The WWDC rumors have risen so far above fever pitch that they can now only be heard by particularly sensitive dogs. Here's a transposed roundup of the better fakes and fabrications, brought to you at a human friendly frequency.
Fake Unboxings
Pretty much every Apple Store around the world is likely to have at least a demonstration model locked away in a remote controlled safe, ready to spring free at a touch of Steve Jobs' Big Red Button. If these hilarious attempts are to be believed, a few of these have snuck out early.
This one comes from Web-Mobile via Engadget. Hideous gunmetal gray with a magically resizing front camera. As Engadget's Joshua Topolsky says, "Honestly... it's like you're not even trying".
This is a fake NDA box, from somewhere in Australia. Apple Insider reports that inside lurks "a single demonstration 3G iPhone to be displayed by the resellers immediately following the company's announcements."
The kicker? These "NDA" letter appear to have been mailed separately from the boxes themselves.
Fake Ads
Crunchgear may or may not have been suckered by a rather poorly put together set of leaked ads. They show video calling on the iPhone via a new front-facing camera and hint at iChat for Windows Xp (yes, Xp with a lower case p). Also notice the lack of a power button on the Product (RED) model (and why on Earth would Jobs be muddying the launch waters with a RED version anyway?)
Granted, if these are hot from a computer inside Apple's publicity department, the mis-spellings and poor layout might be excused as first-draft mistakes. CrunchGear's Matt Hickey seems convinced, and it was he who exposed the Fat Nano in a similar manner. This time, though, there has been no takedown notice from Apple to add credibility. Either way, the hardware does look nice in a curvy MacBook Air kind of way.
Mac Fusion
This one comes from The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW). The Mac Fusion looks to be a cheap box aimed at cheap developers: A mini Mac mini, if you will. Problem: See those logos? Apple uses a grayscale logo for Windows, and would presumably do so for Linux, too. Another problem: Since when has Apple marketed anything on price? And third, the line "Port [...] existing programs to the Mac" should leave Mac users terrified of crazy, non-intuitive UIs, crappy shovelware and a generally non-Mac like experience. That's not to denigrate Windows -- it's just that straight ports to the Mac rarely fit in with "the Apple Way". Verdict? Bunk!
For full coverage of the Stevenote, check our Liveblog here, and stay tuned to the Gadget Lab for an in depth look at any new products.
