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Prototype posts

iPhone 3GS prototype scooped up at airport, now on eBay

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 3rd 2009 @ 12:44PM

Seriously folks, what's up with these prototype iPhones falling out of nondescript white vans and ending up on eBay in the shadiest of manners? Just months after we saw an original iPhone prototype (ancient OS included) pop up on The 'Bay, now we've got one of the world's first iPhone 3GSs on there as well. According to the highly ranked eBay seller, the "guy" he "got it from" actually stumbled upon it at an airport, and rather than doing the nonsensical thing of hitting up lost and found, he decided to make the most of the sudden opportunity. According to the new owner, an Apple Genius has confirmed that it is an iPhone 3GS, but due to its prototype nature, they can't help him get past the "Connect to iTunes" screen. In other words, it's an incredibly rare brick. If that sounds like just the thing to complete your collection, you can visit the road to overpaying through the read link below.

[Via ElectricPig]

OLED mini projector prototype for mobile phones using a series of lenses developed

by Laura June, posted Jun 29th 2009 @ 7:19PM

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute -- partnered with project HYPOLED -- have created an OLED mini projector prototype for mobile phones. Unlike many previous iterations of similar technologies, this new prototype doesn't need an additional illumination system, instead relying on a lens system to project images produced by an OLED onto a screen or wall -- making it both smaller and more energy efficient. The prototype currently displays a monochrome image with a brightness of 10,000 candelas per square meter, and color images with a brightness of about half of that. The lenses are also made of glass at this point, though cheaper and simpler plastic ones are in the works. No word on when we might see these prototypes hitting the streets in actual projector phones, though.

[Via Gizmag]

Maria Sharapova models Bluetooth-enabled Sony Ericsson prototype dress

by Laura June, posted Jun 18th 2009 @ 2:18PM

Sony Ericsson's official spokesperson, Maria Sharapova, was on hand recently to unveil a student-designed prototype of a Bluetooth-enabled dress. The iridescent scales that run up one side of the dress move and light up when the phone rings, enabling its owner to know about calls even in noisy places (so says the dress's maker, Georgie Davies). Yes, it's just a prototype for now, but it's a pretty cute dress, so hopefully we'll see these hit the streets at some point in the (nearish) future.

[Via Switched]

Dell's first cellphone prototypes said to "lack differentiation"

by Darren Murph, posted Mar 21st 2009 @ 10:33AM

Remember when AT&T's Ralph de la Vega got caught up in the middle of mixed words over a supposed Dell smartphone at MWC? Turns out, maybe that cat has seen a cellular prototype from the labs of Round Rock, but given his displeasure with it, he brushed it off as no huge deal. A fresh report from Barron's asserts that Dell actually has shown off both WinMo and Android-powered handsets to an undisclosed amount of mobile carriers, but essentially, everyone met them with a gigantic "meh" and simply stated that the attempts "lacked differentiation." That said, it seems that Dell's not being deterred by the naysayers, and it has even led some analysts to guess that the company may pick up one of those other struggling cellphone makers in order to get some of that "differentiating" juice. It strikes us sort of funny, though -- since when did differentiation really matter to carriers?

[Via mocoNews]

Prototype iPhone firmware posted, leaves more questions than answers

by Chris Ziegler, posted Mar 12th 2009 @ 12:56AM

The physical devices have been unceremoniously pulled off eBay, yes, but thankfully, their spirit lives on thanks to ripped binaries now circulating the interwebs. It seems that no one has quite figured out how to run the pre-pro iPhone firmware outright, but we're sure it's just a matter of time. While we twiddle our thumbs, one of the firmware's more interesting nuggets -- the colorfully-named skankphone.app -- has apparently been successfully launched from an iPhone 3G's home screen, briefly producing this unfortunate image for your viewing enjoyment before booting you back out. This is all either an elaborate hoax crafted by some of the crazier minds in the iPhone hacking community, or there are some awfully sick puppies in Cupertino's iPhone team -- but either way, we're finding ourselves wanting more. What?

[Thanks, Marcel]

iPhone prototype surfaces on eBay, aims to fetch a pretty penny

by Darren Murph, posted Mar 9th 2009 @ 7:42PM

Okay, so we'll go ahead and crush a few dreams up front -- there's nothing here that proves this isn't some funky KIRF iPhone or just an ad hoc or jailbroken app making things look completely funkadelic. Now that our skepticism is out in the open, we'll be honest and say we really, really hope this is legitimate. According to the eBay description, this here iPhone prototype was constructed a few months prior to the real iPhone's release, and it actually powers on, makes calls and receives SMSs. It sports a totally beta plastic matte screen, and the software is obviously pre-release. Oh, and the best part? The auction winner also scores a second beta phone that won't turn on (yet), but we're sure the right tweaker could fix it up into the most amazing secondary phone the world has ever seen. Forget all that bad economic news you've been hearing -- you best bring the bring the bank if you're thinking seriously about claiming this.

[Via iLounge]

Man swipes prototype phones from Sony Ericsson, is caught

by Donald Melanson, posted Jan 14th 2009 @ 6:01PM

Details are still a bit fuzzy on this one, but reports out of Sweden say that a 35-year-old map swiped a batch of prototype phones from Sony Ericsson's Lund offices on Monday or Tuesday and was then promptly arrested on Wednesday after police discovered the prototypes, along with a hundred other phones, at his home. According to Sony Ericsson, the man was not an employee but had a "working relationship" with the company, and apparently used a pass card to gain entry to the building. Police also found a laptop with some unspecified contents at the man's home, and say that the total value of the theft was about 750,000 kronor, or roughly $90,000.

