Apple 3.0 device IDs point to multiple iPhones, iPod touches

Information found within the Apple iPhone OS 3.0 restore ramdisk points to multiple hardware units claims a report.

Tech site The Boy Genius Report quotes an unnamed 'Apple Ninja,' purportedly someone with insider knowledge who earlier predicted iPhone MMS and tethering. He or she explains what the information might reveal about Apple's future plans.

“Apple normally makes their device IDs in chronological order, from first released to last released. Here is what I found very interesting. Here is an example of the past devices:

iPhone First Gen - 01290 iPod touch 1G - 01291 iPhone 3G - 01292 iPod touch 2G - 01293

Then, here is what is found in the ramdisk:

iPhone2,1 - 01294 iProd0,1 - 01295 iPod2,2 - 01296 iPhone3,1 - 01297 iFPGA - 01298 iPod3,1 - 01299″

"As you can see, there are multiple new hardware IDs listed which makes us believe there will be more than one new iPhone model, and there also looks like there is more than one iPod touch as well, adds Boy Genius."

Reports of an iPhone nano have been doing the rounds since last year, indeed it proved one of Macworld UK’s top 10 stories of 2008, in our end of year round-up of most popular stories with readers.

With O2 now offering the iPhone on some tariffs for free, reportedly to shift some phones before a new model is launched, could Apple be about to unveil a baby sibling for the iPhone?

As Apple Insider points out the iFPGA device "doesn't include any model revision numbers but appears to reference a field-programmable gate array, or a chip whose functions can be reprogrammed either by the user or the manufacturer after it's created."

The iProd 0,1, possibly not a typo, might prove the most interesting revelation, a new phone, a hybrid iPhone and netbook, or simply a placeholder, only time will tell.

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(AP)