Rumors: Is This The New iPhone 5 & iPhone 4S? [PICS]

 by Charlie White

With the rumor mill heating up about the iPhone 5 becoming available in September, we’re now beginning to see alleged images of the new phone, along with clear shots of what’s being called a cheaper iPhone 4S.

That grainy shot of someone clutching an “iPhone 5″ while riding on a train was given to 9 to 5 mac.com by a tipster who observed a man holding it in public.

The tipster told 9-to-5 Mac that the person holding the phone “was likely an Apple employee hunched over the device on the way home from work in San Francisco earlier this week.” The tipster said he got a good look at the device but added that the pictures he snapped “didn’t do it justice.” He said when he saw pictures of those two alleged iPhone 5 cases on Mashable showed readers Thursday, he knew he had seen the new iPhone.

At this stage in the iPhone 4′s product cycle in May 2010, Apple placed its new phones inside cases that concealed their true shape. So even if this is the next iPhone in this picture, it might not indicate the precise appearance of the final version.

Our next possibility is shown in a couple of clearer shots of what Vietnamese website Tinhte.vn says is the new iPhone 4S. The site claims this is a lower-cost model of the iPhone 4. As the story goes, this phone will be released along with the flagship iPhone in September.

This white “iPhone 4S” looks a lot like the current iPhone 4, but the rumored cheaper model won’t have the current iPhone’s glass front and back. Rather, it will allegedly have a plastic back that will make the phone significantly lighter than the current iPhone 4.

Next iPhone To Have a Larger Screen, Thinner Profile [RUMOR]

 by Stan Schroeder

The next generation iPhone might be thinner than iPhone 4, according to leaked case designs unearthed by 9to5Mac. Furthermore, case mold schematics leaked yesterday point to an iPhone with a larger screen as well as a bigger home button.

These rumors fall in line with many earlier rumors, which claim the next iPhone will be thinner, but they also contradict other reportswhich claim that iPhone 5 (if that’s its name) will be quite similar to the iPhone 4.

The “thin iPhone” rumors point to a curved back design for the device, which seems somewhat unlikely, given that Apple has switched from such a design to a rectangular, flat back in iPhone 4.

What do you think? Are you ready to believe the mounting evidence in favor of a thinner iPhone, or do you think the next iPhone won’t be a radical departure from iPhone 4? Share your opinions in the comments.

[via 9to5Mac]

iPhone 5 Rumor Round-Up: Bigger Screen, Better Camera, Physical Keyboard?

by Jolie O'Dell

The word on the street tonight is that Apple is toying with the idea of a much larger screen for the iPhone 5.
Other iPhone 5 rumors include a slide-out keyboard and a more competitive camera.
These rumors may have been spawned by glimpses of as-yet unfinished prototypes which may never come to market; they could be complete fiction. Or they could also represent part of the future of Apple’s iconic phone.
The bulk of this iPhone 5-related gossip comes from a Taiwanese blog with a high rate of accuracy on previous Apple leaks. The screen-size rumor comes from DigiTimes.
The interesting thing about all these rumors is that each one suggests Apple is more concerned than ever about competing with Android devices, many of which feature huge screens, massive cameras and physical keyboards already.
For example, many top-of-the-line Android models feature 8-megapixel cameras in contrast to the iPhone 4‘s 5-megapixel model. A couple devices in non-U.S. markets even top that spec; the Altek Leo features a 14-megapixel camera. Without question, the trend is toward more megapixels with every passing month.
And some of these Android devices feature screens as large as 4.3 inches. Android devices with screens in the 4-inches-and-over category often sport kickstands and are lauded for their multimedia capabilities — or derided for being slightly impractical and unwieldy, depending on the user’s perspective.
Now, the iPhone 5 is rumored to have a camera between 8 megapixels (competitive with current Android phones) and 12 megapixels (blowing most current Android models out of the water and likely keeping pace with future Androids, too). With a better camera and a larger screen, it might sport the specs to intrigue those whose loyalties lie with the best hardware over the brand name.
The physical keyboard rumor, however, is a horse of a different color. A handful of Android and RIM devices have been holding sway over the business and content-creating crowd with their über-efficient text entry. But the enterprise isn’t a market Apple has typically courted in the past; to do so now, we suspect they’d have to have a virtual keyboard option alongside a physical keyboard option — an extremely atypical move for the company.

Report: iPhone 5 Will Be 'Completely Redesigned'

By SARAH PEREZ 

This summer, Apple is expected to launch its next iPhone, and new reports describe it as a "completely redesigned handset" as well as a "total rethink from a design standpoint." To start, the iPhone 5's internals will be different - the device will run on a new, combined CDMA/GSM/UTMS chipset from Qualcomm, which will support both AT&T and Verizon here in the U.S., as well as other carriers worldwide - perhaps even an expanded lineup, as would now be possible. Along with the iPad 2, this chipset change represents the transition away from Infineon as the iPhone and iPad chipset maker. Going forward, Qualcomm will make the chips for all Apple mobile devices.

But as of this morning, it seems that the most notable thing about the iPhone 5 is not a sum of its features but the fact that it will be the first iPhone that will launch without Steve Jobs' daily presence. Although the ailing Apple CEO stated via press release this a.m. that he will continue his role during his medical absence, COO Tim Cook will be in charge of day-to-day operations at Apple.

Consider the iPhone 5's 2011 launch as Apple's dry run for a future without Steve Jobs at the helm. Can it still be "magical?"

