Pretty (imaginary)

Sigh. Another day, another round of iPhone 5 rumours. This week, the boards and assorted interweb nooks and crannies that concern themselves with such things (yes you, Macrumours.com!) have been getting themselves in a tizzy over images released by an Italian design firm that claims they have worked out what the much-anticipated iPhone 5 is going to look like.

In a refreshing change from the old look-what-we-found-left-in-the-mens-room-of-a-Florida-bar routine, this time it’s a designer, Federico Ciccarese, who is not affiliated to Apple, but has spent “hours” trawling the many online rumours and spoilers about the iPhone 5 to come up with these speculative designs.

Basically, it’s the same thing they do when they find some gassy planet orbiting a distant sun- some artist comes up with a “conceptual illustration”. Pretty? Yes. Original? Not in the slightest.

Based on all his “research,” Ciccarese has produced a concept iPhone 5 that is thinner, lighter and has a curved back for easier couching in our sweaty palms. He envisages the handset with the audio jack, speakers and volume controls in different positions, as well as a light-up Apple logo on the rear of the phone. Basically, everything we missed about the iPhone 3 in the iPhone 4, with the added zest of assorted bits and pieces from the iPhone 4S. Here’s a gallery of Ciccarese’s imaginings:

Well wasn’t that a feast for the senses? Of course, Tim Cook and Apple are keeping mum about any and all design improvements to their wildly popular handsets – imaginative Italians and Macrumours.com notwithstanding. They’re probably a little more focused on the upcoming release of the third generation iPad, which is supposed to be made public in March this year.

So what do you think? Is Federico bang on the money, or is it back to the drawing board?

[Source: Times LIVE, Ciccarese Designs]