Imagine this scenario. Apple engineer walks into a bar. Pretty typical right? Apple engineer walks into a bar with a brand spanking new 4G iPhone (please note that “4G” is not the confirmed name of the device but merely a way of temporarely naming it – some may also refer to it as the “iPhone HD”). This 4G iPhone is disguised as an earlier-model 3GS, and somehow this device ends up in the hands of some very reliable sources (gizmodo in this case). Well believe it or not, it happened. Here at BIP, we are shocked by all of the press surrounding this event and it’s lead us to believe that below is in fact the new iPhone. Let’s take a look:

Clearly this device is not a final product. However there are definetly some conclusions to be made about the new device based on the findings.

New and improved features:

• Front-facing video chat camera
• Improved regular back-camera (based on the much larger lense)
• Camera flash
• Micro-SIM instead of standard SIM (just like the iPad has)
• Better  display. It’s unclear if it’s going to be a 960×640 but sources say it’s a definite improvement
• What may look as a secondary mic for noise cancellation, at the top, next to the headphone jack
• Split, round buttons for volume
• Power, mute, and volume buttons are all metallic as is the exterior sides of the device
• Entirely flat black, made of either glass (most likely), ceramic or shiny plastic in order for the cell signal to poke through. Supposedly, tapping on the back makes a more hollow and higher pitched sound compared to tapping on the glass on the front/screen, but that could just be the orientation of components inside making for a different sound
• Slightly smaller screen than the 3GS (but very clearly a higher resolution.
• Everything is more square (rounded corners are so passé!)
• It’s 3 grams heavier
• 16% Larger battery
• Internals components are smaller, miniaturized and reduced to make room for the larger battery

Who says it’s real?

We’re sure skeptical at BIP, but the guys over at gizmodo are pretty certain this is the real deal:

We’re as skeptical—if not more—than all of you. We get false tips all the time. But after playing with it for about a week—the overall quality feels exactly like a finished final Apple phone—and disassembling this unit, there is so much evidence stacked in its favor, that there’s very little possibility that it’s a fake. In fact, the possibility is almost none. Imagine someone having to use Apple components to design a functioning phone, from scratch, and then disseminating it to people around the world. Pretty much impossible. Here are the reasons, one by one.

It has been reported lost

Apple-connected John Gruber—from Daring Fireball—says that Apple confirmed losing a prototype iPhone and they want it back. They want it back so bad that they’ve even managed to remotely disable the iPhone. Gizmodo was unable to get past the connect to iTunes screen with it. According to the person who found it, this iPhone was running iPhone OS 4.0 before the iPhone 4.0 announcement. The person was able to play with it and see the iPhone 4.0 features. After Apple killed the device remotely, they were unable to restore because each firmware is device specific—3GS firmware only loads on 3GS devices—and clearly the firmware for this unreleased device is not to be found.

It is recognized as an iPhone

The device behaves exactly like an iPhone does when connected to a computer, with the proper boot sequence and “connect to iTunes” restore functionality. Even Mac OS X’s System Profiler reports the device as an iPhone in restore mode.

Some iPhone-esque insides

Gizmodo went as far as opening the device. What did they find? Multiple components that were clearly labeled Apple. Since all the components were fit extremely well and extremely conformed inside the casing, it was evident that it was not just an earlier generation iPhone transplanted into another body. In fact, that seems impossible, with the size constraints and what not.

The rumors about the rumor

Now that Gizmodo has reveiled their news. There are tons of articles flying around the web saying that Gizmodo may have stolen the device or paid for it. A reported sum of up to $10,000.

$10,000 has undeniably diverted a ton of eyeballs to Gizmodo’s site, and the surge in web traffic probably has Gizmodo editors jumping for joy. But you have to wonder if Gizmodo, in the grand scheme of things, tarnished their “relationship” with Apple for a short term spike in pageviews.

Will Gizmodo get in trouble with Apple? Will they be considred responsible for this supposedly stolen device?

Property is generally deemed to have been mislaid or misplaced if it is found in a place where the true owner likely did intend to set it, but then simply forgot to pick it up again. For example, a wallet found in a shop lying on a counter near a cash register will likely be deemed misplaced rather than lost. Under common law principles, the finder of a misplaced object has a duty to turn it over to the owner of the premises, on the theory that the true owner is likely to return to that location to search for his misplaced item. If the true owner does not return within a reasonable time (which varies considerably depending on the circumstances), the property becomes that of the owner of the premises

Some more recommended reading:

• Gizmodo – http://gizmodo.com/5520164/this-is-apples-next-iphone?skyline=true&s=i
• TechCrunch – http://techcrunch.com/2010/04/19/iphone-hd-4g/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29
• Engadget – http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/18/iphone-4g-proof/
• Edible Apple – http://www.edibleapple.com/gizmodo-paid-10000-for-lost-iphone-4g/
• iPhone 4G Release – http://bip.softwarejewel.com/technology/iphone4-2474/

Please Comment

How does the hardware look? How do you feel about micro-sims? Do you think it’s the real thing? Do you have more information for us? Have you heard something we haven’t? Do you think Apple will take action? Please tell us what you think and spread the word!

Edits

• Check out the follow-up article here: http://bip.softwarejewel.com/technology/iphone-prototype-requisitioned-3384/
• This guy may have been the original owner of the iPhone prototype: http://bit.ly/bayhd9