NYT Pours Cold Water on ‘Smaller iPhone’ Rumors

Miguel Helft and Nick Bilton, for the NYT:

Apple has been exploring ways to broaden the appeal of the iPhone by making the popular device less expensive and allowing users to control it with voice commands.

But contrary to published reports, Apple is not currently developing a smaller iPhone, according to people briefed on Apple’s plans who requested anonymity because the plans are confidential.

Translation: Suck it, Yukari Kane, you got it wrong. See, there’s this gentlemen’s agreement where major newspapers like The New York Times and Wall Street Journal will go out of their way not to name each other. “Contrary to published reports”? They know damn well where the “small iPhone” rumor came from: the WSJ.

Anyway, a smaller iPhone would be stupid, if by “smaller” you mean a screen that measures less than 3.5 or so inches. The physical size of the UI matters more than anything else:

More important, a phone with a smaller screen would force many developers to rewrite their apps, which Apple wants to avoid, the person said.

★ Sunday, 20 February 2011