“Mystery Man” Sends Purported “4G” iPhone 5 Photo to the iPhone 5 News Blog

A "mystery man" sent this photo to the iPhone 5 News Blog, claiming it to be an early 4G iPhone 5 prototype.

As a rule, the iPhone 5 News Blog casts a cynical eye at all purportedly leaked photos of iPhone 5 components, prototypes, and cases, for the simple reason that, in lieu of an intoxicated Apple engineer leaving a prototype in a bar, Cupertino’s Worldwide Loyalty Team does a pretty crackerjack job of keeping the new iPhone under wraps until Mr. Jobs decides to walk it out onto stage for all of us to see.
That being said, a “mystery man” sent me this beautiful photo of what he claims to be an early 4G iPhone 5 prototype. The e-mail reads as follows:
“4G iPhone 5, early prototype.”
I thoroughly searched through Google’s image search to find a match for this photo, but to no avail. Whether or not it is an authentic photo or professional rendering of one’s iPhone 5 fantasy remains to be seen.
What I do find interesting, however, is its relative similarity in form factor to a late-breaking article from SlashGear today that presents a “fake” iPhone 5 that was allegedly retro-engineered from the real specs. The rear of the SlashGear prototype bears some similarities of the mystery man’s photo, but the front side screen is remarkably different, featuring a wide, near-edge-to-edge screen and re-worked home button. And the form factor indeed takes its cue from the more curvy 3Gs than the boxier iPhone 4, as we have heard reported recently.
But what may be the most provocative feature revealed in this purported sighting of the iPhone 5 is something that isn’t even visible in the photo: 4G.
It is certainly easy to claim “4G,” but a picture is worth a thousand words, and the picture itself cannot prove or disprove 4G on the iPhone 5 any more than it can prove to be an authentic photo.
Still, it stands as one of the more impressive purported sightings we’ve had of the iPhone 5 thus far.

Some Cool iPhone 5 (?) Case Pix, And It’s Tick-Tock On Getting Top Dollar Price For Your iPhone 4

Posted: 31 Jul 2011 11:41 PM PDT

I usually pay more mind to purported case photos for unreleased Apple products than alleged spy shots claimed to be of the item itself or at least a prototype.The latter are more often than not somebody’s Photoshop doodles, but product cases are serious business, and sometimes more reliable indicators of what to expect.
Chris Chang of M.I.C. Gadget, one of my favorite Chinese Apple-watcher sites, says iPhone 5 Cases are now “everywhere in China,” and has posted some photos of what look like very nice smartphone cases.
Inexpensive too! Chang cites 2 yuan or roughly $ .30 apiece — provided you buy a minimum of 500 units.

Compared to the new pre-released iPhone 5 cases, iPhone 4 cases like this one are much more refined

Click here to see photos of the new iPhone 5 cases on our iPhone 5 News Ticker.
Moving along, a press release from HelloTotem.com, a San Diego-based online provider in the mobile phone buyback industry, says that as Apple gears up to release the iPhone 5, iPhone 4 owners still have an opportunity to exchange their used device for top dollar. Once the iPhone 5 is available, Totem forecasts iPhone 4 values will drop significantly, and that while speculation abounds as to when the device might launch and what it might look like, savvy owners of the previous generation of iPhones are planning their iPhone 4 exit strategies strategies in preparation for an iPhone 5 upgrade.
Totem cite a recent Wall Street Journal report that Apple is rumored to be placing orders for 25 million iPhone 5 units, significantly more than any other previous generation. The iPhone 4, released in June 2010, received a record-shattering 600,000 pre-orders in the first 24 hours of its announcement and sold more than 1.7 million units in the first three days of availability.
Consequently, based on the success of Spring 2011 releases of the long-delayed white iPhone 4 and the newly available Verizon network iPhone, they suggest that the iPhone 5 will need very little help from the inevitable media frenzy, noting that in the last few months, Apple has shipped more than 20.3 iPhone 4 million units, mostly to emerging and developing countries like Mexico, Brazil and China.
The release goes on to recap the thoroughly-discussed iPhone 5 form factor, feature set and release date rumors, which I need not elaborate here, but you might be interested in considering that HelloTotem.com, is currently offering customers up to $400 for top-condition iPhone 4s with 32GB of memory. However, once the new iPhone is released, the value will almost certainly go down, noting that in May 2010, just a few weeks before the iPhone 4 was scheduled for release, eBayers flooded the online bidding site with 1,700 iPhone 3GS models that were equipped with16GB of memory, causing the value of the formerly high-end smartphone to be significantly reduced.
The takeaway is that the clock is ticking if you want to sell your iPhone 4 for top dollar, and “Though the iPhone 4 may not be worth $400 after the launch of the iPhone 5, a functional 16GB or 32GB iPhone 4 will always be worth more than the $199 upgrade price, allowing for a free upgrade,” says Totem CEO Nicholas Fiorentino.

