14 DAY TRIAL // Many of you have probably already heard about Apple working on some kind of ultra mobile device, and even more have tagged this rumor with a "never going to happen" sticky note. But let's just not get too feisty about it and analyze the evidence we've got so far.
A number of blogs and websites have come with numerous pieces of information related to this matter and, these days, these pieces of info just seem to stack up, hinting us about this ultra portable device Apple might be working on.
This entire story has begun in 2004, during the All Things Digital conference, when Steve Jobs mentioned the satisfaction brought by the devices that Apple had launched until then, and the ones that had been planned to launch, but later it was decided not to ship at all. When asked about the latter, Jobs responded quickly and simple: "an Apple PDA".
Considering this as the start of all the commotion going on lately, you have to agree that the latest rumors about the Cupertino based company releasing some type of UPMC-like device aren't that far fetched after all.
What are the proofs that could make you take Jobs' statement seriously? As seekingalpha.com reports "from several different sources during the past 6 months", a device sporting horizontal orientation and iPhone-like design has been described by a number of sources.
As they have described it, the Apple portable device (let's call it UPD from now on) will not have a keyboard and will most definitely use Apple's patented multi-touch interface. Also, due to unusual interest Apple has given to an 800x480 pixels 5.2 inch touch screen display by Balda (a German company), one can easily place it size-wise somewhere between the Apple tablet and the iPhone.
Furthermore, despite the general industry estimations of softer demand and higher production of flash memory for 2008, Apple has shown its concern towards the supplies of flash memories for the next year. This can only make us take into consideration the fact that Apple readies a flash memory based product for a market launch sometime during the next year.
Do not get your expectations high though, because the fact that the UPD or a similar device haven't been spotted by anyone until now clearly tags it as a work in progress - to be read design stage. Although things begin to shape up, you are advised to take this matter with - at least - a grain of salt, because until we won't see a prototype of some kind or even some leaked photos, nothing is certain.
And considering the fact that Apple is THE expert in keeping secret evidences of future to-be-launched devices (remember the iPhone launch, when no one had any idea of what the thing actually looked like until the official unveiling during the Steve Jobs keynote in January?), we probably won't be able to get a glimpse of it, even if they will actually begin working on a real life prototype.
Until the "leaked photos" arrive (a fact that can be placed on the same level of probability as Superman eating a Kryptonite salad), we'll have to feed on with rumors and possible hints coming from Steve Jobs, the guy that makes sure nothing escapes the Apple Labs.