The New iPad, as it was referred to by Apple officials in Wednesday’s unveiling event at San Francisco, will be available in stores starting Friday, March 16, and as was the case with previous iPads, is expected to preserve Apple’s dominance. After all, with LTE (4G Long-Term Evolution) support, “Retina” display (in layman’s terms, it’s the best kind of HD display available) and an enhanced dual-core CPU, the slate has been improved sufficiently enough to ensure Apple continues ruling the tablet market.

What does this mean for the iPhone 5?

According to Barclays Hong Kong analyst Kirk Yang, the iPhone 5 (or “New iPhone?”) may follow in the footsteps of the New iPad and enjoy a grand launch appropriate for its many interesting new features.  But what are these features?

According to Yang, who shared his predictions to Bloomberg shortly after the iPad unveil, the fact that the New iPad will feature Retina display may mean a similar display quality for the iPhone 5. Some outrageous rumors are tipping a 367ppi, 1280 x 720 HD screen for the iPhone, but presently the more reliable ones suggest a 4-inch LED curved display at the very most.

Furthermore, the iPhone 5’s launch may also see the long-awaited debut of the A6 system-on-a-chip, initially expected to launch with the New iPad. This A6 chipset would be a quad-core, as opposed to the improved dual-core A5X found on the iPad.

Apart from Retina display and an A6 processor, the iPhone 5 may likely include support for 4G LTE and NFC (near-field communication), may have an improved camera and maybe even iOS 6.0.

Since recent reports are predicting a Fall 2012 launch for the iPhone 5, we have quite a while to separate the facts from the fallacies with regards to the above rumors and others.

Patently Apple spied an Apple patent that hints at that very eventuality. The patent, which is one of three new Thunderbolt patent applications from the Cupertino tech giant, details how a connection could be established with mobile devices.

"A connection may be provided between a portable media player and a display, a computer and a portable media player, or between other types of devices."

It should be taken with a pinch of salt, but that could suggest Apple has Thunderbolt connections in mind for new mobile devices.

That could significantly speed up moving data to and from those gadgets, as this weird new connection allows for 10Gbps data transfer.

Apple unveiled the Thunderbolt port last year, having smuggled it inside 2011's MacBook Pro. Since then it's popped up on the MacBook Air and iMac.

Thunderbolt is like a combination of a PCI Express port and DisplayPort, and while the company has been notoriously shy when it comes to slapping extra ports on its mobile devices, the fact that Thunderbolt is already on loads of Apple's own tech indicates it might be ready to make a design sacrifice and stick a port on the side of the next iPhone.

How Apple would use that port is anyone's guess. It could be used for speedier data transfer of photos and suchlike, while Patently Apple notes that faster battery charging could be a possibility.

Thunderbolt was born of a collaboration between Intel and Apple, with the tech known by its code name 'Light Peak'. Intel is planning on bringing Thunderbolt to PCs this year.

Source - [crave.cnet.co.uk ]

Although Apple’s iPhone 4S was released less than three months ago, rumors are already circulating surrounding the next iteration of the device. Apple is going to release a redesigned next generation iPhone next year, according to a report from BGR. 

Unlike the iPhone 4S, which was launched earlier this quarter without any major body changes, the next iPhone is said to boast a completely redesigned exterior. The report says that the next iPhone will have an iPad-esque aluminum back joined to the glass iPhone face by a rubber or plastic bezel surrounding the front edge of the phone. Apple will look to maintain its usual one year gap between device launches and not delay it, as it could otherwise risk losing some customers to a fleet of Google’s Android smartphones released on time in the highly competitive market.

From the outset, it should be noted that it’s too early to give too much credence to any report about Apple’s iDevice, as they are generally shrouded in secrecy until they are unveiled. Apple’s 2012 product cycle hasn’t even started, and after the iPhone 4S’ big debut, the rumor mill will likely be busy until an official announcement is made. We don’t see any official announcement being made before the summer (or fall) of next year, close to the actual launch date.

While we take Apple-related rumors such as this with a grain of salt, this one is interesting due to its description of the supposed new device. We believe that the iPhone is due for a major redesign, as it will have been two years since the last redesign with the iPhone 4. Apple has been rolling out major body changes every two years since the iPhone 3G, and we expect that trend to continue with the next-generation device having a new external design, whatever that may be.