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More iPhone 5 Case Sightings, and What You Need To Know About iPhone Case Designers

More photos of purported iPhone 5 cases are surfacing today, begging the question of whether or not Chinese staffers at Apple’s components facilities are leaking tech specs. But while some of these cases may be mere fabrications, others might actually be rolling the dice.
It would seem that, for the remainder of time that exists between now and the day that Steve Jobs walks out onto a stage with a shiny new iPhone 5 in his hand, the prevailing iPhone 5 rumor flavor will be “leaked iPhone cases” that hint at the new form factor and features of the iPhone 5. We’ve been reporting on a flurry of these silicone sightings to the point where there’s more silicone floating around the iPhone 5 rumor mill than there is strutting around Miami Beach in string bikinis.
The newest one today comes from 9to5Mac, a typically reliable tech news source. Perhaps looking to get into the iPhone 5 case sighting game, they’ve produced images of a newly-discovered iPhone case that purports to show a thinner iPhone 5 sporting a larger display. Ironically, the description of the case — as well as the iPhone 5 that would purportedly occupy it — perfectly fits the description of the iPhone 5 that the tech community has crafted out of thin air over the past six months or so.
But for all the bluster and excitement that comes with the appearance of these deductively revealing iPhone cases, the sad fact is that vast majority of iPhone case designers never gain access to iPhones prior to their release. Even after the announcement of the iPhone itself, case developers do not have access to a physical specimin — they often retro-engineer previous iPhone case designs based on the specs that Apple gives prior to the actual release of the new iPhone.
This is precisely why it is not uncommon for first-generation iPhone, iPod, and iPad cases to be ill-fitting. A good example of this was the issue of discoloration of photos taken by the iPhone 4, which many determined was the result of poorly-designed silicone iPhone 4 cases, which were blocking the flash. Because it is so critical for top case designers to be first to market with new cases, they have to work with in-house iPhone mock-ups, based on the specs given by Apple in the interim between the announcement and the launch.

It very well may be that what we are seeing here are nothing more that “sketches” by case designers — mere mock-ups of what could be for the iPhone 5.
I know this because I have worked with top iPhone case designers in the past, and I know what they know and what they don’t know. What they don’t know is what the next iPhone is going to look like, since Apple has no vested interest in helping out the consumer electronics accessories market — especially considering that they compete in that market as well. Engadget said it best in an older article that deals with this very issue, when they state that: “Apple doesn’t really provide pre-release units to accessories partners — even the big ones — to help them get their products out the door faster when new gear drops.”
That quote comes from a piece they wrote years ago about an iPod case released by UNIEA ahead of the new iPod, at that time rumored to be the “iPod Fatty.” UNIEA actually promoted new cases for it ahead of the new iPod’s release.
How do you think it turned out?
It turned out exactly like what I’m saying: case designers can only make their best guess on the specs of the next iPhone.
To be fair, there are examples of device specs getting out into the open. The most well-known incident was when Gizmodo’s Jason chen nabbed the iPhone 4 from someone who stole it off of a bar where a drunken Apple engineer haphazardly left it. A more recent story featured Foxconn staffers being jailed in China for leaking specs of the iPad 2. The latter most definitely made an impact on those who may be considering leaking specs of the iPhone 5 to case designers.

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Laughable: Purported Spy Photos of iPhone 5, “Other” iPhone Prove Nothing

The sleazebags who fuel the iPhone 5 rumor will stop at nothing to create news out of thin air. The so-called “confirmed” sightings of two iPhone devices being manufactured in China confirm only one thing: some people have no shame.
Today, new purported “spy” photos have surfaced from one of Apple’s China components suppliers that allegedly prove two things: that the next iPhone will indeed be called the “iPhone 5,” and that the iPhone 5 will be accompanied by another iPhone model — ostensibly the iPhone 4s. The photos, which originally appeared on iphone-release.com — a less than reliable news source — feature a hopelessly blurry shot of a workstation with two white boxes, each seeming to feature “iPhone 5” on their sides. The website also supposes that screen parts laying on the desk of the workstation suggest a 4-inch screen.

