“AT&T Wireless, Apple’s exclusive iPhone provider in the United States, is now listing a second model of the iPhone in its device database called ‘iPhone Black,'” Katie Marsal reports for AppleInsider.
“The finding, discovered by a reader on Sunday and confirmed by AppleInsider on Monday, is interesting if nothing else in that it may add a bit of support to ongoing rumors that Apple’s second-generation 3G iPhone would sport a black plastic shell as opposed to an aluminum one,” Marsal reports.
Marsal reports, “The option to select an ‘iPhone Black’ model is visible alongside the traditional ‘iPhone’ for existing AT&T Wireless customers who are logged into their account on the carrier’s website, and who choose to select or update their handset model.”
Full article, with screenshots, here.
[UPDATE: 5:04pm EDT: An AT&T spokesperson told MacNN that the heading was merely a placeholder for internal use, and that the issue is being corrected. “The reference to ‘iPhone Black’ was simply a temporary placeholder used over the weekend for a scheduled catalog update,” wrote the representative. “It was meant to temporarily distinguish the various iPhone models-4GB, 8GB and 16GB-but was never reassigned. We’re correcting the site now.”]
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Judge Bork” for the heads up.]
If there is a Black phone in the works, and if it is has an all plastic back instead of metal, then I think it will be the new lower cost, thinner 2.5G iPhone. The new 3G will probably be similar in style to the existing one keeping the metal back and maybe keeping the thicker form factor. That way they have 2 new phones to talk about . . . the cheaper price and new look for the 2.5G, and the 3G with a few new features we don’t know for sure about yet like an iChat camera, video capability, and GPS. It would be smart to split the line soon so they get the whole iPod / Nano / Shuffle thing going so they can cover more price points. Apples iPod rollout was IMHO flawless . . . I think we can count on the same here.
Interesting thought …
As Arsenio Hall used to say: Hmmmmmm ….
Has anyone noticed that today’s ‘revelation’ is nothing more than a rehash of an April 25 ‘revelation, made by the same people.
If you repeat something often enough (including repeating yourself) you begin to look like a genius.
Black is black
I want an iPhone Black
It’s gray it’s gray
Waiting everyday oh no….
I found a site, rapidly becoming a favorite of mine, offering the same views as the article above, just hours after it.
http://thecreonguide.blogspot.com/
In less then a month we’ll know exactly what is going on but, until then is all just speculation and guessing.
Building of a hype machine:
1) release some code that indicates one thing
2) release some apparently secret but, nebulous photos
3) start drying the channel of the expected to be updated product
4) have so planted employee leak some contradictory or off the mark obviously bogus information on a new unannounced platform.
5) keep everything a tightly guarded secret.
6) make the product that is speculated to be update off the market with no or virtually no inventory.
7) Let the rumor web sites crank full tilt for months
8) have a partner planet or let slip some real and some bogus information on their website or in some other manner.
9) Watch the muck and feed, cool, or stoke the Press, website and blog hype as needed.
10) When the time comes for the main event do something very big and expected but unexpected.
Or how Apple introduces new and updated products.
No. 3 has never happened; No. 6 has never happened either. At any previous replacement product cycle (iMacs, portables, iPods), Apple continued to sell them and take orders. The closest they came to the current situation (not taking orders, “currently unavailable”) was something like “ships in 2 weeks”. As for the Nos. 1 and 2, these never happened together. Until Jobs showed iPhone in January 2007, nobody ever saw a picture of it (other than the generic multi-touch patent application diagrams). ITunes did receive some code referring to the phone device, but many thought it to be support for the ROKR.
Apple has never done anything like this. Obviously, it has extremely positive effect for the PR – this site, as well as many others, are whipping it up into a frenzy and the mass hysteria will very soon break out. As long as it keeps pushing AAPL north, I have no objection.
They need the hype built for a June 9th/10th announcement at the WWDC.
30 days of no inventory means no returns and no price refunds on iPhone sales during May (little or no stock.)
black model, shlack model.
can’t apple just write software so the user can select the color of their choosing? they can do everything else in software.
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just throw in some of that Cuttlefish technology…
@rasterbater
Actually, Apple has patents on technology for color shifting enclosures
The new phones could also be black anodized aluminium.
@critick:
took me a while to find it (no link pprovided), but here it is.
http://www.google.com/patents?id=qtd6AAAAEBAJ&dq=7,113,196
does not sound like cuttlefish technology to me…