IYa ya....let's trot out all the prototypes everyone else had but ignore the fact that the iPhone was in prototype well before 2007 as well.
Yep, and as I pointed out, pre-iPhone prototypes from various companies looked remarkably similar.
For example, in the trials we got to see one of Apple's earliest iPhone case designs from 2005, which shared rounded corners, metal trim, and flat face with a production Korean smartphone of the time.
Ironically,
Unwired magazine even commented in 2005, "
If Apple would ever decide to build a new Apple Newton, it could look like this new Pocket PC from Korean ODM Pidion."
The Pidion was another prior art item that was banned from the Koh trial. In Europe, when it was allowed to be shown at a design trial, Apple lost, although that could be coincidence.
To top it all off, here's a link to a 2005 iPhone prototype that proves Apple really started the larger display craze:
http://www.networkworld.com/article...tos-of-apple-s-earliest-iphone-prototype.html
Haha! Yeah, everything usually starts with big prototype boards, like that 2005 Apple tablet development board, which was an off-the-shelf unit anyone could buy:
A lot of us have used such boards when first designing new software. Tons of options and I/O and prototyping area to help you out.
It also reminds me of the first Windows Mobile development phone on the left below:
One thing I always keep in mind is that it's not really companies that invent this stuff, but individuals that they employ. And quite often, we'll find the same people time and again... coming up with neat stuff at places like Apple and Google and Palm. They are the source of some of the shared DNA we see in competitors.