The new iPhone is just a 'clear piece of glass', with AI

Apple changed the entire technology industry with the release of the original iPhone, and then plotted along with some good upgrades through to the iPhone 4, which did it again. Since then, Apple has been behind - and falling more and more behind to the likes of Google's new Pixel smartphone, and Samsung's various, and sometimes explosive, smartphones.

According to Robert Scoble, an entrepreneur and the co-founder of UploadVR (amongst a truly scroll-worthy list of achievements, partnerships, past employers, startups and more) said on his Facebook page: "Just had a source that I trust tell me it is a clear piece of glass. With the compute in a strip at the bottom". He added that translating this talk of it being an all-glass wonderous next level device into saying that the iPhone 8 does mixed reality, VR, AR and AI.

Scoble's source also talked about Siri, asking him "why did Viv.ai sell to Samsung? I know the founders didn't want to do that". He said that Apple showed the Viv.ai founders their new Siri for "mixed reality", and what Scoble said next put shivers up my spine... adding "and the game was over". Viv.ai sold to Samsung, and Samsung continued on into the Galaxy S7 and Note 7, and eventually whatever phones they released in 2017.

He said that he is working with his team at UploadVR on a deeper piece on Apple's future with VR next week, finishing off with all of his "timelines move up, we are getting mixed reality in 2017".

So now we have a possible next big thing from Apple to be excited about, and it's in more than one way:

• Apple's big shift into VR will make VR "mainstream".
• It won't just be VR - but mixed reality and AR, so we could expect a larger Google Glass-like headset accessory.
• AI is the next big leap, and if Apple can do it right - judging by Scoble's contact, AI will be in center focus for iPhone 8.
• An all-glass iPhone 8? That would truly be revolutionary in design, and explains the shift to Lightning only on iPhone 7.
• The 'compute in a strip at the bottom' sounds beyond exciting, almost too futuristic for 2017.
• It explains all of the iterative updates to the iPhone, as Apple were waiting for the big leap.
• Siri lags behind Google Now in a huge way, Apple needs a miracle for AI.
• Google's new Assistant on Pixel is a big step towards more 'AI' like intelligence at your fingertips.