Artist envisions Liquidmetal iPhone with disappearing home button

Artist envisions Liquidmetal iPhone with disappearing home button

With all the rumors going around suggesting Apple might built the sixth-generation iPhone out of Liquidmetal, Antoine Brieux (of previous iPhone concepting fame) got down to work to mock up a design. His iPhone is so sleek that it could easily be mistaken for a genuine Apple product.

Looking like a hybrid between an iPhone 4S and a Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc, Brieux's "iPhone LM" design slims down the iPhone, while growing its screen size from 3.5-inches to a whopping 4.5-inch display.
Replacing the iPhone 4S's steal antenna band is a Liquidmetal alloy case that gives it extreme durability and decreases the smartphone's weight. The usual spec-bumps include a 10-megapixel camera and quad-core A6 processor.
Most interesting on Brieux's design is the virtual home button. Instead of a physical button, the virtual home button fades away when apps are open, providing even more screen estate. Brieux doesn't detail how apps and multitasking work when the home button disappears, but perhaps it can be activated with Siri or with a multifinger gesture (like the five-finger pinch that brings you back to the home screen on the iPad).
Of course, the iPhone LM is only a concept. A recent leak for a sixth-gen iPhone SIM card tray that looks identical to the iPhone 4S's could suggest that Apple's next iPhone design might be very similar to what its already selling. PHOTOS