Hasta La Gadget!

Clearly a white front plate was not enough to satisfy curiosity. Though we aren’t able to verify this ourselves, Chinese site Apple.pro has a couple shots of what it claims to be the white next-gen iPhone, almost fully assembled (the front plate looks like it hasn’t been snapped in all the way) and casually lounging next to the black model we’ve gazed upon so many times at this point. Is this enough for us to trust and comfortably change our palette preferences? Nah, but surely 15 days until expected confirmation can’t be too excruciating of a wait.

White next-gen iPhone apparently materializes in full form originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 23 May 2010 11:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Imagine, if you will, the world of the overprivileged, the domain of that elite group of people who long ago bought everything they wanted or needed, people whose only way to get rid of their pile of cash is to fritter it away, Brewster’s Millions-style, on expensive, glittery trash.

For these lucky individuals the price of an object is its most compelling spec, followed closely by novelty. Take the Vertu series of phones, for example, which hover around $10,000 apiece and offer such modern conveniences as GPRS connections, or color screens. Can I interest you in a $200 corkscrew, sir? Are you sure? It is made of woolly mammoth tusk, you know. Ahh, I shall wrap it for you now.

To these people, an iPhone dock cast in glass is the perfect object. The CrystalDock is nothing more than a single blob of lead-crystal glass poured into a mold (”by hand”, of course), polished, fitted with a connector and dropped into a box. The price? An satisfyingly foolish €200, or around $250 $200. There’s even the option to “upgrade” to a more sophisticated model, the €350 ($350) Aurora. This wonderful frippery is “hand-painted with platinum” and when your current-gen iPhone no longer fits, it will make the perfect Clue-style murder weapon to safe-gaurd your inheritance from that cheating wife of yours. Available now, unfortunately.

CrystalDock [Calypso Crystal. Thanks, Ales!]

Dashing away from the Google I/O keynote as fast as our feet would carry us, we scored the very first look at Logitech’s Google TV companion box. While we’ll share full details when we catch a breath, here’s the scoop: the box extends the full functionality of a Logitech Harmony remote and a WiFi access point to your TV, providing not only Google TV but also allowing you to control your entire entertainment system (including DVR) with a still-in-development keyboard / touchpad remote or an iPhone or Android smartphone app over WiFi. Hit the gallery below for a taste of what the little set-top box can do, and rest assured we’ve got more info on the way.

Update: Now with video, after the break.

Update 2: Details and specs after the break, too.

Continue reading Logitech’s Google TV companion box includes smartphone apps, we go eyes-on (updated: video!)

Logitech’s Google TV companion box includes smartphone apps, we go eyes-on (updated: video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 May 2010 16:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We still have no idea what’s going on with Apple, Verizon, and the iPhone, but it sounds like AT&T isn’t sweating it — speaking at a J.P. Morgan conference today, Ralph De La Vega reportedly “just laughed” when asked when Ma Bell’s iPhone exclusivity would run out, and indicated he wasn’t worried about other carriers potentially getting the phone. According to Ralph, some 80 percent of AT&T iPhone customers are on family or business plans, and they’re generally less likely to switch, so AT&T thinks it can hang onto them if Apple’s phone hits another carrier. That certainly sounds like AT&T’s been giving the issue some thought — another piece of kindling for our ever-smoldering Verizon iPhone Rumor Fire, or just tough talk to keep Apple in line? We might never know — but we do know that it’ll be much harder to keep those iPhone customers if AT&T’s service quality continues to suffer, and Ralph acknowledged the troubles, saying that AT&T’s biggest issue right now is simply getting enough equipment built in China and put into place. We’ll see what happens — we’re not going to believe that a Verizon iPhone is real until Steve asks if we can hear him now.

Update: AT&T just sent us a tiny snippet of de la Vega’s comments:

Having said that, all the improvements that we have seen are not just driven by the iPhone. The non-iPhone customer churn has seen the same reductions as the overall total postpaid customer churn improvement levels. So we’ve seen improvements in churn that are driven by the iPhone and by non-iPhone customers. And so we view that having a great portfolio of devices and services has been the key to our success and will continue to be. And I think the iPhone will be a part of our portfolio. And I think that customers are still going to come to us, like they’ve done in the past, looking for great choices, great devices and great services.

Interesting — it certainly doesn’t sound like he’s betting too heavily on keeping the iPhone exclusive, but we’d like some more context here. We’re looking for the full transcript (or better yet, video), so stay tuned.

Update 2: And here’s the followup question specifically regarding exclusivity:

Q: I thought you might share with us the exclusivity end date, Ralph.
A: No, I don’t think I’m going to be able to do that, Mike. (laughs)

Pithy!

Ralph de la Vega ‘just laughs’ when asked about AT&T iPhone exclusivity expiration date, says most customers will stay originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 May 2010 17:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve yet to see concrete proof that Apple’s portable media players will ship with a camera, but the new iPhone OS 4.0 beta shows Cupertino’s at least considering the notion for the iPod touch and even the iPad. It seems AT&T tethering wasn’t the only thing hidden in iPhone OS 4.0 beta 4 — 9to5Mac found a variety of telltale references to an a flash when pouring through the update’s source code. Does that mean that the iDevices will actually get cameras, let alone supporting light fixtures? It’s too early to tell… but we did spot an LED flash on that early iPhone HD, and a recent Vietnamese leak proves that Apple at least prototyped an iPod touch with a camera — though no flash, sadly — as well. Is Apple simply updating their error messages, or is there something to this? You make the call.

iPhone OS 4.0 beta 4 hints at LED flash, camera for iPad, iPod, iPhone originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 May 2010 15:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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