[Image courtesy Skånskan.se, thanks Örjan]

Sony Ericsson's axed Paris gets video review: here's to what could've been

by Darren Murph, posted Nov 26th 2008 @ 10:26AM

Sony Ericsson sure knows how to toy with the heartstrings -- 'course, one could argue that it's our own fault for delving beneath the surface and learning far too much about a handset that was never assured of a public release, but whatever. The Paris, or P5, or the one that got away has been reviewed in a two-part video series over at UIQ Blog, and while the handset used was indeed a prototype, it's pretty much the most finalized version anyone ever saw. We wouldn't dare spoil anything in case you just can't take anymore positive press about a phone you'll never be able to own, but those with hardened hearts can hit the read link and mash play (twice).

[Via Boy Genius Report]

Concept phone can see through walls -- in theory

by Tim Stevens, posted Oct 1st 2008 @ 3:29PM

Remember that scene in 'The Dark Knight' where (spoiler alert!) Batman uses the city's cell-phones to look through walls and find the bad guys? Totally awesome, right!? A group of scientists at KDDI apparently thought so too, creating a prototype they say could do something similar. Using geomagnetic sensors, accelerometers, and GPS, the device is able to determine its position and render its surroundings on the screen in OpenGL, including areas that are currently out of sight. We're guessing you must have already scanned those areas with the phone and that it can't actually see through walls, but we'd be happy to be proven wrong -- whenever they actually have something to show us. Like the group's funky concept phones we brought to you earlier, this one doesn't actually work. Yet.

Conceptual teddy bear phone shown off in Japan, could totally sell for $199 on contract

by Darren Murph, posted Sep 2nd 2008 @ 4:06AM

We've seen some bizarre -- bizarre -- handsets in our day, but this one is just too darn cute to call weird. The conceptual Kuma Phone was recently shown off in Japan by Willcom, and according to local reports, the audience in attendance absolutely adored it. The GSM teddy bear, er, mobile can hold up to four speed dial numbers, boasts a built-in vibration function and allows users to answer / terminate calls by "pressing the tail." An accompanying pamphlet suggested that it would run around $500 should it ever hit mass production, which leads us to wonder if they plan on using Boyds / Vermont Teddies or something.

[Via textually]

Prototype iControlPad proves itself on video

by Darren Murph, posted May 31st 2008 @ 4:11PM

Hah, did you really have the nerve to doubt CraigIX? The iPhone gamepad add-on that we heard about just last week is already inching closer to reality, and there's a video to prove it. In the somewhat unexciting clip posted up after the jump, you'll see a PCB mockup of the device doing its thang, though it's quite inelegant in its current form. If you just needed one more something to boost your interest / confidence that this critter was real, you know where to head.

[Via zodttd]

Continue reading Prototype iControlPad proves itself on video

MSV shows off L-Series satellite phone prototype

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 4th 2008 @ 2:00PM

On a typical day, anything shown off at CTIA with a "coming in 2010" sticker would cause some serious unrest, but given that we've already found that LTE is eons (or so it feels) away, we're just taking things in stride. The MSV prototype shown above will purportedly become a proud member of the L-Series, and its satellite / cellular hybrid system will enable it to play nice on traditional cell bands as well as snag sat coverage anywhere in North America. Apparently the firm is planning on shooting up a pair of birds in 2009 as well as landing a deal with an undisclosed US carrier, and the 0.6-inch thick unit itself should feature a 480 x 320 multi-touch screen, WiFi and an integrated camera. No word on a price just yet, but feel free to check back in a few years.

A trip down Helio's memory lane

by Chris Ziegler, posted Feb 26th 2008 @ 6:50PM

Back before there was Helio, there was Earthlink, South Korea's SKT, and a dream. Heliocity managed to score some shots of just what that dream looked like in the early days, a similar -- yet decidedly different -- vision than what the MVNO ended up bringing to market. Not only are the prerelease versions of Helio's first two models to market (the Kickflip and Hero) "SK Earthlink" branded, but check out that super trippy Kickflip proto, complete with aerial antenna and secondary LCD for self-portraits. The Ocean obviously came along further down the road, and while we like the all-black finish Helio decided on, we think the two-tone action here would've made for an interesting second choice. Read on for all the visuals.

Hydrogen fuel cell-powered MOTOSLVR L7 prototype gets pictured

by Darren Murph, posted Feb 16th 2008 @ 1:46PM

Right around a month ago, we heard that Angstrom Power had managed to stuff some of its sophisticated hydrogen fuel cells into a MOTOSLVR L7. That prototype, friends, is what you see about. Unfortunately, we're no closer to realizing when this stuff will actually escape the proverbial beta stage, and for whatever it's worth, we're also no closer to feeling absolutely safe with one of these next to our melon (though existing alternatives don't have the greatest track record either).

ARM demoing Android prototype at Mobile World Congress?

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Feb 7th 2008 @ 12:18PM

According to Reuters, chipmaker ARM has plans to show off an Android-based "Google Phone" prototype at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The news agency is citing a "source" for this information, and both Google and ARM declined to comment, as if reading from some sort of industry script, though we're seeing and hearing a lot of buzz from MWC on new tech, so this would come as no surprise. Come on guys, we don't mind if the OS is still a little buggy... show us some hardware.