Victoria, the first Apple assistant

Do you know about Apple Victoria? Probably not, as it’s the code name for an Apple product rather than its final name. In reality, it’s the Nike+, a small accessory for the iPod nano (and iPhone).

Posté le 18/04/2012 par

A transparent eMate 300 prototype

On eBay, you can find just about anything. Today, a prototype of the eMate 300, the first device Jonathan Ive worked on. The classic eMate 300 is indeed dark green (foreshadowing the iMac and iBook), and this model is transparent. According to the seller, Apple had planned red, orange, and purple models, but only the green one was released.

Posté le 17/04/2012 par

Les meilleures promotions du jour

Sur cette page, je vous mets les promotions du jour. Ce sont celles que je poste de temps en temps sur Twitter, et les liens sont sponsorisés, ce qui me permet d’acheter certains accessoires pour le site. Je mets des liens vers des promotions intéressantes, idéalement des produits que j’ai essayés ou que je connais bien, avec évidemment une orientation vers les nouvelles technologies.

Posté le 17/04/2012 par

A prototype of a Magic Mouse

In FCC documents, a ‘prototype’ version of the Magic Mouse can be found. It lacks the Apple logo and has a different battery compartment design compared to the final version. The mouse also appears to lack the textured aluminum sides, indicating that it has not been used. More amusingly, the online manual refers to it as the ‘Wireless Mouse’ and seems to be a copy/paste from the previous model’s manual, with just a diagram of the Magic Mouse added.

Posté le 17/04/2012 par

A prototype of an iPod touch 2G

The FCC, from time to time, works on prototypes for validation. A small example is this iPod touch with a red PCB. It’s a prototype for a good reason: the DVTb on the casing.

Posté le 15/04/2012 par

A prototype of an iPad 2 3G

For a change, a prototype on eBay. It’s an iPad 2 3G (Verizon) with Apple’s test software. The illustration of the icons is amusing: an AT-AT for AT commands, Transformers for Rumble and Soundwave commands; the engineers are geeks.

Posté le 21/03/2012 par

An Apple (Bandai) Pippin prototype

On Flickr, you can find everything, including photos of a development Pippin. And when you recall the epic failure of this console, you realize that Apple may not necessarily want to (re)enter the world of gaming consoles.

Posté le 14/03/2012 par

Some iPhone prototypes

I had already talked about the EDGE iPhone prototype, which had a black casing. Apparently, all the prototypes were of this color: other photos are circulating, and the aluminum casing is indeed anodized in black. It’s a shame that Apple didn’t stick with it; it looks quite classy.

Posté le 13/03/2012 par

The Apple W.A.L.T.

On eBay, there is currently a W.A.L.T.. No connection to Disney, it’s an Apple device that was showcased a few years ago but never released.

Posté le 12/03/2012 par

A Macintosh prototype with a 5.25-inch floppy disk drive

Interesting discovery: a prototype of a Mac 128K (yes, 128K) has just surfaced on the Internet. It comes with a unique feature: a 5.25-inch floppy disk drive. This drive, known as the Twiggy, was used in the Lisa and is familiar to those who have read Steve Jobs’ biography: it was initially considered unreliable and was eventually replaced by a more dependable 3.5-inch Sony floppy disk drive…

Posté le 30/01/2012 par

A prototype of a transparent Apple hard drive

Fun fact: you can find a transparent case hard drive on eBay. This Apple prototype from 1985 isn’t using SCSI and features a design that Western Digital would adopt for its geek-themed hard drives 20 years later…

Posté le 25/01/2012 par