From the sound of the note, there's no reason to expect this is any short-term illness for Jobs. He writes that "Tim and the rest of the executive management team will do a terrific job executing the exciting plans we have in place for 2011" so he can focus on his health. Jobs previously had pancreatic cancer and received a liver transplant in 2009, so this news is not surprising. However, it's decidedly upsetting, both from a financial point of view and from the point of view from of someone who has upheld the CEO as one of our era's greatest visionaries.

But for now, let's just focus on the iPhone 5. Without Jobs' daily involvement, Apple execs may be launching the most impressive device yet, if our suspicions play out. Here's what we know so far:

Details on iPhone 5 are Minimal

An Engadget exclusive from last week cites "reliable sources" in detailing the latest rumors about the upcoming iPhone 5 and iPad 2. The iPhone is currently being tested by senior staff on Apple's campus, it said. But even the sources aren't giving out details on what the phone will be like, only saying it's a "compete redesign."

However, we can put together a list of Apple's latest acquisitions, hires and patents to start giving us an idea of the iPhone's future.

iPhone 5 Expected to Support NFC

For starters, a 2010 Apple hire of a notable NFC (near field communication) expert Benjamin Vigier and the filing of several related patents, including one for a mobile payments service, suggest that the next iPhone will include an NFC chip inside - the same technology that Google's latest flagship Android phone, the Nexus S, has now. With Android's newest release, Android 2.3 (code-named Gingerbread), support for NFC has been built-in.

This short-range, high frequency wireless technology allows for data exchanges between two devices in close proximity to each other. It will soon form the basis of Google (andothers') upcoming mobile payments initiatives.

But Apple, too, appears to have plans in this area. Patents point towards ideas for things like iPay, iBuy and iCoupons, all of which suggest Apple is building some sort of mobile wallet.

iPhone 5 Becomes Intelligent, Thanks to Siri?

Among Apple's other high-profile acquisitions was April 2010's buyout of Siri, a personal mobile assistant that was spun out of SRI International, and whose core technology came from a DARPA-funded artificial intelligence project called CALO. Siri was transformed into an iPhone application that could listen to questions either spoken aloud or typed in and then provide answers. At first, the focus was on the sort of  out-and-about questions you may have, e.g. When does that movie show? What Chinese restaurants are nearby? Can I get a table at my favorite Italian place? What's the phone number for a taxi company?

Only a few months post-acquisition, the app was updated to integrate results provided by the computational knowledge engine, Wolfram Alpha. For those unaware, Wolfram Alpha is a new sort of search technology which can provide factual answers to questions, as opposed to a list of search results. It currently consists of 10 trillion-plus pieces of curated, objective data from primary sources, and it can perform calculations on the fly - over 50,000 types of algorithms and equations are now possible.

With this sort of technology built into Apple's next iPhone, assuming that's the case, the device could easily go head-to-head with Google Android's voice search and voice actions, the former which directs you to results from related Google Search properties and the latter which helps you perform actions on your phone, including sending text messages, routing a trip on a map, pulling up a map of nearby attractions or businesses, launching the phone's music player to play a certain song or artist and more.

Will iPhone 5 up the feature set of its competitor? It's likely. One of the interesting things about Siri is that it integrates with third-party data sources like OpenTable for restaurant reservations and Yelp for local business listings. Those services, incidentally, also exist as iPhone apps. What if Apple tied together this new voice interface to the device not only with the services themselves, but could also direct you to the appropriate app to learn more? You would then have a whole new interface for locating and launching apps - a search engine of sorts, even, where the focus isn't on what app name you need to find (as iPhone's native search does today), but on what action you need to take.

iPhone 5 Ships with "Cloud iTunes?"

Another Apple acquisition from April 2010, was Lala.com, a cloud-based music streaming service. No doubt this talent-hire was for the purpose of gaining insight and knowledge into the details of building a solid music streaming service like the popular, but now defunct, Lala.

iTunes, the centralized repository of music, videos, apps and more is quickly becoming outdated as new streaming-only services crop up left and right. Some, like Rdio, provide access to your own content library along with 7 million or so digital tracks while others, like MOG, forgo access to your own tracks entirely, offering only its catalog of 10 million songs. Rdio and MOG, as well as Napster, Rhapsody and (the still-yet-to-launch stateside) Spotify, are reasonably priced subscription services where around $10 a month provides you with all-you-can-eat access to music.

Apple has never offered a subscription model for iTunes, but with the Lala acquistion, that appears to be in its future. With iPhone 5, you may be able to purchase, download and stream everything from your phone, no desktop software required, and all for one low monthly fee.

iPhone 5 to Offer Facial Recognition?

In September, Apple acquired facial-recognition firm Polar Rose, whose technology was previously used in a consumer-facing service that automatically tagged your Facebook and Flickr photos with your friends' names. While speculation at the time focused on how Apple could use the facial recognition to improve its desktop products like Aperture and iPhoto, there's no reason why it would ignore its mobile products.

Integrating facial recognition into the iPhone could mean a device that knows its owner, for example, and unlocks the phone just for them. Or whose photos are automatically tagged with the names of friends and family, which are then synced to iPhoto on the Mac.

Can Apple Execs Deliver Jobs' Vision for iPhone 5?

In summary, that's a very smart smartphone we've just described: one that knows who owns it, unlocking just for them, one that can listen and respond to your questions, that can provide factual answers or point you to a related mobile app, one where your music library (and maybe more) is stored online, one that includes NFC for mobile payments, and one that works on whatever carrier you choose. Frankly, that sounds downright magical.

Steve Jobs has long been a visionary for this industry, and his ideas and creations have dramatically impacted how people interact with technology. iPhone 5, assuming it offers all the above, could do that yet again. But we'll have to see if Apple can pull it all off without Jobs' day-to-day presence at Apple.