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The iPhone 5 could be unveiled as early as June 2012, according to latest sources.  According to Taiwanese tech site DigiTimes, “Apple is expected to unveil its iPhone 5 smartphone at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) to be held in June 2012″.

The source comes from quoted information published by the Chinese-language Commercial Times which also confirmed, “The iPhone 5 will continue to utilize glass to glass (G/G) touch panel technology which will benefit current touch panel suppliers TPK Holding and Wintek.”

If these latest rumors are true, it would fall in line with previous Foxconn sources that revealed Apple’s iPhone 5 was gearing up for production for a summer 2012 release.

A summer 2012 release for the 6th generation iPhone would match the previous iPhone trend that was recently broken by the iPhone 4S release in October.  Up until the iPhone 4S, the phones were traditionally released during summer.

With that being said, it’s also unusual for Apple to reveal such a significant product like the iPhone 5 at such a high profile setting as the Worldwide Developers Conference.  Apple traditionally hosts its own event when unveiling a product like the iPhone as to not share with or steal the thunder from other releases.

Previous sources have rumored various iPhone 5 prototypes “floating around” sharing common features like a 4+ inch display and symmetrical in thickness.

In the company’s latest earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced they have “some amazing new products in the pipeline.”  Following “incredibly strong” momentum led by a record-breaking 37 million iPhone sales, Apple expects a revenue of about $32.5 billion in the second fiscal quarter of 2012.

Ed McLaughlin, head of emerging payments at MasterCard, has given some weight to rumors that Apple’s next iPhone will finally include near field communication technology. In a recent interview with Fast Company, McLaughlin said that he expected the use of contactless payment systems like MasterCard’s PayPass – which rely on NFC technology – to expand rapidly in the near future.

Part of the reason for that expansion, he said, is the technology’s penetration into the smartphone market. McLaughlin insisted that “I don’t know of a handset manufacturer out there that isn’t in the process of making sure their stuff is PayPass ready.” When pressed on whether that included Apple, McLaughlin would only repeat that there aren’t any handset manufacturers not working on the technology.

Though still in its early days, the technology is becoming increasingly common in the smartphone market. Google Wallet, a system designed for Android phones with NFC technology, stores users’ credit card data on their phones so that they can use them with NFC-based payment systems like PayPass. The Samsung Galaxy Nexus, which launched late last year, includes NFC, and the major mobile phone carriers are said to be working on their own mobile payment system much like Google Wallet (which, incidentally, is likely the reason Verizon blocked Google Wallet on the Galaxy Nexus when it launched).

More than two years ago we began hearing rumors that the iPhone 4 would have NFC. When the iPhone 4 launch came and went with no mention of NFC, it was thought that Apple might include it in the iPhone 5. In October the iPhone 5 was revealed as the iPhone 4S, and still NFC technology was notably absent. Now, of course, rumors are flying that the next iPhone will finally have the technology built in. Though hardly an direct confirmation, McLaughlin’s statements are strongly suggest that those rumors are correct.

Read more: http://www.minyanville.com/dailyfeed/2012/01/25/iphone-jailbreaking-could-become-illegal/#ixzz1kVBpQ9IE

http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/01/16/apple-iphone-5-concept-sports-dual-side-home-buttons/

The iPhone has always had just the one home button and that button has always been placed underneath the touchscreen on the front. The latest concept for the upcoming iPhone 5, however, takes an entirely different approach. It includes two home buttons placed along the sides of the iDevice instead.

Coming by way of AppAdvice, the newest iPhone 5 concept isn’t a huge departure in design from previous iterations, but you will notice that the round home button underneath is gone. Instead, there’s a “home” button on either side of the device where you finger and thumb would be anyhow. If you squeeze both, you get the same as pressing the single home button as before.

What makes things a little more interesting is that you can press each side home button individually. The side buttons could be used for quickly switching apps, going back and forward, paging through an e-book, and all sorts of other functions, all without having to lift a finger to place on the touchscreen. It’s an interesting idea, but I’m not convinced it’s one that Cupertino will adopt. After all, they’re all about gestures these days.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/248243/finally_an_iphone_case_with_a_builtin_virtual_keyboard.html

Celluon turned several heads during the last couple of years thanks to their unique laser projected keyboards. Specifically, the Magic Cube has been a hot ticket item for anyone wanting to escape the cramped confines of a touchscreen interface, due to its ability to create a full-sized typing tool on almost any surface. But for iPhone users who don’t want the added clutter of another gadget, Celluon’s pushing a new all-in-one solution — the Prodigy.

