No, that is not the new "iPhone 4G"

The mystery handset found on a bar floor, photographed and subsequently shown off by Engadget goes against nearly every design principle Apple has exhibited in recent history.

But it could have been real, we suppose, and many assumed it was an early prototype. There were even some amazingly convincing arguments tossed about, detailing exactly why this handset was "almost definitely" Apple-made.

According to new reports, it's not.

Enthusiast blog Applesfera has apparently revealed the phone as a Japanese knock-off. The site also posted an image sent in by a reader showing off the handset, now dubbed jPhone 4G.

So unless Apple decided to base its fourth-generation iPhone design on a Japanese fake (or the claim that this is a fake turns out to be fake), don't expect Jobs to be waiving this little guy around come June.