What makes the redesign necessary is that the when the iPhone 4S was announced without any body changes, initial reviews were somewhat ordinary, with the exception of the device’s voice-controlled assistant Siri. That the 4S has still sold by the truckload is a testament to Apple’s brand value and popularity.

Going forward Apple cannot just rely on customer loyalty. As competitors such as Samsung and HTC come up with new smartphones at regular intervals to keep the novelty factor going and giving customers a broader range of options, Apple will have to offer something new and different. (see Samsung Overtakes Apple, Can iPhone 4S Reverse This Trend?) A redesigned iPhone, launched without delay, would likely have a hugely positive impact on Apple’s smartphone market share.

Our $503 price estimate for Apple’s stock is nearly 25% ahead of the current market price.

Source - [ forbes.com ]

Stop me if you've heard this one before: A new rumor says the next iPhone is getting a big dose of metal on its backside.

Citing "a close source," Boy Genius Report today posted a smattering of features bound for Apple's next big iPhone, which it says is due next Fall.

On top of that list is an entirely new physical construction that's a mix of aluminum on the back and a "rubber or plastic material" along the sides that will bridge the front and back of the device.

The rubber material, which BGR likens in feeling to Apple's first-party iPhone bumper cases, lets the outside band continue to serve as an antenna, as opposed to Apple having to place a plastic strip on the back of the phone as it does with the wireless antennas on the iPad and iPod Touch.

This, of course, isn't the first mention of Apple considering a metal back for a future iPhone. Citing an anonymous source from Foxconn, a 9to5Mac report in March said Apple was cooking up a model with a flat metal back. Later, in August, while saying that the next iPhone would sport a "smaller than 4-inch panel," DigiTimes also claimed the back of the device would "be changed to a metal chassis instead of reinforced glass."

What ended up happening in October was the unveiling of the iPhone 4S, a device that featured a number of hardware and software improvements but was otherwise indistinguishable from its predecessor--including its back made of glass.

iPhone 4 and 4S owners interested in getting a metal back for their phones have had such an option from third-party case manufacturers since last year. Though that option will void your warranty--as will numerous other unauthorized modifications that require cracking open the device.

Source - [ news.cnet.com ]

This time next week, the iPhone 5 rumor frenzy will be over and we'll finally know what Apple plans to release. I imagine there will even be an iPhone 6 rumor or two floating around. But until then, we still have several days to wildly speculate about what the next-gen iPhone will include.

An invite to Apple's October 4 press event finally landedin journalists' inboxes on Tuesday afternoon, and it said simply: "Let's talk iPhone." That one phrase prompted the blogosphere and analysts like Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster to speculate that Apple will add a long-rumoredvoice recognition feature to iOS 5.

"In the past, Apple has used its invitation to include cryptic hints as to what it will announce," Munster wrote in a letter to investors. "The phrase on this year's invite, 'Let's talk iPhone,' may be a simple play on words, but may also refer to new speech-based features for the iPhone."

Last year, Apple acquired voice-recognition application startup Siri and added some voice-to-text features to iOS 4, so an enhancement to those features wouldn't be too surprising.

Atop many an iPhone 5 wish list, meanwhile, is support for 4G LTE speeds. Verizon started rolling out its LTE network in December and AT&T just lit up LTE in five cities earlier this month, so why wouldn't Apple want to take advantage of these blazing-fast speeds? In a word: style.

Current LTE chips are a bit bulky and would force Apple to increase the size of its iPhone, something it is reportedly not willing to do. Slimmer chips from Qualcomm are not expected to hit the market until next year, so we probably won't see LTE until the iPhone 6. What will we get? A China Unicom execsaid this week that the iPhone 5 will support HSPA+ 21, which is kind of like 4G lite. It's faster than 3G (21Mbps vs. 7.2Mbps) but it's not as fast as LTE.

The choice to have Apple's press event at its headquarters rather than a larger venue in San Francisco has prompted some talk that Tuesday's event will be a more low-key affair, and possibly only include the launch of the smaller "iPhone 4S," rather than the iPhone 5. Well, iPhone 3GS users who have been waiting patiently for a major upgrade will be glad to hear that AT&T stores have reportedly received cases for the iPhone 5, not the 4S.

A Macrumors reader sent the blog photos of cases that have showed up at AT&T retail stores. "Like other cases for the rumored redesign of the iPhone 5, these cases appear to show a tapered design and the mute switch moved to the opposite side of the device," Macrumors said.

