TightWind is written by Kyle Baxter. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Gizmodo has its hands on the next iPhone.

There’s little doubt this thing is real.

I won’t comment on how Gizmodo got it, because I don’t know anything more than everyone else. Gruber thinks Apple considers it stolen, as opposed to lost (which is the story Engadget initially reported). Gruber also said that Gizmodo purchased it from whoever got their hands on it. If both of those things are true, Gizmodo is or will be under tremendous pressure soon. I will say, though, that this doesn’t surprise me–Gizmodo is willing to do anything for a news exclusive.

On the device itself. The first photos of it from Engadget made it look more like a test bed device. The seams point to that. But in Gizmodo’s photos, you can tell the device is slightly thinner than a 3GS, or the same width. That would suggest this is the actual design Apple’s working on for the new iPhone.

I like the general look of it–the flat back especially–but the aluminum side doesn’t look right. This doesn’t fit in with Apple’s unibody designs of late. And the seams, especially, feel wrong. Those could be eliminated in the final version, though.

Oddly, I am less interested in the device than how it got out. This isn’t some elaborate marketing ploy by Apple–there’s too much risk involved that the public finds out it was a ploy. Apple would look terrible, and really, Apple doesn’t need the publicity from something like this.

Either someone did lose it, or someone stole it. Whoever found/stole it has been peddling it to technology news sites for the last week. Gruber characterized it as an open secret. What an odd story.