The second photo in the series show two assembly lines that marked as “A iPhone” and “B iPhone.” iphone-release.com, as well as numerous other tech news websites, are taking this photo as confirmation that there will be two iPhone devices in September.
Even if, in the end, both of these rumors come true, and the next iPhone is the “iPhone 5,” and it has a little bother called the “iPhone 4s,” bear in mind that these photos were still vague and most likely bogus.
First off, it isn’t a stretch to imagine that the next iPhone will be the “iPhone 5,” and Photoshopping a blurry logo on a couple of boxes from some old Foxconn photo is pretty easy to manage.
Second, the assumption that two assembly lines marked as “A iPhone” and “B iPhone” to mean that there will be two iPhones in September is laughable! If you look at the photo closely, you’ll see that there in another assembly line to the right of the picture — for all we know, that assembly line is “C iPhone / D iPhone.” And then there’s one next to it that says “E iPhone / F iPhone.” And so on. Apple is purportedly ordering 15 million iPhone 5 units for the product launch — do we really think that all 15 million of these production orders are being funneled along one line of a dozen or so workers?
C’mon!
Bear in mind that Apple dispatches its Gestapo-esque Worldwide Loyalty Team to all of its partners’ manufacturing plants to ensure that information and photos are not leaked out into the public. Little is known about what security measures the WLT implements in places like Foxconn and Pegatron, but given the fact that Apple obviously has in-roads with the Chinese government — referencing the story this year of Foxconn staffers being jailed in China for leaking iPad 2 specs to case manufacturers — it is highly unlikely that anyone is getting into the plants with cameras, smartphones, mobile phones, or anything else that takes photos.
This is exactly why we need to guard against the temptation to believe the hype of what is to come out in the days and weeks leading up to the iPhone 5′s launch. Using logic, we can assume one thing: with maybe just five week to go before the announcement of the iPhone 5, Apple is not going to allow any real photos of the new device to leak.
And that includes “spy” photos, “iPhone 5 cases,” and Target ads.

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Apple’s iPhone 5 Design Challenge – Samsung’s Galaxy S II Raises The Bar As The Android To Beat

As we noted here yesterday, Apple’s iPhone 4, getting long in the tooth as it is, remains the best-selling handset, representing in Q2 2011 a solid 2/3 of all smartphone activations, while Android smartphones represented 1/3 of activations. However, Apple can’t continue to rest on its laurels, and Samsung, with which Apple has a “complicated” relationship to say the least, has just raised the bar several notches in terms of what Apple must incorporate in the iPhone 5′s design.

Samsung’s new Galaxy S II smartphone, which became available in Canada this month, and Samsung’s president of mobile business and digital imaging Shin Jong-kyun has announced will be released in the U.S. “sometime in August” combines three marquee features out of an impressive array of design and functionality aspects that have already propelled it to more than six million sales in less than three months without the U.S. and some 10 million projected by year end. Those would be a 4.3″ display, a dual core processor, and an alarmingly thin form factor.

First up is the Galaxy’s 4.3″ 480 x 800 SUPER AMOLED Plus display that Samsung says provides enhanced readability as well as contributing to the Galaxy S II’s slimmer design and more economical battery consumption. While the current iPhone 4 already boasts a greater 960 x 640-pixel resolution at 326 ppi with its Retina display, the 3.5-inch physical screen size is beginning to seem so 2008. Four inches or better would be spectacular at 960-by-640 res. but I infer that an awful lot of iPhone fans would trade resolution for screen real estate given the option. Of course, both would be nice.
In a glowingly enthusiastic Galaxy S II review posted in the Globe and Mail this morning, Chad Sapieha, who himself is a professedly happy iPhone 4 user who thinks the world of Apples Retina technology, says unequivocally that Samsung’s 4.3 inch Super AMOLED Plus screen is the most attractive display he’s ever seen on a phone, delivering images that remain clear, sharp and undistorted when viewed from virtually any angle, with each pixel lit individually resulting in deep, authentic blacks, noting that at times its all but impossible to distinguish where screen ends and bezel begins. “I’ve never seen anything quite like it on a phone,” says Sapieha