Tech blog Pocket-lint got some hands-on time with the Prodigy at CES, where the floor model was spotted in both white and black. As far as functionality, it’s a three-solution problem for anyone who might find themselves in a situation where a lot of typing is needed and no laptop is in sight. Aside from the laser technology that creates the keyboard itself, the Prodigy boosts battery life and acts as a makeshift stand, like any good iPhone case should.

Pocket-lint was able to test the new virtual keyboard at CES in Las Vegas and can report back that it works so long as you can type cleanly. What we mean by that is that, as soon as you start dragging your fingers, the system struggles to recognise your key inputs and types something else. Users might also find it hard to type without any tactile feedback.

If people could get used to the tiny typing surfaces of devices like the touchscreen phones and the BlackBerry, moving back to a wider surface area shouldn’t be much of problem once you get used to the precise typing motions required. Although the Prodigy reportedly won’t work on a glass table or reflective surface, it should come in handy when your laptop’s battery is dry and you need to work on a long flight. Now that the Magic Cube’s technology can be incorporated into an iPhone case, perhaps the next logical step for Celluon should be integrating it into a smartphone… without an accessory?

Either way, bear in mind that the Prodigy doesn’t come cheap. Pocket-lint says the accessory will sell for 150 pounds, which is roughly 230 dollars in U.S. currency. For that price, you buy just about any smartphone with a two-year plan and stick to the touchscreen.

Do you guys like it? Would you buy it?

http://www.t3.com/news/iphone-app-news-shazam-player-launches-for-ios

Music discovery app Shazam has made a bold move to become your primary music player app with a new Shazam Player application for iOS devices.

The free download includes a neat innovation showcasing the lyrics to songs, which scroll along the screen as the track plays. It effectively turns your iPhone into a karaoke machine, which is kind of cool.

There’s also several music explorations tools built in to enable you to learn more about your music as you listen, while it’s easy to share your favourite tunes on Facebook and Twitter or view the music video on YouTube from within the app.

You can also build lists of ‘Good Tracks’ and ‘Bad Tracks’ which will hide some of the tracks you’re less fond of.

You can see for yourself how the app works in the video below, if you can put up with that awful Maroon 5, Moves Like Jagger song playing in the background. We wish we could hide that one.

Nikki Cawley (http://dailynewscorner.com/iphone-5-expected-to-be-released-in-fall-2012-reports-claim/6229/)

Apple’s iPhone 5 will be released in the fall of 2012, according to a close source of Boy Genius Report (BGR), which is similar to the launching of iPhone 4S in 2011.

Apparently, the newest iPhone contains a rubber or plastic material to treat the antenna reception problems of the iPhone 4. The said material shall work as a bezel enclosing the front rim of the iPhone 5 that will connect the glass of the phone with an aluminum back plate and at the same time conceal the redesigned antenna system.

Apple has released the iPhone 4S only last fall of 2011 which has been a hit, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom. Since then rumors of the iPhone 5, with its release date and its new design, have started to come out.

BGR claims to be certain with the launch date of the new smartphone and its information on the phone’s design. Although Apple has not made any confirmation yet, it is likely that the iPhone 5 will be launched this fall, given last year’s release date of the iPhone 4S and the probability of launching the iPad 3 in the spring.

However, prospective buyers want to find out whether or not the iPhone 5 screen has improved from the usual 3.5 inches to a 4-inch display for a bigger resolution.

The rumors about the iPhone 5 have begun, and will surely continue until Apple makes an official announcement regarding its newest projected smartphone.

When do you think the iPhone 5 will be released?

Ray Walters (http://www.geek.com/articles/geek-cetera/liquipel-says-it-can-waterproof-your-iphone-without-a-case-20120110/)

Either this is the most revolutionary product of the decade, or the biggest hoax in recent memory. A California based company called Liquipel claims that it has perfected a process in which it can waterproof your iPhone or other smartphone both inside and out, without having to use a case. A pretty tall order that bears some explaining.

