Future iPhone - Concept: The iPhone Nano

Posted by T3 Magazine on Fri 25 May 2007

iPhone Nano

Michael Brook, T3 editor and technological soothsayer

“A pint-sized version of the iPhone has been clocking up rumour miles for months and with Apple’s WWDC – which has seen two iPhone launches in as many years – just around the corner, the iPhone Nano could come sooner than we think. What kind of mobile tech should we expect from it?

For starters, it would be a slimmed-down, basic mobile, offering EDGE network speeds as current 3G hardware just wouldn’t fit into its small shell. However, to push battery life through the 12 hour mark, an OLED screen would be essential. There’s a good chance we could see Wi-Fi N and wireless media synchronising, while flash memory capacities would range from 8GB to 16GB.

The iPhone’s OS 3.0 beta has already been unleashed, so expect to see features such as text copy and paste, an OS X-style Spotlight search function, MMS, A2DP Bluetooth, “shake to shuffle” on the iPod portion and sundry other refinements.

Precisely when we’ll see a iPhone Nano is not clear – it could be this year – but if it hits it will be a sure-fire commercial success.”

Power to the people

Like most of Apple’s products in the last ten years or so, the design will be the embodiment of svelte. The elongated power button melts into the brushed aluminium chassis while a subtle hold button creates a clean line along the top edge when depressed. About the same size as the current iPod Nano, this smaller iPhone would fit easily into your pocket.

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Camera obscura

The original iPhone was berated for its paltry two-meg camera. This one should offer at least a five-meg digital snapper. With iPhone OS 3.0 incorporating MMS, the ability to shoot video is a nailed-on certainty.

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Dock 'N' Roll

While some new phones – no names, HTC, Sony Ericsson – continue to be inexplicably designed without a 3.5mm headphone jack, Apple will surely make no such omission and squeeze one into the iPhone Nano’s underside, next to the familiar dock connector.

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Speaking volumes

Allowing usability from within a pocket, the side-mounted volume rocker blends into the iPhone Nano’s curvy shape. Bluetooth A2DP tech will mean you can attach your earphones and mics wirelessly, too.

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Natty Nano

Because of its smaller screen size, the iPhone Nano’s home page will only have space for three icons – phone, messaging and internet, as they’re the three most-used features. The screen will still have multi-touch and will rotate automatically, as we’ve come to expect from the iPhone.

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