UPDATE: This story has developed a bit since initial publication, so I'll give a brief recap for those who missed it. After publication, a disgruntled commenter called "Disgusted" posted a series of accusatory comments, suggesting that I, and by extension the entire AP team, was behind the Sony Nexus X hoax.The reasoning for this was a Google+ post I published after the initial debunking, showing a Photoshop creation I had made to point out the ease with which such a device could be whipped up (like I did when debunking a Galaxy SIII leak way back when). This image may have been included in the debunking post, but by my estimation was not...
Of course, once the "leak" took off, it was another story the hoaxster goes on in a very wordy conclusion to explain their observations on the entire episode, noting the varying degrees to which tech outlets covered, or lent credulity to, the rendered images, giving an "extra special shout out" to us for taking a moment t o step back and think about what we were seeing.
The post wraps up with general observations about the state of tech journalism, the Internet, mobile tech, and, finally, human action's inability to be accurately predicted.
Regardless of your feelings about the hoaxster or a Sony Nexus device or even the LG Nexus, this hoax and its subsequent explanation serve as a very valuable anecdote for future rumor seasons.
To read the full story (which you definitely should), hit the link below.
Source: Anatomy of a Hoax Via Xperia Blog