When I called the company for a comment on the process in which this is achieved, I got the following quote from Sarah, the Sales Director:

The process we use is a specialized coating in the form of a vapor. We put the device in a chamber, fill it with the vapor where it bonds at the molecular level to protect the phone. Since vapor is so small, when the process is finished you can’t see or detect the coating, which makes it perfect for phones.”

The process sells for $59, and requires that you send your smartphone to Liquipel to be treated. After which the company will ???????????? send your protected device back, where it will withstand submersion in liquid (although Liquipel recommends you never test this) or the occasional heavy rain shower. Liquipel claims that it has a five-point tracking procedure so you can monitor the progress of your phone at all times, alleviating any worries you may have about actually receiving your device back.

So to recap, you are supposed to send the company $59 and your smartphone and trust that they are going to send it back with a coating you can neither see nor detect. This sounds a little too good to be true, but I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

There are videos claiming to test the coating in action, which you can see below. It’s interesting to note, by watching the video you can’t tell if they are using distilled water or not, which would not damage a device as quickly as regular water.

If Liquipel turns out not to be as great as it sounds, we do have an alternative on the horizon. You may remember a certain superhydrophobic spray that is currently being turned into a consumer product.

TORONTO: Angry Birds & facebook most popular iPhone apps in 2011, Craig Palli, a vice president at Fiksu, a marketing company for app developers, explained that this year’s top apps incorporate three main trends: the ability to connect with friends, discovery and games that let users past the time and pick up where they left off.

The top app in the social networking category was Facebook. But Palli said the trend of connecting with friends extends further.

“It also encompasses Skype, all the free texting apps and even Bump. These are all apps that lend themselves to enriching our lives through an easier and greater amount of communication and connections with friends,” Palli explained.

In the music category, Pandora, which generates personalized radio stations for its users based on their music preferences, was the top app.

“Pandora is such a good app that they don’t really need to spend money in marketing. They just get user after user because it’s such a compelling experience,” Palli said.

TuneIn Radio Pro, which provides access to over 50,000 local and global stations, was another popular music app.

In the games category, Words with Friends, a multi-player game, and Angry Birds were the most downloaded apps. Games captured nine of the top ten spots on the paid apps list.

“They fill those five minutes of time that we were otherwise waiting for a train or appointment,” explained Palli.

He added that phones are beginning to replace cameras, which explains the success of apps in the photo and video category.

“First it was the Polaroid camera, then it was the in-the-pocket digital camera. It’s now just your online casino games phone.”

Instagram, also named Apple’s iPhone app of the year, topped the camera category. It allows users to take photos, add filters and share them with friends. Camera , which extends the iPhone’s camera with features like zoom, also made the list.

In the health and fitness category, Calorie Counter & Diet Tracker and Nike GPS, an app for tracking runs and workouts, were winners. But Palli said the category has fewer downloads than others.

“The volume of downloads that occur in this category is less than one tenth of the other categories,” he said, but he predicts that this category will grow in 2012 as people become more health-conscious and apps “augment the actual device itself with something physical.”

Groupon, the daily deal service, and Pimp Your Screen, which lets users customize their device with backgrounds and other visual features, were the top apps in the lifestyle category.

Netflix, the video streaming service, was the top app in the entertainment category, along with FatBooth, which lets users visualize how they might look with a few extra pounds.

Palli said free apps generally receive more downloads, and many more developers are starting to offer free versions.

“During 2011, we saw a big shift in strategy from a lot of paid app developers, which was to migrate from a straight paid app experience where you pay for the app up front to an in-app purchase or upgrade experience,” he explained.

“This way it’s really compelling for the consumer because you can get started with the app and when they experience how good the app is, they can take the wallet out of their pocket and make the extra two taps to get the full features.”

Christina Bonnington (http://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/09/tech/mobile/iphone-fifth-birthday/)

(WIRED) – Gadget fans may be focused on the CES trade show this week, but there”s something else notable going on today: It”s the iPhone”s fifth birthday.

Five years ago today, Apple unveiled the original iPhone to the world. It wasn”t a tightly kept secret, shrouded in mystery and speculation like more recent Apple announcements, but it was arguably the world”s most anticipated gadget launch.