The carrier drama continued, meanwhile, with T-Mobile essentially confirming that it will not offer the iPhone 5 this year.

Cole Brodman, T-Mobile's chief marketing officer, penned a blog post in which he discussed the carrier's desire to offer the iPhone, but said it's probably not going to happen in the near future.

"Please know that we think the iPhone is a great device and Apple knows that we'd like to add it to our line-up," Brodman wrote. "Today, there are over a million T-Mobile customers using unlocked iPhones on our network. We are interested in offering all of our customers a no-compromise iPhone experience on our network."

Despite that interest, "for now, our focus continues to be giving customers the best that Android has to offer," Brodman wrote.

iPad and iPod?
We know we'll probably get some sort of new iPhone next week, but what about the iPad? Another rumor making the rounds is that the long-awaited official Facebook iPad app will finally make its debut at next week's Apple event.

Apple's fall events have traditionally focused on the company's iPod lineup. With the music player now wrapped into the iPhone, it makes sense that Apple will one day wind down production of its standalone MP3 players, but will that day be October 4? Not quite. TUAW said this week that Apple is moving toward having a touch screen on every iPod and will ditch the Classic and the shuffle.

Losing track of all the Apple iPhone 5 rumors? For more, see last week's top rumors, as well as thosefrom the week before. Also check out What the iPhone 5 Might Look Like and Six Amazing Phone Technologies We Want in iPhone 5, as well as the 8 Likely iPhone 5 Rumors, and 2 Wild Ones slideshow below.

Since all that conflicting information can be hard to track, we offer this handy timeline of iPhone 5 rumors so far in 2011. We'll add to it as we go along, and please let us know if we've left any juicy tidbits out.

September 19
Two iPhones by the end of the year
J.P. Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz tells Fortune that he expects Apple to release two new iPhones before the end of the year. One will be a brand-new model with a different appearance, and the other will be a souped-up iPhone 4 model called the "iPhone 4-plus."

September 15
Possible iPhone 5 cases emerge
Accessory maker Case-Mate briefly posts renderings of a line of cases for a new iPhone. They suggest that the forthcoming handset will have a rounded aluminum backing, similar to the iPad 2's design. The images are quickly replaced with a generic notifications page, but Boy Genius Report managed to post them on its Web site.

iPhone 5 on Oct. 15
While chatting with French reporters at a business conference, France Telecom CEO Stephane Richard said the iPhone 5 will debut on October 15.

September 12
Vodafone spills the beans
U.K. carrier Vodafone briefly lists the iPhone 5 on its Web site in both 16GB and 32GB editions and in black and white.

September 9
A Sprint iPhone by October 15
A leaked Sprint memo informs the carrier's employees of a vacation blackout from September 30 through October 15 due to the "possibility" of a major phone launch.

Sprint iPhone with unlimited data?
Bloomberg predicts that Sprint will not only have the new iPhone in mid-October, but also that the carrier will offer the handset with an unlimited data plan to "distinguish" it from the AT&T and Verizon models.

September 8
150,000 iPhones a day
Taiwan's DigiTimes cites anonymous industry sources to report that China's Foxconn Electronics, which has manufactured iPhones in the past, is currently producing 150,000 iPhone 5 units a day.

Sprint and the iPhone 5
Beatweek says that Sprint is installing network repeaters at Apple retail stores to ensure that potential iPhone 5 buyers can find a strong signal for testing the device on the carrier's cellular network.

September 4
Battle of the Best Buy leaks
Boy Genius Report says a leaked internal document from the retailer puts the iPhone 5 launch date at sometime during the first week in October, with preorders beginning as early as the first full week of September. Sprint, too, will get the device, according to the BGR story. But wait--This Is My Next has its own leaked Best Buy info: a mysterious "Apple fixture Installation" at an unnamed Best Buy location suggests an October 21 debut for the gadget, according to the blog.

September 2
Thinner, longer, wider
Tech enthusiast site M.I.C. Gadget claims that new iPhone cases being sold by online vendor Alibaba and other Chinese retailers show a slimmer design for the next version of the handset. Not only will it be as thin as an iPod Touch, but also the mute switch is moved to the other side, the overall design is wider and longer, and it will have tapered edges.

August 31
New antenna
Accessory maker Ideal Case posts a photo of what it says is the new antenna design for the iPhone 4S/iPhone 5. Exactly what those differences are, however, is unclear and the photos were posted without a back story.