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Apple to ditch "Home" button from iPhone and iPad? Don't bet on it!

Another day, another rumor, this time that Apple will "at some point in time" ditch the iconic "Home" button from the iPhone and iPad and replace it instead with multi-touch gestures.
Written by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, Contributing Writer

Another day, another rumor, this time that Apple will "at some point in time" ditch the iconic "Home" button from the iPhone and iPad and replace it instead with multi-touch gestures.

BGR kicks off the rumor:

We just got some pretty wild information from one of our Apple sources and while it’s hard to believe at first, it does make sense. We have exclusively been told that the reason Apple just added multitouch gestures for the iPad in the latest iOS 4.3 beta is because the iPad will be losing the home button. Yes, we are told that Apple, at some point in time, will remove the home button from the iPad’s design. Instead of button taps, you will use new multitouch gestures to navigate to the home screen and also to launch the app switcher.

I dunno, seems like a step back to me. That button is more than cosmetic, it serves as a valuable kill-switch for apps, and one that developers aren't supposed to mess with. It's a fast, easy to close or switch apps. It could only be clearer if it actually said "HOME" on it. It also comes in handy for rebooting when apps of the OS play up ... a function that could never be reliably handed over to a gesture.

Another big pointer to this being nonsense is the use of the phrase "we are told that Apple, at some point in time" ... has anyone, ever, had access to such a long term leak as that? If it had said "next generation" I might be willing to take that with a huge pinch of salt, but if anyone has accurate premonitions about what Apple is going to do "at some point in time" then they should go buy the winning lotto tickets.

... wait ... I'm getting some pretty wild information from one of my lotto sources and while it's hard to believe at first, it does make sense. I've been exclusively told that this week's lotto numbers are ... Hey! I'm not telling you what they are, get your own damn sources!

I call "Pah" on this rumor, so quit hassling me about when you can buy one or how much it will cost! Same goes for that "secretly filmed at CES iPad 2" video making the rounds. If you can't pick out at least 5 things that point to that being a fakey made using a mock-up then you probably think Jar Jar Binks is real.

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