The Galaxy S II also comes with a 1.2-GHz dual core processor, a gigabyte of memory, and support for 4G/HSPA networks with download speeds of up to 21 Mbps. iPhone 4 of course still has a relatively puny 1 GHz A4 single core processor and just 512 MB of RAM, so the iPhone 5 has considerable catching up to do. Apple’s A5 dual core processor as used in the iPad 2 is only 1 GHz as well, also with 1 GB of RAM, but rumors have it that there are cooling issues plaguing A5s in iPhone 5 testing, and even if Apple successfully gets the A5 to work in what is expected to be a slimmed-down iPhone 5 case, it’s still going to be slower than the Galaxy S II’s silicon.
The Galaxy S has an 8 megapixel auto focus main camera with built-in LED flash plus a 2MP front-facing camera specs. that the iPhone 5 is anticipated to match, plus 1080p Full HD recording which it may not.
Speaking of enclosures and form factors and the like, The Samsung Galaxy S II at 8.49mm thick and weighing in at 117 grams is significantly more svelte than the iPhone 4′s 9.3 millimeter thickness and 137 gram weight. Whether Apple can match or better that is still an imponderable.

In any case (no pun intended), that razor-thin profile and feather weight com at a price in diminished robustness that may well be too high for Apple and iPhone fans to tolerate. In his review, Chad Sapieha wonders if the Galaxy S II is built to last, contending that in the quest to build ever-thinner devices, eventually something has to give, and observes that the Galaxy seemed so light and insubstantial in his hand that he couldn’t help but worry that it would break a concrete example being the battery cover which he says “has the thinness and pliability of a playing card, and feels as though its edges could snap if removed or inserted incorrectly.” Not so cool. Personally, I’ll happily trade live with a few more millimeters of thickness in the interest of physical ruggedness.
The Galaxy S II is also no cheapie, with unlocked models reportedly selling for $700 or more in some European and Asian markets, and $599.95 unlocked or $169.95 with a three-year contract through Bell in Canada. US pricing has yet to be announced, but the Canadian dollar is running at about $1.05 US this week.
Sapieha concludes that the Samsung Galaxy S II, combined with Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet PC, comprises “the most compelling consumer alternative yet to Apples iPhone/iPad ecosystem.” I have to agree with that assessment, but remain confident that Apple’s design and engineering teams can surpass both Galaxies on substance. It’s just not going to be as much of a cakewalk as it has been so far.

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AT&T Earnings Indicate Outdated iPhone Models Dominating Newer Android Smartphones

As the iPhone 4 is due to be put into mothballs, many smartphone users see it as nothing more than a rusting legacy device compared to the throngs of newer, bolder Android gadgets. And yet, AT&T’s earnings show that the iPhone 4 has catapulted Apple into near smartphone dominance.
The iPhone 4 is well over a year old. In smartphone years, that’s like being a senior citizen, thanks to the break-neck speed that mobile technology advances. Since the release of the iPhone 4 in the summer of 2010, Android has released a horde of new smartphones that, when combined into one fighting force against the iPhone, wields many more newfangled features for the avid smartphone users. From 4G capabilities and 3D screens and cameras, to 8-megapixel cameras and dual touch screens, the Android-based smartphone designs that have followed the iPhone 4 would seem to have sucked up the imagination of mobile technology — so much so that it has led to a feeling that the iPhone 5 can not and will not offer users anything new that Android hasn’t already tried.
And yet, in spite of this perceived Android dominance, the old iPhone 4 has managed to singlehandedly outsell Android, according to a new earnings report from AT&T.
Like Uma Thurman in the Kill Bill series or Stallone in Rambo, one improbable iPhone has managed t0 mow down a multiplicity of competitors, almost in absurd fashion. According to The Street, for AT&T’s second quarter, “In wireless, where the iPhone represented nearly two-thirds of all smartphones sold in the quarter, AT&T added 331,000 postpaid subscribers. Analysts had been looking for about 200,000 new phone subscribers.” In that time, Android has thrown an array of impressive adversaries at Apple, including the Samsung Galaxy S II, which is touted as the natural rival to the iPhone 5.

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Maybe No Smart Bezel On the iPhone 5, But Plenty of New Gestures

