[Technology bloggers were riveted over the weekend as photos of what might be a yet unannounced next generation iPhone began circulating.
Pictures of the device first appeared on the technology blog Engadget. And now the product itself has fallen into the hands of Gizmodo, where it has been prodded and ripped apart as if it were a little green alien from another planet. Gizmodo editors are not saying how they acquired the device.
The reports began when Engadget showed photos of a sleek new device and told readers that it “was found on the floor of a San Jose bar inside of an iPhone 3G case.” In other words, the phone was in disguise in the wild and whoever was carrying it appeared to have lost it.
John Gruber, a blogger who runs Daring Fireball, which concentrates mainly on Apple and its products, at first speculated that the phone could be a fake, but later said, “I called around, and I now believe this is an actual unit from Apple — a unit Apple is very interested in getting back.”
On Monday Mr. Gruber unearthed an Apple patent concerning a next-generation iPhone with a glass ceramic back, much like the one visible in these photos.]