Although its form factor — a capacitive touchscreen candy bar — hasn”t dramatically changed over the years, each iteration of the iPhone has yielded important improvements. Let”s take a look back at how the iPhone revolutionized what we thought a phone could be.

The iPhone Is Revealed

“An iPod, a phone, an internet mobile communicator,” Jobs said when preparing to introduce the iPhone in January 2007. “An iPod, a phone, an internet mobile communicator…. These are not three separate devices!”

The original iPhone launched on AT&T with a handful of Apple-created apps. It had a 320×480 resolution, 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen and 2-megapixel camera, and ran iOS 1.0. Inside, it featured a 412MHz ARM 11 processor, a proximity sensor, and an accelerometer.

Priced at $499 and $599 for 4GB and 8GB models, the iPhone didn”t actually go on sale to eager hordes of consumers (hundreds of whom waited outside Apple Stores) until June 29.

“As a device, it”s a genre-bender,” former Gadget Lab editor Dylan Tweney said in his review of the landmark device. “Never before have American consumers had access to a phone that is simultaneously so powerful, so elegant, and that performs so many functions.”

iPhone 3G, the App Store and iOS 2.0

Apple”s second generation iPhone debuted in the summer of 2008. Internally, it was largely identical to its predecessor: same processor, same type of display, same 2.0 megapixel camera, same amount of memory. But the iPhone 3G, as the name implied, now supported 3G network operability, as well as GPS.

More importantly, though, the launch of the 3G was accompanied by iOS version 2.0, which included an industry-altering addition: the App Store. The App Store finally let independent, third-party developers legally create apps for the device with a 70/30 revenue split weighted toward Apple.

The App Store has been an incredible success story for Apple and developers alike. It houses jackpot city online casino more than half-a-million apps, and there”s been more than 18 billion downloads to date. Pretty much every mobile platform has its own app market now, and most aremodeled similarly to Apple”s.

iPhone 3GS Takes Photography Seriously

The iPhone 3GS was primarily an incremental improvement over the 3G, but it included some notable hardware improvements that would continue through later iterations of the phone.

First, the 3GS included a camera upgrade: a 3-megapixel, autofocusing camera that shot decent video that could be edited and easily sent to YouTube or other destinations. Photography would become an increasingly important feature for iPhone users. The processor was upgraded to a 600MHz Samsung chip, and the display was upped to 480×320 pixels. The 3GS also added a compass, a tool that would prove incredibly useful in apps like Google Maps.

On the software side, the 3GS also added Voice Control, and iOS, now at version 3.0, finally added a cut/copy/paste functionality to the system.

iPhone 4: Prototype Leak, “Antennagate” and Verizon

The iPhone 4 stunned the world with its radically redesigned look, which Gizmodo revealed early after getting its hands on a prototype.

A 3.5-inch Retina Display put pretty much every other smartphone display to shame: At 960×640 and bearing a 326ppi pixel density, it offered pixels smaller than the human eye could detect. The iPhone 4 was also encased front and back by slim slabs of glass, and ringed by an aluminum rim. The visual conceit was slick, and Apple received kudos for its smart industrial design refresh.

Unfortunately, that aluminum rim became the source of a debacle known as “Antennagate“: Because of the external antenna design of the phone, if users held it a particular way, they would experience a drop in signal strength.

The iPhone 4 debuted in June 2010, still on AT&T like its predecessors, but in January 2011, Apple expanded availability toVerizon.

iPhone 4S Delivers Siri

Expecting an entirely differently designed iPhone 5, some Apple fans were disappointed by the announcement of merely an “iPhone 4S.” However, pre-sale numbers and opening weekend sales numbers proved the 4S to be the most successful iPhone launch in Apple”s history.

A major reason for the success of the 4S was its new voice-controlled virtual assistant, Siri. Hackers attempting to port Siri toother iOS devices have almost succeeded, but the solution just isn”t available for the masses. Others though, are more interested in hacking Siri to control other gadgets in their lives like thermostats or a rotary dial phone.

I personally started out with iPhone 4. How about you? Are you a fan of the iPhone? Please comment bellow.