Recent iPhone 5 production rumors also shed light on new screen components, suggesting that the next iPhone may leverage some of Samsung’s exciting, new AMOLED screen technology.
You could say that, since user interaction is what makes having a smartphone so invigorating, a smartphone’s greatness is measured by its screen. And since multitudes of iPhone 5′ers have been pining for a larger, cooler screen for the iPhone 5 for well over a year now, it’s safe to say that an iPhone 5 with any screen upgrade will be an epic win for Apple.
Lost in today’s iPhone 5 cycle, amidst reports that preliminary iPhone 5 orders from Apple are being split between both the Pegatron and Foxconn iPhone components facilities, is an intriguing bit of news from UBM TechInsights, a kind of tech thinktank and investigative body that informs investors and tech influencers on what’s going on in the smartphone market. Their recent report reveals that Apple’s next screen for the iPhone 5 will indeed be quite impressive.
According to the report, “Samsung will continue to make the A5 processor for Apple, despite legal wrangling between the cell phone rivals.  Also, Apple has recently filed patents around OLED touch screens, which could suggest iPhone 5 will include a larger, sharper display, also improving visibility in sunlight and reducing power consumption.”
We’ve collected all of the article that relate to the iPhone 5′s rumored production progress in an article on the iPhone 5 News Ticker. Check it out here, or read on:
As I’m sure you’re aware, Samsung continues to be a major product leader when it comes to OLED touch screens. At the 2010 CES, “Samsung demonstrated a laptop computer with a large, transparent OLED display featuring up to 40% transparency and an animated OLED display in a photo ID card” (from Wikipedia), and are now rolling out their Super AMOLED Plus displays, which utilize “real stripe matrix (50% more sub pixels), thinner form factor, brighter image and a 18% reduction in energy consumption.”
It seems apparent that the iPhone 5 is bound to get an impressive new screen, and one that could very well be curved — as some rumors have suggested — due to Samsung’s new technology that allows their screens to be incredibly flexible, thin, and even transparent.
A Side Note: Changeable Topography Screen
A long while back, I referenced one of Apple’s immensely cool patents for a changeable topography, a fancy term for a screen that takes on the shape and feel of whatever it is displaying. Not only would a shape-changing screen be a monumental breakthrough in gesture control and mobile computing, leading to tons of fun with gaming, social networking — even giving people the opportunity to “touch” each other through their screens — it would also give the sight impaired a seat at the table of the smartphone game.
It occurs to me that the current AMOLED screen technology is getting to the point where realizing Apple’s patent may be possible. I’m not predicting it for the iPhone 5, but who knows? Maybe for the iPhone 6?

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Maybe No Smart Bezel On the iPhone 5, But Plenty of New Gestures

It remains to be seen if the iPhone 5 will receive new gesture functions alla the fabled “smart bezel.” But the new beta version of iOS 5 is revealing a new set of gestures that could prove to replace traditional buttons.
Rumors and prognostications about the fabled “smart bezel” have faded over the months, as the iPhone 5 becomes more and more of a reality. Almost from the very beginning of the iPhone 5 rumor cycle, the smart bezel rumor was coupled with related rumors that Apple would get rid of a physical home button and look to diversify gesture control areas on the iPhone 5, as well as open up new ways to control the device.
It very well may be that significant hardware changes like smart bezels and moved home buttons may not make their way onto the iPhone 5, but the newest beta version of iOS 5 has revealed that the platform itself — once it is released in its full regalia in the fall — will equip the iPhone 5 with new gestures to play around with.
The latest beta build features Assistive Touch. Apple Insider reports that, “With Assistive Touch, an overlay menu is displayed that presents the user with commands that usually require certain physical actions, such as rotating the screen or shaking the device. This new feature allows for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch to be more accessible to those who may not be able to accomplish these tasks.”
At present, Assistive Touch offers limited functionality, only allowing for basic functions, such as locking the screen, adjusting volume, rotating the screen, and pinch/swipe movements.
But perhaps what is most interesting about Assistive Touch is the ability to customize gestures to complete otherwise complex gestural tasks on the iPhone. As Apple Insider explains, “Users can also create custom gestures, tracing certain patterns or movements with their fingers on the screen to accomplish some tasks that may be difficult. These gestures can then be given a name and accessed from the Assistive Touch menu.”
New Gestures for a Bigger Screen on the iPhone 5?
We already know that iOS 5 will work fully with the iPhone 4, and will even offer somewhat limited functionality with the iPhone 3Gs. But in spite of iOS 5′s flexibility to work on legacy iPhone devices, it has clearly been developed with the iPhone 5 in mind. After all, it was released after the iPad 2, but before the iPhone 5.
Perhaps the crux of Apple’s Assistive Touch is to make the gestural interface of the iPhone 5 more immersive due the inclusion of a larger screen? It would seem that adding more sophisticated gesture control to a sprawling new iPHone 5 screen would be an ideal way to further boast of the iPhone 5′s new dimensions.
We really won’t know how Assistive Touch works (and feels) until we see how it fits on the iPhone 5. But in the end, it could prove to be just as impressive as a smart bezel.

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