less right now.

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After I posted my prediction yesterday, I came across this on MacRumors

What’s strange is that nothing is being said by anyone about when this announcement is expected. This morning, every Apple blog was reporting that on AT&T there was evidence of a 2nd option available to choose a iPhone Black. What that means, is beyond anyone, one can only speculate.

The drums are beating people. Mark my words, it’s going to happen soon. I’m saying that and I don’t even have any spies or journalist insider tricks.

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It’s been known since Saturday, May 10th that the Apple online store has a sign on the iPhone, “Currently Unavailable.” Not just the US web site – Our friends in the UK can’t get one either when they want to pull it up.

My prediction: the 3G iphone is coming sooner than once thought, and that will be this week. More specifically, Tuesday May 13th. Yes, I am being bold, but there is no other explanation for the sporadic oddities snapping about. That is – if it isn’t announced on Monday the 12th.

Apple doesn’t miscalculate demand for the current iPhone. That’s ridiculous. Some say that Apple is being rarely polite and nice to the would-be purchasers of the 1st gen. iPhone. Don’t want people buying the phone now, when the new one is coming out in a day or two. Sure, that’d be a way to avoid major amounts of disappointed people, throngs of them showing up to return theirs for the new devise. Imagine the craziness if those people and the newbies swarmed in all at once. I don’t get that either – they’re going to sell the 1st generation iPhone anyway. They’d be crazy not to have it on hand for those that still want it as an option.

Tomorrow we’ll see though – Monday is gonna be fun.

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I remember the day that Apple changed the game. January 9, 2007 the Mac world watched as Steve Jobs revealed the device. I wasn’t there, but I followed on a live text and photo feed. As I refreshed my browser over and over again, I got giddy as a Carrie Bradshaw with a new pair of Jimmy Choos. I kept saying out loud to my cat, and myself, “OMG – they actually did it!”

Ever since that day, I have been an addict, slurping up everything iPhone. You would think I’d have one by now.

Not so – I have waited, like a kid who’s Christmas was never going to come. Why? I’m an early adopter to only a wee degree. There’s also the missing pieces. The same reasons a lot of others have waited. No 3G, no cut and paste, and no GPS. Also, as everyone in the civilized world knows, you never go and purchase the first generation of an electronic device or software.The bugs have to be worked out.

That’s not to say I haven’t gone to my local Apple store and fondled and played with it. I have – every time I’m downtown! When I’m in the company of people that have one, I of course have to turn away, like a vampire avoiding the sun. It’s been really hard to wait.

It looks like my wait has paid off. This summer in June, at the WWDC, Steve Jobs is expected to introduce the new iPhone. It’s not a secret anymore, and Apple simply cannot coverup everything that is going on in the world because of it. Vodafone has confirmed that they have secured the distribution rights for the device in 10 different countries.

I will be in line, you can bet money on that. I have waited long enough. And what a day to be an iPhone owner. The SDK release will be done at the same time, and watch out for the circus to begin – Candy Canes and Rainbows for developers. The applications that several companies were allowed to create for the phone (with a 2 week deadline!) are incredible.

Truly, the Mac is and will forever be in our shirt pocket.

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